4WD Conversion

[Seriousracer]

I drive heavy trucks every day. With king pins. Only time I ever had a death wobble on one of them is when a 11r22.5 steer let loose.

The “cheap “ truck is up to the cost of the transfer case used.

[john61ct]

I think the skillset of the conversion shop, or DIYer even more so, was the weak link in question.

Forestry trucks "medium duty" especially GMC/Chevy are I think a great starting point, often go for $20k or less.

[HenrysCat]

Originally Posted by JustKip

Wolf Creek does 4X4 conversions?

I think this one is a personal conversion but yessum I reckon they might.

[Brain's 97 Diesel]

Hello all, I appreciate all the opinions and input. Remember I am only in the planning phase of the project.

Parameters of my idea: Dog nosed diesel school bus; computer controlled,fuel injected and turbo charged; four wheel drive, to be able to go off the beaten path but not go four wheeling or rock climbing or anything radical; may raise roof as I am 6'0" and want to be comfortable; may shorten body length to what we deem necessary for 2 people and possibly 2 guests; rear garage, rear deck, and/or rear deck/car hauler area.

The new truck idea blows the budget before I even start, [I drive a 97 Ford F250 and a 1995 F150 BECAUSE they were inexpensive and I can fix them] and a cab and chassi with a box on the back is not a Skoolie but rather an Overlander off road motor home if 4WD, IDK what they call a 2WD.

I'll probably buy a donor truck with the 4WD items I need to convert the Skoolie to 4WD. The downside is more room needed to do the job, initial cost until parts truck is sold for parts or scrap, and obviously the time needed to do the actual conversion.

We all invest our time, talent, and/or treasure into the things we like/love, many times we invest one to save the other [time and/or talent over treasure] because we can and we like to. This forum, as I understand it, is for persons who want to build their own Skoolie [not buy one and not pay someone else to do it, enless you back yourself into a corner]. That is what attracted me to this forum, and I have more pride over what I make than what I buy [within reason]. I worked on cars for a living for 20+ years, I've lived in the same house for 30+ years doing most of the repairs, renovations, and additions myself with help from friends in and out of the trades, I continue to work on my own vehicles and help or fix friends and family vehicles still, I camp with family and Scouts BSA from rustic backpacking to glamping in my 30' travel trailer.

I'd prefer a bus that is as rust free as I can find [rust sucks no matter how little there is and there is always some], if a 40' bus meets all of my criteria except length I'll shorten it, if a bus meets all my criteria except interior height I'll raise the roof. I try to be realistic, I do not believe there is a dog nose, diesel, OD auto, 4WD, rustfree [100%], high roof, 25-30' bus from the factory that is affordable or within my budget.

Lastly, if I was going to buy a new cab and chassi for $50-75K, I'd approach a bus company to spec order a partially finished school bus as I want the bones [no interior] to be and see if I couldn't get it for $50K brand spankin new. OR I'd get the cab and chassi and build a different type of expedition vehicle like a Turtle.

[Ronnie]

Originally Posted by Brain's 97 Diesel

Hello all, I appreciate all the opinions and input. Remember I am only in the planning phase of the project.

Parameters of my idea: Dog nosed diesel school bus; computer controlled,fuel injected and turbo charged; four wheel drive, to be able to go off the beaten path but not go four wheeling or rock climbing or anything radical; may raise roof as I am 6'0" and want to be comfortable; may shorten body length to what we deem necessary for 2 people and possibly 2 guests; rear garage, rear deck, and/or rear deck/car hauler area.

The new truck idea blows the budget before I even start, [I drive a 97 Ford F250 and a 1995 F150 BECAUSE they were inexpensive and I can fix them] and a cab and chassi with a box on the back is not a Skoolie but rather an Overlander off road motor home if 4WD, IDK what they call a 2WD.

I'll probably buy a donor truck with the 4WD items I need to convert the Skoolie to 4WD. The downside is more room needed to do the job, initial cost until parts truck is sold for parts or scrap, and obviously the time needed to do the actual conversion.

We all invest our time, talent, and/or treasure into the things we like/love, many times we invest one to save the other [time and/or talent over treasure] because we can and we like to. This forum, as I understand it, is for persons who want to build their own Skoolie [not buy one and not pay someone else to do it, enless you back yourself into a corner]. That is what attracted me to this forum, and I have more pride over what I make than what I buy [within reason]. I worked on cars for a living for 20+ years, I've lived in the same house for 30+ years doing most of the repairs, renovations, and additions myself with help from friends in and out of the trades, I continue to work on my own vehicles and help or fix friends and family vehicles still, I camp with family and Scouts BSA from rustic backpacking to glamping in my 30' travel trailer.

I'd prefer a bus that is as rust free as I can find [rust sucks no matter how little there is and there is always some], if a 40' bus meets all of my criteria except length I'll shorten it, if a bus meets all my criteria except interior height I'll raise the roof. I try to be realistic, I do not believe there is a dog nose, diesel, OD auto, 4WD, rustfree [100%], high roof, 25-30' bus from the factory that is affordable or within my budget.

Lastly, if I was going to buy a new cab and chassi for $50-75K, I'd approach a bus company to spec order a partially finished school bus as I want the bones [no interior] to be and see if I couldn't get it for $50K brand spankin new. OR I'd get the cab and chassi and build a different type of expedition vehicle like a Turtle.

My sentiments too. I am sure my bus makes no sense to many, but it is what I like and I have the skills to make it happen. Plus the fun of creating something special for my family.

[Seriousracer]

That’s why I am on that loadstar truck I have found three grand I have my parts.

[MultiFord]

Maybe try govplanet or ironplanet.com. The Navy Seabee's used commercial International 4X4 and 6X6 trucks back in the 80's and 90's. If you have an International school bus of the same time period, maybe the bus body will fit on the truck frame easier than trying to marry up some other parts? Regarding FMTV's; be careful. I forget which engine it is, but the block has a bad habit of cracking right behind the starter. I work on these things. (Just not right now as I'm deployed and have a non-maintenance mission). I can find out for you if you like.

[banman]

Personally...
Every once in a while the us army procurement did something right...
In this case OshKosh had already built these trucks for brush-land wild-fire suppression.
The army noticed and made very few changes to an "off the shelf item".
Anyway, in my army helo daze I had occasion to drive one of these configured as a 2000gal fuel truck to feed our helo's in the field...

I think if you got one of these in a flatbed configuration and dropped a connex on it you'd be years and thousands ahead on a build compared to making a school bus do what it was never meant to do...

Not trying to spoil a dream -- just no purpose to 4wd without the wheels and tires to take advantage of it.

If your dream means it must be an ol' school bus -- consider a selectable locker for the rear end. This will provide enough traction for a muddy road (IF YOU HAVE the right tires). If it's too muddy for that you've gone sunk down to the axles and 4wd will just dig you deeper...

Look at how different the undercarriage is of an army 5 ton 6x6 wd

[MultiFord]

Banman, glad I saw your post. The Cat 3126 is the engine that has the cracking problem in the FMTV's. Nothing wrong with the engine, but according to TACOM, vibrations from the front drive-line are what causes the crack. Cat fixed the problem by coming out with a thicker block. Now, it's irrelevant (for the Army at least) because we have the C-7 Cat and a lesser angle in the drive-line. No way to tell the difference between a thin block 3126 and a thick block 3126 that I know of. Casting numbers, serial numbers, build dates? But I don't have that info.

[Diverdude0075]

Brian, did you ever figure something out? Cool idea.