I will be composing a list of my favorite slideouts I have found across the internet.

This will be updated overtime. I will add additional info to the original post, then bump it back to the top.

You tube video of a nice home made slide in action.






This video shows how the bottom storage boxes finish everything off.


Rocky's legendary F700 4x4 build on pirate 4x4 utilizes a home made slide mechanism. The slide out part starts here on page 7, post 156.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/expediti ... per-7.html


Nat

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How do you find time to accomplish all this & work on your bus, don't get me wrong i appreciate the information, Stuart

have you seen his bus?

J/K Nat

I like how he is adding all the tid-bits and such

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Bump

I posted Rocky's F700 4x4 slide out in the list at the top.

I don't watch TV. After work is done for the day, I unwind by reading, learning, and passing it on. For me the internet is my library, and I go to my library every night.

Sometimes when I got my helpers busy on something that will take awhile, I hide in my truck and check the forums on my work laptop.




Yes both of my buses are completely apart right now. They are a blank canvas with 99% of the demo done. Next, they both need paint and the rust proofing done. We got another cold snap that will be here a few more weeks.


Nat

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"Don't argue with stupid people. They will just drag you down to their level, and beat you up with experience."

Patently waiting for the apocalypses to level the playing field in this physiological game of life commonly known as Civilization

I know, just when I get the canvases off their calling for another full week of rain, so know it's recovered & waiting

Newbe here. My husband and I are talking about how to build our first skoolie and I was thinking about doing a slide UP. My idea was to add 2' to the top of the bus with another 2' slide up for the beds. Kind of like this (http://www.jokeroo.com/pictures/travel/1078338.html) but less elaborate. I have seen where people have done second stories from wood, but that seems a bit bulky and not very fuel efficient. Any advice?




edited by Bansil

I like that slide UP. It can be done, been done in travel trailers for a long time (like since the turn of the LAST century). But it is really hard to do it so it is airtight and strong. I thought about one that is above the existing roof and only puts beds there. Basically leave the factory cage intact and access the bunks through an emergency hatch. But then the kids can't sleep on the road (which is a big deal for me) and you don't actually feel bigger while living in the space.

If I could sleep on the rear package tray of a station wagon, doing 60 mph down the road....just saying ...kids are not brought up like they use to be, all this safety stuff, no lead paint, no BB guns, yard darts were actually fairly safe so what is wrong with top of the roof of a moving bus

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Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.
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Somewhere on this forum (couldn't find it) there's a skoolie with a tent trailer (minus the trailer) mounted on top towards the back. They called it their VIP lounge or some such like that. That added sleeping for six and only about two feet (un-deployed) to the total height of the bus. Ladder access.

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Lol, Bansil. I have seen the bus where they added the pop-up camper to the top, and we liked the idea, but we would be out west in the winter and I thought that it might be too hard to keep warm. I got a local welder on the phone the other day and he was interested enough to invite us over to discuss a few ideas. fingers crossed!

good luck and 3 more posts and they will be instant

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Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.
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You do know they make hard sided popups. Ours was pretty neat. Apache was the company. http://apachepopups.net/OldSite/manuals.htm has the manuals

This page has a good shot (#6) of the side walls opening while the top is being raised.


This is the parts manual all in pdf if you want to see how one was put together. The Chassis pics (last one in the manuals) should be pretty much all the old Solid State (hard sided) Apache. Liftsys has all the lift system which was a thick plastic chain that ran in a track that either lifted or lowered the "road cover" roof. http://apachepopups.net/OldSite/parts.h ... s%20manual

I'm sure someone could come up with a different (powered) lift system but still use hinged/roller hung sidewalls. Even the bed ends may be able to be built....

BTW, we rebuilt the "living hinge" by replacing the center hinge part with a length of pipe heater cable. It slipped into a C channel (think aluminum RV awning rail which is what we bought to replace a damaged section although we did have to very carefully squeeze the track a little tighter with a pair of vice grips to keep the track evenly closed). The end tracks the side walls hung in looked like a u channel with a closet door roller wheel. The road cover lifted slight above the side walls and once they were in place, was lowered back down to lock the walls into place. Like I said, it was a neat little system and very sturdy once put together correctly. The kids & I could set up in about 15 minutes.

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On the subject of Apache pop-ups, I can attest to their durability.
Built in Lapeer, MI, they were remarkably lightweight, using ABS plastic extensively for the side panels, end panels and caps, and the roof/road cover.
ABS plastic repair/patching was easy to do, using ABS pellets dissolved in a jar of MEK. What these repairs lacked in appearance, they were easy to perform in most places, indoors or out.
We used an Apache as a kid, and my wife and I are now on our second Apache (used to have a '75 Mesa, and upgraded to a '78 Ramada when we had kids).
I'm sure that some of the design concepts would be applicable to a well thought-out skoolie mod...

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Back to the top for the new members.

Too bad this thread got cluttered with that pop up crap.

I started this thread to help folks build Real slide outs in their skoolies.

Nat

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"Don't argue with stupid people. They will just drag you down to their level, and beat you up with experience."

Patently waiting for the apocalypses to level the playing field in this physiological game of life commonly known as Civilization

Since you're bumping the thread, help shoot holes in an idea I had. I wasn't real thrilled with the amount of play I saw in some DIY systems (or even OEM ones) and was brainstorming ways to address it. What I was thinking was you could use square tubing as the horizontal/sliding support rails... but put them at 45-degrees so the corners were up/down/left/right. Then use V bearings as the rollers:

RWM Casters V-Groove Wheel with Straight Roller Bearing 700 lbs Capacity: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

The advantage to something like this is your mounting bracket would have a roller under the rail and another on top. If made in two pieces with bolts clamping them together (not tightly - just enough to apply a few pounds of pressure both top and bottom), you could have very little play in the system but high strength. Something like this although I'd adjust the layout of the rollers and the slide rail would be just square tubing, not this ornate extrusion:



I was thinking that a system like this would let you have some flexibility over the size and layout of your rails, and it might reduce the fab skills required to make such a system. I suspect you could even do it without welding and still be able to make a strong setup that resisted racking.

Cool Man. Keep the good idea's coming.

Nat

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"Don't argue with stupid people. They will just drag you down to their level, and beat you up with experience."

Patently waiting for the apocalypses to level the playing field in this physiological game of life commonly known as Civilization

Not really instructional, but this guys youtube channel has about a half dozen videos showing his slide outs in action. Maybe it will help give people some ideas.

This guy started a youtube video blog of an almost Nat_ster level of detail skoolie build, but seems to have fallen off in the past year. Myself, I wouldn't necessarily copy his method for a slide out since he notches the frame(!!!). But again, just might help give folks some ideas.


P.S.- I listened to his latest podcast and he talks about getting distracted by other projects and getting back to the bus. But he also mentions that he lost the footage of the roof raise. As of the last video, he was still working on the floor. So who knows what info will eventually end up being uploaded.

I saw his roof raise. He used a Hi-Lift jack.

Just in case anyone does not know better, notching a bus frame is a complete fail.

After doing so, the bus can no longer be driven, or registered / insured, and would need to be parted out / scrapped.

That is a big no no.

If he had taken 2.5 inches out of the center of the frame, that may have worked fine. Under no circumstances should the top or bottom flange of the c channel frame be cut or welded to.


Nat

__________________
"Don't argue with stupid people. They will just drag you down to their level, and beat you up with experience."

Patently waiting for the apocalypses to level the playing field in this physiological game of life commonly known as Civilization