Talking about converting a Bus - Your Thoughts???

[Whipperwhirl]

Hello Peeps - Enough Said in the title . . .

[mjmoon]

It seems to me like it would be easier (and maybe even more economical) to find a gently used Class A. But I don't know much about converting a bus.. would you contract someone to do it or is it a "do it yourself" project?

[Whipperwhirl]

we are handy people - it would definately be a DIY project - I actually find the do it yourself customization and the upfront cost - 3-4K for a bus with 100K miles - pretty appealing.

[mjmoon]

I think it may be fun, especially because you'd be able to design the layout perfectly for your family and tastes. I'm always worried about buying vehicles with high mileage and wear. I imagine that you may be able to do it pretty cheaply, but maintaining the vehicle may get costly and having some money put away in case it breaks down on a road trip may also be necessary. Those would be my main concerns.. :)

[Whipperwhirl]

So far - and this is very preliminary - my research idicates that school busses are maintained meticulously - they also are designed to go 24 hours a day all day - up to 8 million miles - so Im not really scared of maintenance aspect - the price of diesel does scare me a bit though.

[mjmoon]

I know.. wasn't diesel cheaper than gas this time last year? I imagine it's flip flop again.;) It would be neat to be able to design every aspect of the interior.

[motofamily]

ok if you are real handy this is what we thoght out before we bought our pusher.

1. look for wrecked motorhomes that the inside areas are still usable its the little wiring, chargers, and such that add up.

2. draw out what you need sleeping, cooking, etc....

3. draw it out 3 more times so you have a strong plan before you start and that way you can use every bit of space.

4. Find a used box truck boxes can be re-skined pretty cheap {think of a toter type motorhome renegade or haulmark brand. There are alot of these box trucks out there that have the "low profile" setup, and think of the storage area you could have on the bottom, pretty much unlimited towing, and oh yeah the ability of true KING size mattress....

We would have built our own but we have a businees that we travel alot with and didnt have the time to build one I actually had a friend who did this on a smaller scale and then resold them in the racing industry. It could work!!!

[becky1960]

Although diesel school buses are maintained, the cost of work on them is quite expensive. We just had to have our fuel injectors replaced (60,000 mi.) because of bad fuel for $ 5000.00, quite a shock, and we found out this quite common..

[becky1960]

Although diesel school buses are maintained, the cost of work on them is quite expensive. We just had to have our fuel injectors replaced (60,000 mi.) because of bad fuel for $ 5000.00, quite a shock, and we found out this quite common..

[becky1960]

Although diesel school buses are maintained, the cost of work on them is quite expensive. We just had to have our fuel injectors replaced (60,000 mi.) because of bad fuel for $ 5000.00, quite a shock, and we found out this quite common..

[Whipperwhirl]

Good point - I also wonder about insurance . . .

[Shan-man]

I've thought about doing this as well since I'm pretty handy. The fact that I have never worked on a diesel is a bit of a deterrent for me. But mostly it is the price of older, non-slide diesel pushers... they can be had for pretty cheap since everybody wants a slide now. If you happen to find a conversion project where someone adds a slide, please post it here, I'd love to see that (I know it can be done, they did it on RVToday but didn't give much detail).

[Whipperwhirl]

ok if you are real handy this is what we thoght out before we bought our pusher.

1. look for wrecked motorhomes that the inside areas are still usable its the little wiring, chargers, and such that add up.

2. draw out what you need sleeping, cooking, etc....

3. draw it out 3 more times so you have a strong plan before you start and that way you can use every bit of space.

4. Find a used box truck boxes can be re-skined pretty cheap {think of a toter type motorhome renegade or haulmark brand. There are alot of these box trucks out there that have the "low profile" setup, and think of the storage area you could have on the bottom, pretty much unlimited towing, and oh yeah the ability of true KING size mattress....

We would have built our own but we have a businees that we travel alot with and didnt have the time to build one I actually had a friend who did this on a smaller scale and then resold them in the racing industry. It could work!!!


Thanks for the tips - The only thing about box truck tpe set ups I think is it wont hold the number of people we like to travel with.

[Whipperwhirl]

Im just amazed by this project:

http://www.skoolie.net/gallery/v/Skoolies/reprobate/PB301373.jpg.html

[Shan-man]

Wow! Thanks for the link! That is an inspiring makeover!

[Whipperwhirl]

Its like the ultimate in recycling - I cant stop thinking about it.

[PanFanAL]

My boss did one. It isn't as nice as the one you linked but is pretty cool. Him and his buddies are big nascar fans. It is setup for that. It has like 10 bunks in it. They fold down and make couches. They put Oak cabinets in it and everything. Then it has a porch on the back and a deck that runs the entire length of the roof. they sit up there to watch the race. If you have ever been to The Talladega race you might have seen it.

[mjmoon]

Awesome RV! They really did an amazing job.. and in pretty good time too. All that wiring, piping and tubing is so above my head.. I'm very impressed with the young woman who really did a lot of the work. Nice painting as well.

[RJmurphy]

WOW What an awesome project. It looks like a real labor of love. Thanks for the link. One word of warning. We had two school bus conversions over the years, that we used for hunting trips into upper michigan, nothing as classy as what you have in mind, but still the same basic vehicle. They rode like trucks...... Not bad for hunting trips, but if I was planning on using it regularly I wouldn't go that way. JMHO. Good luck.

[motofamily]

how many people are you taking with you 20-21!!!

No just kidding I am talking about a 24-30 foot box the average living area in most motorhomes. I have a friend who did his to have 6 bunks in the back and still had room for a kitchen FULL shower and toilet and a KING size rear bed then they cut the floor in the back droped it down to normal height put a set of swing open doors in the back and made a TOY hauler. All good in the camping mood with this!!!

[ynottony99]

Those folks did an amazing job on that bus. I use to think I wanted to do something like this. But I am just not enough of a craftsman to pull it off.

[DznyRulz]

Here (http://www.wardhill.net/ayjay/bus/) is another bus conversion project although this was a transit bus. This person is a member of RV.net.

[ynottony99]

Here (http://www.wardhill.net/ayjay/bus/) is another bus conversion project although this was a transit bus. This person is a member of RV.net.

That looks great. I have always heard that the city buses are not geared for the open highway, and aren't a good choice for a conversion. I wonder if that is so???:confused3

[KristinU]

I heard about skoolies on another camping forum a few months ago - some of the stuff people do is pretty incredible!

DH and I have been talking about the "what ifs" and decided we'd definitely need only a "short bus" :rotfl2: and that we'd for sure have to paint it up a la The Partridge Family! DH also brough up a good point - would you EVER be able to get that weird vinyl/rubber smell out of there???

I also don't think it would be a money saving project, but it sure would be unique and a labor of love. You could really run the gamut of how you outfitted the thing, though - so I suppose one could do it on the cheap.

I googled "skoolie" and got lots of info to pop up, including a resource for acquiring an old bus - I think in FL IIRC.