School Bus Conversion Website

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The Beginning... : In December 2004, we began the process of converting a retired school bus into a fully self-contained RV. This is the story! Once I made up my mind to convert a school bus to a homestead, I scoured dealers' websites, harassed the local school district administrators, started hanging out at school bus conversion forums (see links section), and watching buses available on ebay. I found this bus for sale on ebay. Specifications: -1993 International Harvester chassis/AmTran-Genesis body -Auto transmission (would have liked manual, but oh well) -International DT360 turbocharged diesel engine -135,000 engine/chassis miles The DT360 is (was, actually) one of International Harvester's premium "wet-sleeve" engines. This means that the pistons, rings, cylinders, and con rods can be replaced without having to remove the engine from the vehicle. I drove this bus from Elkhorn, Wisconsin to Flagstaff, Arizona in December of 2004 -- 1700 miles in about 3 days, at about 54 MPH.

The Beginning...

In December 2004, we began the process of converting a retired school bus into a fully self-contained RV. This is the story! Once I made up my mind to convert a school bus to a homestead, I scoured dealers' websites, harassed the local school district administrators, started hanging out at school bus conversion forums (see links section ...

Updated: Nov 12, 2005 9:25pm PST

Why a school bus? : We first considered the offerings from the RV industry: travel-trailers, class C and class A motorhomes, fifth wheels, the works. Some of them are fine products; but mostly we found that RVs are constructed with inefficient appliances, poor insulation, too much emphasis on presentation over function, and high price tags. Perhaps the biggest consideration for us was that we could not truly customize a manufactured RV to meet our specific requirements for energy efficiency, autonomy, and off-road capabilities. One day the idea of converting a school bus crossed my mind. After some research on the topic, the advantages became clear: School buses are built stout enough to handle roll-overs Their gound clearance is superior to most RVs School buses are built on true Medium Duty truck chasses; I invite you to crawl under a school bus just once to marvel at the beefiness of the frame and axles. You will be impressed, especially if you've ever seen the frames supporting most RVs. Some diesel school bus engines can go for 250,000 miles before any overhaul work is required. Diesel engines can also run on biodiesel, straight vegetable oil or waste vegetable oil with little or no modification. School buses can be had cheaply, if you are patient, shop around and do your homework. School districts usually take care of their buses, following strict maintenance schedules, which means, mechanically, recently-retired school buses should hold few surprises, and maintenance records should be available. Of course, I would be remiss if the disadvantages were omitted: The ceiling height in most buses is just over 6 feet in the center aisle (though the roof can be raised). They are usually geared low for city street driving, not highway cruising. Scraping years of petrified boogers from under the seats is less fun than it sounds.

Why a school bus?

We first considered the offerings from the RV industry: travel-trailers, class C and class A motorhomes, fifth wheels, the works. Some of them are fine products; but mostly we found that RVs are constructed with inefficient appliances, poor insulation, too much emphasis on presentation over function, and high price tags. Perhaps ...

Updated: Nov 13, 2005 8:00pm PST

Links : Bus Conversion Forums sKOOLie Conversions RV-Coach Online Skoolie.net Yahoo School Bus Conversion Nuts Bus Conversion Stories Metamorphobus BruinGilda the AeroSwine The Mobile Homestead S-Caper Jake von Slatt's conversion Where to Buy a Bus ebay Northwest Bus Sales, Inc. (WA) 422 Bus Sales (PA) Auto Safety House (AZ) Allied Bus Sales (Various) Central States Bus Sales, Inc. (Various) Durham School Services (Various) Florida Church Bus (FL) Grande American Bus Sales, Inc. (MN) I-10 International Trucks (AZ) National Bus Sales & Leasing (GA) School Bus Sales (IA) Smitty's Bus Sales (TX) Taylor Bus Sales (HQ in KY, various other locations) Used-Bus.com (IL, IN, MI) GSA (U.S. Gov't) Fleet Sales Conversion materials Building materials: Bonded Logic - Uses scrap denim to manufacture insulation. Kee Klamps - Structural pipe fittings. What we used to support the deck and ladder. Gerbert, Ltd. - Recycled rubber flooring. Appliances, heating, plumbing, galley: Biolet, Sun-Mar - Composting toilets. King Mini-kitchens (now Acme Kitchenettes) Dickinson Marine - Marine heat stoves, cooking stoves. Fatsco Marine Stoves - Small solid-fuel stoves. Navigator Stove Works, Inc. - Marine stoves. Nu-Way heat stoves - Small, inexpensive wood burning stoves (See model #965). Tank Depot - Freshwater and holding tanks, fittings to go with them. Windows: Buccaneer Manufacturing - International supplier for Hehr® brand RV windows JC Whitney - Sells a sliding, tinted window that fits the standard school bus window opening. Search on keywords "sliding window". New Found Metals - Marine supplier -- see the Trimatrix window. Small-ish but way cool. Max 1 1/4" wall thickness. All-rite RV Parts - They'll make custom windows for your conversion. Furniture: Surplus Online - RV (and other) furniture Flexsteel - Manufactures RV furniture. Use the dealer locator to find a distributor near you. All-rite RV Parts - They'll make custom windows for your conversion. Solar: Northern Arizona Wind & Sun - Flagstaff's own alternative power gurus. Suppliers, RV-specific: Arizona RV Salvage - Used, overstock, clearance, discontinued items. Phoenix area. Dyer's Online RV Surplus RV Supply Depot Suppliers, Not RV-specific: McMaster-Carr - Just about everything but the kitchen sink. Oh, wait... Green Building Supply Harbor Freight - Tools, hardware TAC Bus Parts - Real school bus parts. Downloads: PVC Pipe Volume spreadsheet - Enter your values in Green cells. Battery and Solar Panel Array Sizer - Excel program to show how many batteries and solar panels are needed given certain criteria. Double-check the values before pruchasing piles of PV stuff!

Links

Bus Conversion Forums sKOOLie Conversions RV-Coach Online Skoolie.net Yahoo School Bus Conversion Nuts Bus Conversion Stories Metamorphobus BruinGilda the AeroSwine The Mobile Homestead S-Caper Jake von Slatt's conversion Where to Buy a Bus ebay Northwest Bus Sales, Inc. (WA) 422 Bus Sales (PA) Auto Safety House ( ...

Updated: Nov 13, 2005 8:03pm PST

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Updated: Dec 03, 2005 11:34pm PST

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