Hello Everbody, I'm the new guy.

[Robin97396]

Yeah, assistants on handicapped buses can do the duck walk.

[homemadeheadache]

I gotta give a thumbs up to the school buses with the handicapped lift on them. Never saw one built as an RV conversion in person, but I have seen around a few of them around here re-purposed as work vehicles. The wheelchair lift doubles over as a nice liftgate. I'm guessing its less money to buy a used handicap bus rather than a box truck, like a retired u-haul, and then have a commercial tailgate lift installed. Seen some short ones owned by local plumbers, electricians and home contractors. Saw a landscaping company that used a medium length bus to haul the equipment in the rear and had a few seats left in upfront for more seating than any crew cab truck can offer. And that chair lift made getting the heavy lawnmowers and other heavier pieces of equipment down alot easier. And you can pull a utility trailer with the bus and not have to drop the trailer to use the lift since its on the side rather than rear.

[Robin97396]

I think you could probably buy a special needs bus for less than you can buy just the liftgate for a truck, not to mention the truck to put it on.

Yeah, how do you think I got my full size wood stove in here? It's rated at 600# and I hope it never has to lift any one person of that caliber. These newer lifts are nice and don't rattle like the old ones. They're a little to short for lifting a motorcycle without something to support the back wheel. It takes up a little floor space but its invaluable for lifting.

[homemadeheadache]

OK now, this is a small and rather unimportant detail. Yeah I'm still in the runaway dream planning stages, and yup still no bus. So. . . I've taken the time to start planning the living room's entertainment center. This is a mid 80's Magnavox TV that I pulled out of a garbage can about 4 years ago. It was covered in a brown dusty slime and didn't work. Why I took this home. . . I dunno. But it was a fun little project getting this thing working again. Now it sits in my hallway next to the computer. This little tv sits on top of and actually connected to a cable box, vcr and yes a 5.1 surround blu-ray dvd player. I guess fire away at will, but I think i'm going to make this old piece of useless junk the center of entertainment of my bus's living room.



This is an old picture when I first wasted my time making this thing work. it's quite a conversation piece to see something like this hooked up to a modern surround sound watching a dvd movie. They say when building a bus you get to do everything exactly the way you want, no matter what the norm is.

[EastCoastCB]

My TV is a 1968 Zenith.

[cadillackid]

I love the picture on CRT TV's.. I dont have any because im into the modern sleek look at home and a CRT takes way too much space.. but in my opinion the picture is better than an LCD.. my 4K HDTV isnt bad but still not quite the look of a CRT
-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

I love the picture on CRT TV's.. I dont have any because im into the modern sleek look at home and a CRT takes way too much space.. but in my opinion the picture is better than an LCD.. my 4K HDTV isnt bad but still not quite the look of a CRT
-Christopher

My Zenith has a turntable and am radio. Its in a big, wooden cabinet. It literally weighs at LEAST a few hundred lbs. I use it as a TV/monitor stand. My pc tower and 52" monitor sit atop the old dinosaur. Its been in the family since 68'.
Mine is similar to this one-

[dan-fox]

I'm planning on using a projection tv of some sort. Less to stagger into while underway.

[Robin97396]

It would be kind of cool to project tv on the ceiling while you're in bed.

I have a 32" flatscreen on a wall mount that I can angle and adjust for best viewing.

[cadillackid]

the modern projecters make great TV's.. I have an HD viewsonic I bought for like $600 and its extremely bright..

the advantage of a projector in your bus is that they are designed for being carted around.. so vibrations dont hurt them nor do hot / cold conditions...

as a plus if you want movie night outside with the family, clip a white shower curtaint to the drip rail on your bus and instant movie screen..

-Christopher

[dan-fox]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

as a plus if you want movie night outside with the family, clip a white shower curtaint to the drip rail on your bus and instant movie screen..

-Christopher

Ooh! Good idea!

[Robin97396]

My theory about sharing movies while camping would be putting my 32" flatscreen in the front window of the bus. My previous bus had smaller front windows than this diesel BB. This bus could handle about a 46" diagonal screen. it would be interesting to pipe the audio through the bus PA system to the exterior.

[homemadeheadache]

Been thinkning the same audio ways. seems like the buses I have seen around here have a radio and an internal PA anouncement system all piped through the same group of several overhead speakers in adidtion to the bull horn on the roof which is only PA. Would love to have a central audio system. Hang a white sheet on the side and fire a projector at it, listen to the sound through the PA and pull up some chairs, movie night in the park. . . . Add a few marine speakers on the passenger side outside when hanging out under the awning grilling and trying not to get eaten by the mosquitos. replace the overheads inside with some cheap car speakers. Heck, could even line some pins up at the bathroom door and try a few hands at bowling. Wont have to worry about damages from the ball, it would roll right out the back escape door on to the dirt. Friday night at the bowling alley anywhere you want it. . . . .well, sounds fun in theory. . . . . .sounds like the makings of a party bus. . . . . . oh, no. . . .looking for a quiet family escape, better stick to my original plan though can't hurt to think for fun too sometimes. . . . OK, I'm tired, long day at work, didn't sleep good last night so thats enough of a crazy rant from me. Back to reality and seriousness tomorrow. Going to a flooring supplier to look at some floor ideas. Would love to have hardwood, but going to look closer at some wood looking sheet vinyl flooring. This won't be a full time rig nor used in very cold weather so floor insulation might not be needed, hopefully. Seems like the best way to not decrease headroom. . . so that's it for now.
Goodnight all.