Question regarding TIP for a converted school bus?

The original slant Cummins were a dawg. So I did a total out frame. Converted it to 400 hp. Teamed with a Fuller 9510 and Road Ranger 13-speed (Shifter out of a Freightliner cabover. Jacobs engine brake. 400 ampere Niehoff 24 volt alternator. 2 group 3 engine starting batteries, 4 L-16 house batteries. Three 500 watt Goldstar window air units, 100 gallons freshwater, 20 gallon black with macerator. 83 gallon Manchester motorfuel LPG tank, 11 coats metalflake pearlescent imron paint, teak interior with corian countertops. Chassis was updated. 11:00 22.5 aluuminum wheels and tires. Pretty much my whole life's earnings went into this. But fully loaded it climbed Donner Summit at 58 mph in 10th gear. Did not touch the brakes the other side.

It resides in Michoacán. I am driving it to Sn Pedro la Laguna next winter. With closed cell foam shot into the voids, it stays warm during cool nights. I am upgrading the interior LED lighting. Bad part is these buses only have storage behind where the rear seat used to go. I loaded 18CF 24 volt vestfrost refigerator and 18 cf freezers with the hope they never have to be removed. They are heavy and the doors and decor are now too small. It also has a marine toilet. A killer of a refit. Spent way way way too much money and hired an unemployed ship's carpenter to do the interior - five months worth. I also need to ditch the 7" 24 volt headlights. The rig will never see the USA again.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
I have a 10-year permit on a 1978 converted 3-axle Crown school bus. Can't get one online. Go to ADUANA at the checkpoint and ask the person to inspect the rig and verify. Cannot get one with anything in tow. If you go straight to the Banjercito window they will tell you no. The Aduanero can authorize exclusions to the rule. They are extremely strict about heavyweight pickups with slide in campers. With a polite genuine smile and an obviously meant for RV bus it is a different story. If for some reason (?) the bus has been modified to haul toys, this changes things toward the negative.

THANK YOU!!!

That is mostly good news. We can in fact get a TIP :)

The bad news:
I would like to tow a car. :(
You are driving my bus...:(

I have bid on two tandem Crown's on eBay and tried to buy a third from a local here. The "buys" get snatched up quickly and I cannot spend $10k+ on a high miles bus.

I have a 10-year permit on a 1978 converted 3-axle Crown school bus. Can't get one online. Go to ADUANA at the checkpoint and ask the person to inspect the rig and verify. Cannot get one with anything in tow. If you go straight to the Banjercito window they will tell you no. The Aduanero can authorize exclusions to the rule. They are extremely strict about heavyweight pickups with slide in campers. With a polite genuine smile and an obviously meant for RV bus it is a different story. If for some reason (?) the bus has been modified to haul toys, this changes things toward the negative.

Like some of the rigs we see from Europe aren't a little bit out of the ordinary, at least to us? Some look like garbage trucks. Nice garbage trucks, yes, but nothing like what we would think of as an RV.
If the title says RV, you have nothing to worry about. Relax

He should be able to get a 180 day permit, though.

You wont be able to get a permit for a bus unless it says motorhome on the registation.

Talleyho69 wrote:
It depends upon what your registration says. If it says RV, or whatever, you can get a 10 year permit. Otherwise, you are stuck with 180 days.
Toll roads? Most are based upon the profile and/or number of axles you have. A school bus with two or three axles would be the same as a Class A with the same, more or less.

That is what I would have expected if it were not for the confusion I personally encountered on the toll roads with my dually pickup. At one toll booth they had to call a supervisor to figure out the proper toll. We were charged different rates by different people. Confusion.

Also, lately people driving 3/4 and 1 ton trucks have been having issues getting TIP's.

My concern is that they may have a different view of certain vehicles than I (we?) do and I would hate to purchase, convert and hit the road in a rig that I may not be able to travel in Mexico in.

I am hoping to find specific information regarding how they treat a converted school bus.

It depends upon what your registration says. If it says RV, or whatever, you can get a 10 year permit. Otherwise, you are stuck with 180 days.
Toll roads? Most are based upon the profile and/or number of axles you have. A school bus with two or three axles would be the same as a Class A with the same, more or less.

clarkster wrote:
If your travels into Mexico only include Sonora and the two states of Baja.....a tip is not required.

These states, for now, are in the "free" zone.

You are correct.

We will be headed a little bit further South. Ultimate destination Xcalak.