Hello out there to the skoolie world. My wife and I are looking to do some travelling, and have been bemoaning the high cost of a new or used wheelchair van, having to deal with hotels, motels and that lifestyle. And then, one day, we were driving around in our old Safari and what did we see, but a skoolie with a lift in the back (insert loud thunderclap, ding noise, or appropriate idea sound here.)

My wife rides a wheelchair now, and we have decided to take our house with us and her mobility dog, Liesl (a wonderful Rottweiler, who is currently snoring on me with her tongue hanging out.)

So, the quest for knowledge has begun (along with the lusting after) about skoolies with wheelchair lifts, and are there any out there who are handicapped or who have a handicapped spouse who can share tips and info?

The prices for the buses seem very reasonable, especially in comparison to any "regular" wheelchair accessible van. Heck, I even went on a flight of fancy and thought about buying a full sized bus and a short bus and using the shortie as a toad behind the big one. My wife immediately gave me "the Look" but a guy can dream...

Seriously, if anyone has anything to say about wheelchair skooling, I would love to hear it.

Thanks

Andrew

As an RVer, not a skoolie but just a wanna be..... Lots of RV's have been modified to handle wheel chairs. In my 15 years of RVing
I have seen several RV's equipped with wheel chair lifts/rams for loading and unloaded the chair person.
That has a nice ring to it. "Chair Person" = One who has a special equipped chair and vehicle build specifically for them.
A bus with the loading ram is designed just for that purpose , loading an unloading. With the skoolie one could build it to suite themselves and make it accessibly. I see no negatives and only positives as to why one would want to do a skoolie.... go for it.
As for the toad I would think a little smaller...... Best of luck!!

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GreyEagle
Roll - On...

Best bet, IMHO would be with the door and lift towards the front instead of in the back. But, as with everything, layout and what you want and how to set it up are the key

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Hey! That's not an RV, that's a school bus.
Well thank you for noticing, Captain Obvious
Captain Obvious on deviantArt

The longest wheelie skoolies that I have seen for sale are around 9 rows for full size and tend to be rear door lifters. I am hoping to find a longer one with either a rear or mid door lifter, but will settle with what I can find when I got the scratch to cover the great leap forward.

And yeah, pulling a shortie with a Longie is a fantasy, unless the Longie has a heck of a lot more hp and better gearing than a 466 with a 545 tranny.

And yep, due to a humiliating newbie episode, abwetzel and abwetzel63 are the same. Never ever try to update your profile while 3/4s asleep while watching Hallmark Christmas movies in July. Ahhhh, my secret is out...

Seriously, if any one is a wheelie skoolie (yeah, I like the wheelie better than handicapped, especially when my wife runs over my feet for being a smart arse) or a wheelie skoolie chauffer, then any tips you have would be most appreciated. Wife and I have done lots of camping, and cheap hotel camping Iwhich entails bringing in cooking equipment and living out of a hotel room smaller than the interior of a 30' skoolie) for weeks at a time, so we are used to the small house lifestyle. Our plan is to migrate from fixed housing to wheeled housing and get rid of the mortgage (which is about as expensive as a decent apartment or a coupla tanks of diesel or so. Hmm. Diesel, rent or mortgage. DIESEL!!!!!!)

So, anyone willing to "share and enjoy?"

Thanks.

Grey-eagle

Thanks for the "Chair Person" idea. Great when we're being serious. Thought of the "wheelie" while thinking of the silly things my wife has done; terrorizing hospital staff, rolling over my toes, chasing down people, rolling over my feet, towing me around (my hand on back strap of chair, makes going up hills easier when carrying 50 pounds of armor and stuff), and of course, rolling over my legs. For some strange reason, smart aleck remarks require pain in my peds.