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Old 01-16-2016, 12:02 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Champaign, IL
Posts: 26
Year: 1998
Coachwork: Collins
Chassis: Ford
Engine: 7.3L Diesel
Rated Cap: 16
Raising the roof?

My first bus was a Ford/Collins DRW 4 window - the height at centerline was I think 78 inches. I am 74 inches tall so it was not too bad. I'm wondering if anyone has raised the roof on a skoolie and if so how they did it and how it turned out. I'm considering cutting the roof ribs and building a raised roof another 6 inches higher. Perhaps building in sky lights for additional daylight. Another option I've considered is lowering the floor - good deal of work involved there though.

Collins is one of the few manufactures in school buses with a high enough roof for me to stand up in. I've passed up some nice looking Ford/Thomas van buses because the ceilings are too low.

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Old 01-16-2016, 12:05 PM   #2
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
use google to search for "skoolie roof raise".
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Old 01-16-2016, 12:22 PM   #3
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Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Sedona, AZ
Posts: 77
Year: 1995
Chassis: Thomas Saf T Line
Engine: 8.3L Cummins
Check out my thread 3 foot roof raise in N AZ. Im still posting pics to get me to present day but you can see some of it. I also have videos all along the build on my FB page
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Old 01-16-2016, 06:02 PM   #4
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Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Vacaville, Ca
Posts: 1,634
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Crown / Pusher
Engine: 8.3 Cummins
I'm 6' & raised mine 11.5 in
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Old 01-18-2016, 09:24 AM   #5
Bus Nut
 
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Location: Kansas
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Year: 2000
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: Your mom +1
I did a 16" raise, and at just about 5'11" I have plenty of headroom after putting 3.5" of insulation in the floor and 3.5" in the roof... If you do raise it I would go at least a foot up. Its a lot of work to do the raise but the results are well worth it.
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Old 01-18-2016, 01:14 PM   #6
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Salt Lake City Utah
Posts: 1,635
Year: 2000
Chassis: Blue Bird
Engine: ISC 8.3
The thing that makes it hard is once you've decided to sink the time and money to do the raise, the marginal cost of each inch is almost zero. It's hard to limit yourself to something reasonable! I'm part-way through raising mine 16 inches. Up to around 24 inches would have cost essentially the same for my design, but I decided that was more height than I wanted.
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Old 01-18-2016, 05:40 PM   #7
Bus Geek
 
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
I can't decide. I'm going at least a foot but starting to think 16" may be ideal.
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Old 01-18-2016, 11:11 PM   #8
Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Johnstown, PA
Posts: 248
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: TC 2000
Engine: 5.9
Rated Cap: 83
My window openings are 24 1/4" top to bottom. I'm going to raise the roof 23 1/4" so that a 4' wide sheet of steel will fit with 1/2 " under the roof sheet. I think that is the best use of material. That will also give me 12" of tubing inside the hat channel above and below the cut. I think that will be plenty strong enough. Good luck.
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Old 01-19-2016, 04:59 PM   #9
Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Johnstown, PA
Posts: 248
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: TC 2000
Engine: 5.9
Rated Cap: 83
Correction. I was out working on the bus today and saw that 1/2" will not be enough. I need 2" above the bottom of the eyebrows so I will be raising the roof 21 3/4". Sorry for any confusion.
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Old 01-25-2016, 03:43 PM   #10
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Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Billings, MT
Posts: 1,269
Year: 2003
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Chassis: HDX
Engine: Cat C7
Rated Cap: 84 passenger
Not to complain, cjnunn69, but you've posted the same post 4 times!
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Old 01-25-2016, 04:04 PM   #11
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Yeh sorry I'm new. Keep pressing buttons. What's the craic? Where's best place to post the subject?
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