The Four Season Prime

[nat_ster]

Thx for looking guys.

That is my second Black and Decker battery charger. I had to leave the fist one behind when I left my ex wife.
I love it too. Best charger I have ever used by a mile.

A year ago I recommended someone on here to get one. I don't remember who.

Stock height of my bus was around 36 inches from the bottom of the floor to the ground at the rear wheels. Front was lower due to the slant in the suspension. I think they did this for better loading through the front door.

Bus got lifted for a few reasons.

First being the but load of rust under there that needs to be fixed. Removing that fuel tank I realized I needed more working room.

Second being I'm going for a full 36 inches of under belly storage. To achieve this, I needed to lift the bus 12 inches.
Frame will lift with the coach work. All tanks, engine, ect will all stay 12 inches from ground height. This will keep my handling and center of gravity where it needs to be.

The 190hp 5.9 Cummins AT 545 is coming out of the front, and the 8.3 Cummins MD3060 combo is going in the rear. Only reason I'm not converting the 40 foot rear engine bus, is I'm too far along already on this one to switch.

There is some real far out stuff about to happen on this bus.

Nat

[claydbal]

nat, since the B&D charger works so well, and yall give it a big thumbs up, would ya mind giving us a model number? i bought a schaefer and it really sux.

thanks

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by claydbal

nat, since the B&D charger works so well, and yall give it a big thumbs up, would ya mind giving us a model number? i bought a schaefer and it really sux.

thanks

I will post them when I get home tonight.

Nat

[family wagon]

That B&D charger has profiles for wet, gel, and AGM lead battery types. My one complaint is that it powers on to gel, but all my batteries are of the wet variety. First-world problem, I know, but I have to click the type button TWO TIMES to bring it around to the wet setting, and then several clicks on the rate button to get my 40 amps started.

In case anybody wants a very nice low-rate charger, I'm also fond of my Battery Doctor 8 amp charger from WirthCo. The great thing about it is that it remembers the battery type and the charge rate, so I have it installed on a dump trailer and all I have to do is plug it in. Most chargers default to their lowest setting but the Battery Doctor remembers what it was doing and resumes there.

[nat_ster]

This is the one I have.

Amazon.com: Black & Decker VEC1093DBD Smart Battery 40/20/10/4 Amp Battery Charger: Automotive

It's windy as hell here today. Makes me wish I was building a wind generator.

Nat

[claydbal]

thanks man. will be lookin for one.

[nat_ster]

I came home from work to find the wind had finally ripped the 30 x 60 tarp off my bus. I'm surprised I managed to keep it there all winter. Spring brings 100kmh + winds.



The tractor was a anchor for cross chaining when I was jacking the bus up.



The bus looks funny due to how short it is. That's fine, it's about to gain 8 feet of length and a wheel base stretch.



My ratchet strap tarp supports.







Nat

[bansil]

she looks unique all jacked up since your stretching, moving engine...hell might as well add a front drive axle
why not

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by bansil

she looks unique all jacked up since your stretching, moving engine...hell might as well add a front drive axle
why not

I wanted to, have the parts, but need the space underneath for storage. Storage space is one of the main reasons for changing the bus to rear engine.

I'm about to tow the new parts bus home. Last night I took two hours to pull the seats.

Nat

[family wagon]

Bummer about the tarp, but you're right it was a pretty good feat to keep it in place as long as you did. Fortunately (?) snow season is probably past and now it's on to rain, maybe with just one or two more slushy snowfalls.

[nat_ster]

We got more snow here this morning. However it should be gone by noon.

I linked a few more threads on the first post of this thread.

Engine driven Compressed air for skoolies without air brakes

http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f10/en...tml#post107247

My favorite Build Threads from Pirate 4x4

http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f9/my-...tml#post107747

Nat

[nat_ster]

For future reference, and educational use I will leave this here.

Originally Posted by Intalleyvision

So I'm convinced to use your method to raise the roof. Could you tell me exactly what you used? It seems like you attached the top of the scaffolding to the roof somehow? Is that correct? And then you just jacked up the scaffolding and therefore the roof?

Michael

Yes, I attached the tops of the scaffold frames to the ceiling in the bus. I also added a brace from the bottom of each scaffold frame, back to the ceiling, one 2x4 on each side.

To attach scaffold to ceiling, I first screwed a 8 foot 2x4 flat on the ceiling, spanning 3 ribs. Screws were number 14 3/8th bolt head screws, 2 inches long. I used two screws into each of the 3 ribs the 2x4 spanned.

The top peg of the scaffold would but up to the 2x4 on the ceiling. Under pressure, the top peg will dig into the 2x4 some. This is normal, and will keep the ped from moving.

Now the braces.
Scaffold uses metal braces that attach to pins that stick out from the scaffold frame. There are four half inch pins per scaffold frame. The bottom two pins are the two we are going to use.

Now drill a hole with a 1/2 inch wood drill bit, about 4 inches from the end of a 8 foot 2x4. That hole is what the 1/2 inch pin slides into.

Now swing the other end up to the ceiling, along side of the 2x4 that is screwed to the ceiling. Use some 3 inch deck screws, and screw into the side of the ceiling 2x4.

This creates the triangulation needed to keep the roof from moving front to rear.

The width of the scaffold frames keep the roof from moving side to side. Just be sure to lift both sides evenly.

When screwing up the jacks, I lifted the front 2 inches, then moved to the back. I kept repeating this till I was up 23 inches.

If you use 4 frames vs 2, you can use the metal scaffold braces, and no 2x4 triangulation brace is needed.

Nat

[nat_ster]

I traded some work for another bus. It's a Rear engine 96 Cummins 8.3 at 250 hp with a MD3060. 40 feet long, bud tires.

One of the rear radiator supports rusted out, and the shop mechanic took it apart just before Christmas break. He got back 2 weeks later and never put the cooling system back together. Two years later is was still sitting without the cooling system installed.

So now that it's mine, I intend to strip the interior, and put it back together, and make it drivable.

For Now............

Plan was to use it as a parts bus.........We will see....

Video of my favorite method of seat removal. Take out the two chair rail bolts, then do this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMRn...ature=youtu.be

Nat

[family wagon]

Aww come on, be a good sport and set the youtube video to non-private. Please?

[nat_ster]

Ops.

Sorry, I haven't uploaded anything to you tube in a while.

Should be fixed now. I forgot to press the publish button.

Nat

[jazty]

Oi, those are some nice looking rads!

Any chance you can move the driveline from this bus over to the one you've been working on?

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by jazty

Oi, those are some nice looking rads!

Any chance you can move the driveline from this bus over to the one you've been working on?

That is or was my plan.

I own three 5.9 12 Valve Cummins engines. Now I'm thinking of keeping the rear engine bus the way it is for now, just fixing it enough to make it drivable.

I can bump the power up on one of the 5.9's and find a MD3060 to put behind it. The four season prime is definitely becoming a rear engine bus, and getting extended 8 feet at the back.

My wife and I are having a baby in 4 months.

This is the main reason for needing 8 feet more room in the bus. When I started building the four season prime, it was just Shayleen and I. With having a little one, we need room for a bed and a desk. The 8 feet I'm adding will be just the right amount of space.

Nat

[jazty]

Well hot damn! Congratulations to both of you!

I'm looking forward to see how you get that additional 8' in length

[bansil]

congrates Nat I hadn't caught that before

[Tango]

Congratulations Nat! Talk about distractions. Hope you get a lot accomplished over the next four months.

Thanks goodness...mine is in her 40's now and I'm just beginning to relax a bit! Grandkids are a whole lot easier to deal with.