Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 01-22-2020, 11:15 PM   #1
New Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 6
Grafting two shorties together?

Hi all, just joined with the intent to get some of the planning questions I had squared away.

I primarily want a shortie for maintenance reasons, with the powerplant being commercial rather than industrial I can theoretically take my build to any shop.

That being said, I wanted to know if it was feasible to buy two buses, and cut them up with the intent of turning a 5-window, two-axle shortbus into a 9-window, three-axle shortbus. This would be achieved by extending the chassis aft a few feet, then adding in the entire rear portion of a sort of sacrificial loaner bus, effectively stretching the whole thing out. Some concerns I have right away are with regards to welding the chassis of the bus, after all, that holds the whole thing together. What are your thoughts? Am I chasing a technical pipe dream that'd be completely unfeasible, or am I onto something?

NotSoShortBus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-22-2020, 11:39 PM   #2
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Georgia
Posts: 2,264
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: IH
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 14
My first thought is "why?" Full length and mid length buses are readily available, and frame welding is no trivial matter. Better to find a mid-length bus, or even a full length one and chop it down in length. As for the tandem axles, better to swap a pair from a road tractor than try to adapt from 2 buses - you'll end up with a properly engineered "twin screw" rather than one axle being unpowered, or trying to reinvent the wheel powering that 2nd axle. (And to that end, there was another thread that addressed this tandem axle conversion, basically the general consensus being that unless there was a specific need for the greater weight carrying capacity, there was not really any benefit to this).
Brad_SwiftFur is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2020, 04:12 AM   #3
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: May 2019
Location: Lebanon, Indiana
Posts: 911
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Winnebago
Chassis: Ford F53
Engine: Ford Triton V-10
Rated Cap: currently 2
Admittedly I am not seeing the point. Just buy a bigger bus? As Brad said, it would be easier to add a tandem axle set to a full size bus than weld together two short buses and make everything work. Can you help us understand why two short buses and not a mid-to-full-size bus?
Sehnsucht is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2020, 02:48 PM   #4
Skoolie
 
sepudo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: Socal and Vegas
Posts: 178
Year: 2003
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: fs65
Engine: 7.2 catapillar 3126
Rated Cap: 41 students
I also don't see the intended purpose being feasible. A shop that would have worked on your engine would likely take a look at the Frankenstein 3 axel bus and make a judgement call to not work on it...

YMMV
__________________
@drivingdharma
sepudo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2020, 04:05 PM   #5
Bus Geek
 
Jolly Roger bus 223's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Swansboro,NC
Posts: 2,973
Year: 86
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Ford B700
Engine: 8.2
Rated Cap: 60 bodies
and if a shop can and is willing and capable to work on a short bus engine/drivetrain then they should be fine with a medium size bus.
taking an axle out of one bus and adding it to another only adds to weight carrying capacity and doesnt make it an dual tandem axle.
i have looked into adding a tandem axle from a dump truck more for me because i have the access to several of them just out of service and would get to upgrade from tubed rims.
but the spring packs are double what is already a rough ride with a single medium duty axle and for my bus the spring perches dont match the frame width so some fabwork for that and then the wheel base is wider.
not scared of any of it but for me is alot of effort/time just to upgrade to more modern rims and i would have a bus that would have to be heavily loaded all the time to take the jarring out of the heavy rear suspension.
you can take springs out of the spring pack but if you pull to many then you have to find new u-bolts,pack clips and so on.
BUT THATS THE NATURE OF THE BEAST when you want to modify something.
good luck
Jolly Roger bus 223 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2020, 05:17 PM   #6
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 2,831
Year: 2007
Coachwork: Thomas Built
Chassis: Minotour
Engine: Chevy Express 3500 6.6l
Like this maybe?
Attached Thumbnails
0AF76229-5E40-4108-AB99-2D4920694CB6.jpeg  
Danjo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2020, 05:56 PM   #7
Bus Geek
 
musigenesis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 6,992
Year: 2003
Coachwork: International
Chassis: CE 300
Engine: DT466e
Rated Cap: 65C-43A
Quote:
Originally Posted by Danjo View Post
Like this maybe?
I really wish you could swear on this site so I could describe this as a "**** me **** you".
__________________
Rusty 87 build thread
musigenesis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-23-2020, 10:42 PM   #8
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 3,856
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Thomas Built Bus
Chassis: Freightliner FS65
Engine: Caterpillar 3126E Diesel
Rated Cap: 71 Passenger- 30,000 lbs.
What? You do not believe a parrot can sit on a top hat?
Native is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:03 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.