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 08-28-2019, 01:38 PM   #1
New Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 6
Hello!

I’m a new member and looking to buy a bus in the next 4 months so I’m doing research now. Is there a checklist of all the supplies I will need somewhere that I can download or print out??

MagicalMermaid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 03:31 PM   #2
Bus Crazy
 
kazetsukai's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Athens, TN
Posts: 1,574
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: International RE
Engine: International T444e
Rated Cap: 76
No. The supplies you will need depend on your floor plan, layout, what you're using it for, among other factors. I would find it difficult to even list out every piece I'd need to get for a specific portion of the bus. You'll never have a comprehensive list of everything "needed" to build. You may in hindsight be able to produce such a thing, but never before getting into it and working through the process.


Perhaps if you could give us some background, what your intended use is, what kind of bus you're going for, etc, you may be able to get a very rough overview of what you might need. But it will never be comprehensive.
kazetsukai is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 04:21 PM   #3
New Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 6
Thank you so much for the kind reply. I’m from New England and want to leave for the winters and travel where it’s warmer . I’m looking to get a bus with the flat front and as big as I can make it. I want to be able to boondocks with solar panels but I know I’ll probably need a generator. I would ultimately like to avoid needing to use RV parks as much as possible and go as cheaply as possible. I would want a wireless security system of some sort, maybe one of those home systems might work ? I’m a single mom with a baby that is 8 months old so he will probably be at least a year and a half by the time I get Into a bus, maybe older .most of the time it will be me and the baby and one other adult with me but I would like to be able to accommodate sleep for a max of 4 adults. I have a friend that can help Me do the build and his dad is an electrician. I want to go visit my friend in Key West for sure as one of my destinations . I lived in small spaces for 12 years when I was in the DC area so I have no problem being a minimalist but I need AC and heat of course. Probably won’t want to do a wood stove though. I want to put the pretty wood on the ceiling , I’m aware that it all needs to be ripped out first and insulated. I found another article with a whole detailed list of a solar set up and I know they can be expenisive depending how much power I will need.
MagicalMermaid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 04:29 PM   #4
New Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 6
I also want to add that I may want to live in it in cold weather or more year round so I need it to be warm enough for New England too.
MagicalMermaid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 04:39 PM   #5
Bus Crazy
 
kazetsukai's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Athens, TN
Posts: 1,574
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: International RE
Engine: International T444e
Rated Cap: 76
Quote:
Originally Posted by MagicalMermaid View Post
I also want to add that I may want to live in it in cold weather or more year round so I need it to be warm enough for New England too.

Alright. Your needs sound similar to mine. I live in Southern NH, and am two years into my build. I've done a lot of things to accommodate the cold weather here. If you'd like, we could network. Before me and my girlfriend got started, we went to a class by THNE (Tiny House North East) on tiny houses/trailers, and while kind of adjacent to skoolies, alot of the same problems and solutions fit, so we know how having a precedent resource can help.


Feel free to check out my build page, or PM me.

http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f11/ka...ild-22680.html
kazetsukai is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 04:44 PM   #6
New Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 6
OMg I live in Claremont NH!!! I’ll check out your page right now. Small world.
MagicalMermaid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 04:50 PM   #7
Bus Crazy
 
kazetsukai's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Athens, TN
Posts: 1,574
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: International RE
Engine: International T444e
Rated Cap: 76
Quote:
Originally Posted by MagicalMermaid View Post
OMg I live in Claremont NH!!! I’ll check out your page right now. Small world.

Windham, myself.
kazetsukai is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 06:15 PM   #8
Bus Geek
 
musigenesis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 6,995
Year: 2003
Coachwork: International
Chassis: CE 300
Engine: DT466e
Rated Cap: 65C-43A
Item number one on your checklist is "buy a bus far far away from New England".
__________________
Rusty 87 build thread
musigenesis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 06:19 PM   #9
Bus Crazy
 
kazetsukai's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Athens, TN
Posts: 1,574
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Amtran
Chassis: International RE
Engine: International T444e
Rated Cap: 76
Quote:
Originally Posted by musigenesis View Post
Item number one on your checklist is "buy a bus far far away from New England".

Haha, yeah, mine came from Oregon. I gave up looking for buses around here when I went to see one in RI, the floor joists crumbled to the touch. Wouldn't have made the right turn out of the driveway- yet the interior was immaculate.
kazetsukai is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 06:30 PM   #10
New Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 6
Wow. That’s great advice. I wouldn’t have realized this. How can you tell? Get underneath it and look for rust?
MagicalMermaid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 06:35 PM   #11
Bus Geek
 
musigenesis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 6,995
Year: 2003
Coachwork: International
Chassis: CE 300
Engine: DT466e
Rated Cap: 65C-43A
Quote:
Originally Posted by kazetsukai View Post
Haha, yeah, mine came from Oregon. I gave up looking for buses around here when I went to see one in RI, the floor joists crumbled to the touch. Wouldn't have made the right turn out of the driveway- yet the interior was immaculate.
Ha ha, I remember looking at one bus where I could see into the inside of the bus from outside in the wheel well. Unfortunately, it was my bus.
__________________
Rusty 87 build thread
musigenesis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 06:38 PM   #12
Bus Geek
 
musigenesis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 6,995
Year: 2003
Coachwork: International
Chassis: CE 300
Engine: DT466e
Rated Cap: 65C-43A
Quote:
Originally Posted by MagicalMermaid View Post
Wow. That’s great advice. I wouldn’t have realized this. How can you tell? Get underneath it and look for rust?
You can tell because the bus came from New England (or more generally, from the rust belt where they get a lot of snow and use salt on the roads). You just do not find buses that don't have rust problems, and the rust situation is often not fully apparent until you gut the bus and see what you've got.

My bus came from Buffalo, NY originally. Check out my build thread to see how nice a bus can look on the outside while being a gateway to Hell on the inside. On the plus side, I did get a cool spoiler on the back!
__________________
Rusty 87 build thread
musigenesis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 06:45 PM   #13
New Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 6
I just checked it out. It didn’t occur to me that the whole floor is metal underneath ��
MagicalMermaid is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 07:32 PM   #14
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 2,831
Year: 2007
Coachwork: Thomas Built
Chassis: Minotour
Engine: Chevy Express 3500 6.6l
Quote:
Originally Posted by MagicalMermaid View Post
Wow. That’s great advice. I wouldn’t have realized this. How can you tell? Get underneath it and look for rust?
Rust is one thing to look at and based on photos I’ve seen, you’ll want to pay attention to that for sure. But you’ll also want to have all the mechanicals checked and the tires too, both wear and age. If you aren’t mechanically experienced you might consider a dealer bus or a private party and stay away from auctions so you can get that thorough inspection. Take your time on finding the bus. Ask the experienced people on this site questions about what you want to get. I’ve seen some people steered away from big mistakes by asking here. I’m amazed at how much experience there is on this site!
Danjo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 08:04 PM   #15
Bus Geek
 
musigenesis's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 6,995
Year: 2003
Coachwork: International
Chassis: CE 300
Engine: DT466e
Rated Cap: 65C-43A
Quote:
Originally Posted by MagicalMermaid View Post
I just checked it out. It didn’t occur to me that the whole floor is metal underneath ��
Here's a cool video on how one particularly common type of bus is built (watch part 2 as well): (floor part starts at 3:05). For me this video is amazing because it's my type of bus and I was able to see exactly how my floor is put together - pretty useful given how much of it I need to repair/replace.
__________________
Rusty 87 build thread
musigenesis is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-28-2019, 08:45 PM   #16
Bus Crazy
 
plfking's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: N.C.
Posts: 1,136
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Bluebird
Engine: DT466E
Rated Cap: 34
Quote:
Originally Posted by musigenesis View Post
Ha ha, I remember looking at one bus where I could see into the inside of the bus from outside in the wheel well. Unfortunately, it was my bus.


"Tis but a scratch.......I've had worse."
__________________
Don

The Busted Flush
plfking 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 11:32 AM.


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