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 04-05-2018, 01:06 PM   #1
New Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 1
Smile New to conversions but not new to travel

Hello!

I have a feeling I will be spending a lot of time on this site in the coming weeks. We are a family of 8 (6 kids ages 11 and under with another due in the coming weeks). We spent a chunk of time last year travelling (26 states and 4 provinces over 3-4 months). The first bit was with our van and a tent trailer boondocking; the second bit was in hotels.
We then bought a 5th wheel to use with bunkhouse but don't like the idea of having to take two vehicles so have turned towards bus conversions.
Hubby is thankfully an engineer and crazy handy so I'm hoping we won't have too much difficulty in the process (although I'm not so green that I don't know we will have a ton of set backs along the way!)
Anyway, I just wanted to pop in and introduce myself before I start commenting and asking questions!

SupermomStickyKids is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2018, 02:18 PM   #2
Bus Nut
 
johnbloem1974's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Montana/Texas
Posts: 682
Year: 1998
Coachwork: Crown by Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: 230 HP DT 466e/MT 643!
Rated Cap: 16
Welcome to the madness! If you haven't yet, read as many different build threads as you can. It is really helpful to see different ideas and what works/doesn't work for different situations...
This forum has been instrumental in helping many people out(myself included) - welcome aboard and take lots of pics along the way.

John
johnbloem1974 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-07-2018, 03:19 AM   #3
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Winlcok, WA
Posts: 2,233
I can understand not wanting to have to drive two vehicles everywhere you go. With a bus conversion you would be able to tow a vehicle which would allow you a different vehicle to use while the "house" is set up.

With so many people along for the ride you are going to have to get very creative in how you set up the living arrangements. What works on a warm sunny day most probably won't work nearly as well on a cold rainy day.

There have been a few builds on here that have come up with some really neat ideas to transform sleeping spaces at night into living spaces during the day.

Regardless of how you lay things out you are going to have to design and build some sort of bunk bed arrangement. Even if you raise the roof two feet you are still going to have some pretty tight sleeping arrangements.

There is a company that has been doing just that for more than sixty years. They run their rigs all over the world and get a lot of repeat customers. So their arrangements must work for people. Each of their sleeping pods are 6x6x3.

You can see a few of their rigs here: https://www.uniqhotels.com/rotel-german-bus-hotel

The most important thing you need to find is a bus with the biggest HP engine and high speed rear gearing. It is much less expensive to purchase a bus with those spe'c's than to "fix" it later.
cowlitzcoach is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-07-2018, 08:46 AM   #4
Bus Crazy
 
2kool4skool's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Spring Valley AZ
Posts: 1,343
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Bluebird
Engine: 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 2 elderly children, 1 cat
Welcome!....
__________________
Don, Mary and Spooky the cat.
2kool4skool 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 11:53 AM.


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