Hello!

[Gunnison Cowboy]

Hello everyone!

My adventure partner and I are in the market for a school bus to convert, we are excited! Our interests include roaming around the west, hiking, backpacking, etc. etc. and plan on living in the bus for extended periods of time. We love this style and basic conversion:

http://outsidefound.com/

and this one too:

The Expedition Happiness Bus | Expedition Happiness

So, the journey begins and we will be scouring all of the wonderful information and experiences contained here on skooklie.net. Thanks for posting all of the information and of course, any ideas and suggestions would be welcome.

[Thomas1985]

I would purchase one from Colorado that has a 5.38 rear axle so that you are always ready for mountain climbing. You don't want to burn up a transmission in the bus from Texas that wasn't built for going where you want to go.

-Thomas

[pepe]

Welcome,Have Fun. the west is beautiful i like the expedition happiness nice Bus.

[SDR76]

Gunnison Cowboy? I'm assuming you are FROM Gunnison? Gunnison Utah or Colorado? Im in Utah, Im building a bus similar to what you're looking at. Easy, Simple, basic. A nice place to sleep, a little kitchen, throw in the bikes, the canyoneering bag, and you're off! As stated earlier, gearing is an issue here in the rockies. Too low is no fun either, 55MPH top speed would suck.-- Welcome to the forum and the madness..

[Gunnison Cowboy]

Originally Posted by Thomas1985

I would purchase one from Colorado that has a 5.38 rear axle so that you are always ready for mountain climbing. You don't want to burn up a transmission in the bus from Texas that wasn't built for going where you want to go.

-Thomas

thanks for the advice!

[Gunnison Cowboy]

Originally Posted by SDR76

Gunnison Cowboy? I'm assuming you are FROM Gunnison? Gunnison Utah or Colorado? Im in Utah, Im building a bus similar to what you're looking at. Easy, Simple, basic. A nice place to sleep, a little kitchen, throw in the bikes, the canyoneering bag, and you're off! As stated earlier, gearing is an issue here in the rockies. Too low is no fun either, 55MPH top speed would suck.-- Welcome to the forum and the madness..

Hopefully the bus that we find to purchase is in/around Colorado, we spend a lot of time on the west slope and this is where the conversion will take place. Let's stay in touch!

[Tango]

The other advantage that many CO buses have is a retarder. Getting up a steep incline is typically a lot less scary than going down one. And a retarder will handle long, steep downhills all day where conventional brakes start to fade or completely go away.