Why do these public school buses come with white painted tops when the rest of the bus is yellow? Is it a safety issue?

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97 F150 Reg Cab Short Bed
4.2L Auto
Current Performance mods=
Accel 9000Series Race Plug Wires
Motorcraft Platinum Plugs 60 Series Heat Rating
K&N Air Filter(Modified Stock Airbox)
Flowmaster 40 Single in/out.
B&M Shift Improver Kit(highly recommend!!)
Current Musical Improvements=
California Profile3600 running two front Pioneer5x7 three way speakers and a single 10" Cerwin Vega in my homebuilt port tuned box.
Pioneer Cassette/cd control head unit with matching Pioneer 6 disc changer.
1/2 Farad Stinger cap.

My other truck is an in the works 1950 Ford pickup.

 

my guess is that it absorbs less heat from the sun and therefore keeps the bus cooler.

 

Good guess!

Light colors reflect heat.
Dark colors absorb heat.

HR

 

Nah. The buses are all white from the factory and the bus companies are too cheap to hire painters with ladders.



[This message has been edited by Dennis (edited 04-27-2001).]

 

Good thing they don't hire midgets. The wheels would be yellow and the rest would be white.

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1997 F-150 Lariat
Ext Cab Short Box
4x4 Off Road Package
3.55 Gears
285/75 R16 Kelly Springfield Trailcutter RTs



My 2 cents worth

If you're gonna stroke it, POWERSTROKE IT!!!

http://www.powerstroke73.homestead.com/

 

Perhaps easier to see from planes/police helicopters in case they are hi-jacked? I know that's way out in right field, but ... whatever.

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2000 Silver Lightning
#2798 of 4966
Born on date: May 9, 2000
Email: ColinMBurns@hotmail.com



Mods: SnugLid, 20% tint

My Zing Album:
http://www.zing.com/album/?id=4292724199

 

It must be a factory or end user choice. All the school buses in my county have yellow tops. The whole thing is yellow.

 

Our Air Force busses used to be all blue. Lots of oxidation, not really safe trying to get up there and wax the tops.

Several bases(I can't say all) have gone to white tops. Cooler, reflects the heat. Also doesn't seem to oxidize as much or as a fast leading to a better overall appearance.

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99 F250XLT Supercab LD
5.4L 3.73 LS
White/Silver
Graphite interior
6 CD changer/Captain's Chairs

 

hmmm......interesting ideas...but there has to be more to it than midgets or heat reflection. I had a morbid idea....maybe it's to help identify which side of the bus is top in case it would ever happen to end up in a crash on it's side?

There has to be a logical explanation. I can not rest until someone tells me the real reason.

 

JD they still are blue. Crew buses tour buses GP vehicles very few vehicles come other colors. Now GSA vehicles are leased and are any color on the lot.

 

Yea Firezap,

I figured some haven't changed over. I'm out here at Nellis where it gets 130 degrees in the summer. When at Langley we changed over to white. California had them. I know DM in Arizona has white tops too. Probably just the hotter places, McQuire doesn't get to bad or no one wanted to change it.

Are you guys running GSA busses? It's a good deal. I've only seen white GSA busses though, not different colors.

[This message has been edited by JD (edited 04-27-2001).]

 

AF buses are still blue here also. When I was going to school the new buses had the white tops. Wanted to make all of them white on the top to keep it cooler.

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1997 XLT Teal 4.6L Flareside 4x4 ORP. Automatic, Reg. cab, 3.55LS, tinted windows, bug deflector, Dual exhaust, K&N Generation 2 air filter, BullDog keyless entry/remote start, Modern 16" wheels, bedliner, Covercraft tonneau cover, White faced gauges, electronic shift on the fly, Clarion ADX5655z Double Din Cassette & CD, 4 Pioneer TS-A6865 speakers and superchip. Going to add headers.


Future mods: Supercharger, headers, NOS, tranny upgrade(heavy duty gears, clutch packs, etc.), performance torque converter, composite driveshaft, bore engine 30 over, new pistons, crank, and rods, performance heads, new L if they still make them and I like the way it looks, and a Z06 Vette or BMW Z3.




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I'm with Zeus. My guess would be that if one ever got hi jacked, it would be easier to see from the air. Like on SPEED, they have numbers so that the choppers can see them in the air, school buses have white tops.

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1999 super cab
white with tan bottom
4x2 automatic
4.6L v8
BFG AT TA KO 265/75
WAAG grillguard
2 KC daylighters
vampire remote start combo alarm
steelhorse nerf bars
Husky chrome toolbox
4 pioneer 3 way 6x8's
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wants: 2 chamber flowmaster dual exhaust
tan fender flares
american racing atlas
2" fabtech suspension leveling kit

 

I am a PO' West Virginia boy we aint got no skew busses weinz gotta walk to school up hill both ways barefooted

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>17’wheels Bridgestone Dueler A/T’s
>True Dual Exhaust w/ 5’ tips
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>Rear Blackouts
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>Tinted Windows (5%)
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>Dual Antennas
>NEW!!Flowmaster Delta Flow Mufflers
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'Better a sister in a ***** house than a brother in a CHEVY'