Raising the roof by lowering the floor?

[zQwkBrwnFox]

Hey guys,

I've been watching a lot of conversion videos online and the weapon of choice seems to be to raise the roof to gain more head room. I was wondering if anyone has cut into/lowered the floor of a skoolie and if there are any other hurdles associated with that- be it law or simple automotive logistics. Thanks a bunch!

The Fox

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by zQwkBrwnFox

Hey guys,

I've been watching a lot of conversion videos online and the weapon of choice seems to be to raise the roof to gain more head room. I was wondering if anyone has cut into/lowered the floor of a skoolie and if there are any other hurdles associated with that- be it law or simple automotive logistics. Thanks a bunch!

The Fox

Directly below the floor are cross-members that sit on the chassis rails. The body is bolted to the chassis with plates.

Neat idea, but it isn't going to happen.

[Jdawgsfanasty]

Originally Posted by zQwkBrwnFox

Hey guys,

I've been watching a lot of conversion videos online and the weapon of choice seems to be to raise the roof to gain more head room. I was wondering if anyone has cut into/lowered the floor of a skoolie and if there are any other hurdles associated with that- be it law or simple automotive logistics. Thanks a bunch!

The Fox

As twigg said...nope...I've thought about insulating the space created by the ribs in the floor panels...Idk...I ain't got my skoolie yet

Sent from my VS500PP using Tapatalk

[joeblack5]

Hi Fox,

Not sure what kind of bus you have. But that is my plan on our Elf bus( E350 van chassis) It has aluminum floor ribs and I would be helped with a partial galley ( bowling alley) in the middle. That will help with better view through the windows and also keeping the original structure intact. ( I know , a lot of opinions on that on this forum)
My floor ribs are channels on its side and it will not be hard to make a 3/4" aluminum reinforcement so that the center section can be lowered.
In my chassis I have only 4" of room to drop between the frame rails before I hit other parts. But it will be a valuable 4" for me at least.

Good luck , later J

[zQwkBrwnFox]

Originally Posted by joeblack5

Hi Fox,

Not sure what kind of bus you have. But that is my plan on our Elf bus( E350 van chassis) It has aluminum floor ribs and I would be helped with a partial galley ( bowling alley) in the middle. That will help with better view through the windows and also keeping the original structure intact. ( I know , a lot of opinions on that on this forum)
My floor ribs are channels on its side and it will not be hard to make a 3/4" aluminum reinforcement so that the center section can be lowered.
In my chassis I have only 4" of room to drop between the frame rails before I hit other parts. But it will be a valuable 4" for me at least.

Good luck , later J

Hey Joe Black,
Thanks so much for sharing! I was curious if anyone had tried or was going to try. I haven't gotten a bus yet, the Missus and I are still looking and planning a lot of things, but finding a way to utilize the empty space I've found under skoolies has captured my imagination and if getting under there is actually possible.

Your aluminum reinforcement. Are you welding it to the frame?

[joeblack5]

No. I will bolt it. I will cut some of the ribs just inside the frame rails. I will use a water jet to cut 3/4 Alu sheet in Z shape so that the top of the Z fits snug about 6" inside the ribs. The lowered rib and floor will fit snug in the lower part of the Z , so two Z's per rib.

I used to live in a VanHool city bus with a walking alley in the middle. The seating, tables and so were on the sides. A little step up was not a problem for us but having standing height and better vision is a big plus.

The E350 is going to be converted to 4x4 and so I do not want to loose structural strength messing with the roof. I also do not want to increase the bus height in regards to tip over and top heaviness. Lowering the floor lowers the center of gravity , at least on paper.

The cut alumium Z will extend of the frame rails and will be actually stronger than the unmolested rib channel.

later j

[o1marc]

Anything is possible with a little thought and deep pockets.

[joeblack5]

That is for sure but I do not think that this floor lowering( in my case) would cost more then $200 in material.

For the 4x4 ,.... I have all the parts, actually the whole 4x4 ambulance van. It used to be our expedetion vehicle before I blew the 7.3 engine head gasket. Bought that for $ 1900 7 years ago. So that part is almost only time. Time is free .

later J

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by joeblack5

That is for sure but I do not think that this floor lowering( in my case) would cost more then $200 in material.

For the 4x4 ,.... I have all the parts, actually the whole 4x4 ambulance van. It used to be our expedetion vehicle before I blew the 7.3 engine head gasket. Bought that for $ 1900 7 years ago. So that part is almost only time. Time is free .

later J

Material may be cheap, labor will be quite intensive.

[zQwkBrwnFox]

All the Power to you Joe.

[shwaydogg]

How did this go Joe? I've got an e450 was pondering the same question and came across this thread. Would love to see any pics and if you think it's a good idea or not!

[CoffeeGuy]

I did see a shuttle bus at a skoolie gathering where they lowered the floor between the chassis beams. They did a great job, it was a beautiful build throughout, but the key was that it was only between the rails that was lowered as an alley for moving through the vehicle, everything else was built to the original floor level.

[musigenesis]

I lowered a section of floor on my bus, although it's not a shuttle. The dropped section is great to have, but I don't think it makes any sense to do it unless you have to rebuild the floor anyway. It's much easier/faster/cheaper to raise the roof.

[joeblack5]

We got diverted from lowering the floor between the frame rails..we build Dory, home projects, put 4*4 under elfie and building a bus body on a unimog 404.

It is in my opinion easy and in expensive. The E350 and other vans tip over quit easy as I have experienced in a crash that I had with Elfie. So raising is a no no for me and lowering centered of gravity is better.

The caveat.. with the e350... You cannot go beyond the rear axle.. our aluminum cross ribs are 24" on centre..the short 5ft lowered distance between the frame rails makes it somewhat limited. For our layout, with the bed in the rear it would work out good.

Elfie is now partially rebuild from the accident and "upgraded" with a slide away litterbox and recirculating
shower so no action on the lowered floor.

At the door entrance you can only lower 2 to 3" because you have to go over the frame rails.

Good luck,
Johan

[shwaydogg]

oof i hope everyone was alright... That's so scary... how easy did it tip, if you don't mind me asking if it's hard to talk about.

Now I'm getting pulled in different directions to raise vs. not raise.

[joeblack5]

Hi SD,
See my thread elfbus...post 175.
With a dually I would think it is less likely and this was an accident not caused by a roof raise or high center of gravity.
How tall are you?

Johan