What is the interior height of your bus?

[nearhomeless]

Another poll, I got the impression many busses were barely over 6 feet standing room inside unlike many transit busses. Curious if this is so.

Anybody that has taller busses please post which model, i'm looking for something with more than average room if I can get it.

EDIT: added option to select more than one for if you have more than one bus.

[baadpuppy]

Both my Thomas Built Busses are exactly 6'0" inside standing height at the center line.

For the Thomas busses, I believe you will find 3 distinct heights. If you look at one in profile you'll see one of three profiles. Either the front is a little higher than the rest of the bus (about 3" difference), or it is the same height front to back, or the roof rises just behind the driver (again, about 3"). This leads to the interior heights of 6'0", 6'3", and 6'6".

I don't have any relevant experience with the other manufacturers of school busses.

Both my busses obviously have the roof drop behind the driver, leading to the 6'0" standing height.

Anyway, with this information, I suspect your poll values are mostly meaningless.

The fact is that a school bus will usually have less head room than a transit bus. ezbme has a thomas built transit bus that is the transit version of my school bus pusher, and it would be interesting to see the measurements of his bus.

It is my personal opinion that anyone that is willing to put sheet metal up where windows used to be and also intends to live full time in their bus should seriously consider doing a roof raise. There's a lot of information on this site and others that describe the process. Raising the roof won't cost a whole lot more than not raising it. It will give you the option to set your height where you want it within legal limits. It also gives you the option of using a LOT more insulation on your ceiling as you'll have more clearance.

I hope this information helps,
jim

[nearhomeless]

Actually what about a floor DROP? I'm considering doing that just for say the floor of the shower if it's doable, and maybe a full standing height next to a closet on the other side, those are the only places I absolutely would feel a need to stand up totally straight if I can.

However if certain bus chassis actually have 6ft 6 or higher heights on average i'd like to know, it will help shorten the list of busses to look at to more desirable ones.

I know a roof raise is doable it just seems like quite a bit of work or i'm worried about affecting the integrity of the bus.

I also might do a "center aisle roof raise" of just adding a 2 foot wide 1 foot higher "headstrip" down the center so that I can walk through it more easily.

One advantage of the lower roof compared to a motorhome is reduced fuel usage, people first surprised me telling me 10mpg in their busses but then I realized the aerodynamic load is less than a typical motorhome.

[baadpuppy]

On my roof raise I'm planning to make the forehead area be sloped somehow. I don't have the details worked out yet, but will before winter. In any case, I am worried about pushing a 8'Wx13'H wall down the road. I'm also doing research on how I should shape the rear raised section for better aerodynamics.

There's an amazing amount of things you can learn about when doing a bus conversion. And I just love learning.

BTW, are you keeping notes of all the answers and facts and figures that you're getting? If so, it might be worthwhile to create some pages on the wiki documenting specs.

I haven't considered doing a floor drop in my bus. It is an interesting idea, but I'm actually doing a floor raise in addition to the roof raise. That's not entirely accurate. I'm building a secondary floor that matches my new roof better than the stock floor. This gives me space between the two floors to put tanks and storage *inside* the bus. It also eliminates the hassle of dealing with the wheel wells when placing furniture and appliances.

My bus came with a nice underbelly storage compartment, which I intend to fill with batteries. It also came with a spare tire holder and a secondary battery holder, but I plan to re-purpose those. If I end up carrying a spare tire or two, they'll go in the trailer.

[nearhomeless]

baadpuppy - I'm letting the answers build up awhile since most of my posts only have a few responses. Once a clear pattern emerges or the topic seems to die due to lack of interest I plan to take notes on everything and compile down the information. I'll happily post my notes at that time, and hopefully start my own conversion project log by midsummer if I can get a bus by then.

I appreciate all the information i'm getting, I know i'm picking alot of brains very fast and being almost pushy in wanting answers as quick as possible, but I really am near homeless and i'm trying to make the RIGHT decisions instead of just making decisions out of desperation. I also hope to give back once i'm settled and out of danger, i've tried posting on the few topics I have some knowledge of. I also enjoy the learning process and playing "what if" wondering what else I can use them for - like finding the Class 7 busses have over 5 tons cargo capacity definately lets me know the firewood hauling plan is feasible so i'll be looking for a Class 7 bus on the side to be my 'truck' and try and make some money. I'm seeing skoolies as a solution to more than one problem right now which is part of why my questions or so wide ranging and varied.

[ezbme]

I have a Thomas Transit Liner which has 78" height inside. It is roomy & you may want to check into a Transit... alot easier than raising the roof or maybe dropping the floor as you mentioned.

[ezbme]

Originally Posted by baadpuppy

Both my Thomas Built Busses are exactly 6'0" inside standing height at the center line.

For the Thomas busses, I believe you will find 3 distinct heights. If you look at one in profile you'll see one of three profiles. Either the front is a little higher than the rest of the bus (about 3" difference), or it is the same height front to back, or the roof rises just behind the driver (again, about 3"). This leads to the interior heights of 6'0", 6'3", and 6'6".

The fact is that a school bus will usually have less head room than a transit bus. ezbme has a thomas built transit bus that is the transit version of my school bus pusher, and it would be interesting to see the measurements of his bus.

jim

Jim, I just saw your post... I still haven't gotten the chance to pick up my bus from the shop as my wife is still recovering from having the baby... When I get it home I will gladly measure the interior & post it. Should be home on monday ( I am dying - have only driven it once, about 30 miles!)