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Old 01-11-2015, 11:29 AM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Vermont
Posts: 49
Year: 2003
Engine: DT466E
Exclamation Safety

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to your forum and community. Thanks for letting us in.

Last year our family rebuilt a travel trailer (like right down to the bones...) it came out awesome... but even better the family love traveling with it.

We have bee looking at RV's, but my wife is super safety woman... and has read too much about passenger (we have 4 kids) safety in the traveling section of Class Cs or As. So here we are... she wants a school bus conversion.

Traditional, Flat nose front engine, Flat nose rear engine... clearly there are tradeoffs. I've never been in anything but a traditionally configured bus.

QUESTIONS:

How much engine is in front of the driver in a front-engine flat nose, front engine? enough to offer some protection? 2ft to windshield? 6 inches...?

I plan on leaving (in or putting in) safe traveling seats at/near the front of the bus and fabricating a secure barrier to prevent flying debris in the event of a frontal collision. Has anyone done something like this before here?

I am 6'6" and plan to raise the roof ('woot woot'... sorry). and am envisioning a 4" lift in the center 4ft starting about 12 ft back. Can anyone comment on or show pictures of the structure of the roof reinforcements?

Final question... I can pick a rig up on Craigslist locally, or I am willing to travel to get a decent rig. Aside from craigslist or google search generic returns, can anyone recommend a wholesaler?

Thanks in advance!!! -Kyle

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Old 01-11-2015, 01:27 PM   #2
Bus Geek
 
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Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: MNT CITY TN
Posts: 5,158
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Consider this one key part, your bus will be over 16k pounds

If you hit a solid wall or an 18 wheeling that is 80k you are screwed be it flat nose or dog nose

Now consider almost 99% of vehicles on the road weigh less than 5k you will move them and they will absorbs the energy or impact

Now issue with conventional rv's....they are made of fiberglass, have you seen one in a bad accident? Nothing is left, a skoolie is the safest passenger carrying vehicle on the road, even safer than some OTR buses due to extra side impact ribbing and people in skoolies normally wear seatbelts

Also notice the floor/seat mounts are above 99% of the vehicles for side impact protection


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