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Old 04-21-2006, 09:23 AM   #1
Skoolie
 
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Rear Door

Hi
I am converting my bus into a Toterhome or Toy hauler what ever you want to call it, it will have RV in the front and a garage in the rear, I need to open up the back so I can get ATV's in I am not sure what route I want to take drop down door or barn doors, has anybody else done this conversion yet? Pictures? Advice?

Thanks in advance..

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Old 04-21-2006, 09:43 AM   #2
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i dont know if i can find the photos....but i saw a bus that was used to put farm tractors inside for tractor shows.....that bus door hinged from the passenger side, and the entire rear of the bus swung open (sideways). Another option for atv's is to have doors on the sides of the bus...that way you can drive in one side, and back out the other. Or the tail secton could be hinged at the bottom, which would then allow you to incorporate that section of the bus as a ramp. One more option is to hinge the section at the top, and have it open up like a militar cargo plane (C130 maybe?)
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Old 04-21-2006, 09:50 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lapeer20m
i dont know if i can find the photos....but i saw a bus that was used to put farm tractors inside for tractor shows.....that bus door hinged from the passenger side, and the entire rear of the bus swung open (sideways). Another option for atv's is to have doors on the sides of the bus...that way you can drive in one side, and back out the other. Or the tail secton could be hinged at the bottom, which would then allow you to incorporate that section of the bus as a ramp. One more option is to hinge the section at the top, and have it open up like a militar cargo plane (C130 maybe?)

Thanks, I already have all them ideas rolling around in my head I was looking for pictures of something someone else already done to hopefully avoid any mistakes one might make doing the rear door thing also looking for tips and tricks.


Thanks agian,
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Old 04-21-2006, 07:05 PM   #4
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Thats the exact same reason I bought my bus. When I started to think about it I thought it would be a lot eaiser to just put a trailer hitch on it & pull the ATV's (or whatever) in the trailer.

Just a thought.
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Old 04-21-2006, 07:33 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phillbus914
Thats the exact same reason I bought my bus. When I started to think about it I thought it would be a lot eaiser to just put a trailer hitch on it & pull the ATV's (or whatever) in the trailer.

Just a thought.
For years I used a 24' starcraft RV and open trailer and grew tired of having my toys out on a open trailer so my quest for a enclosed trailer was started, my RV dont have the power to pull a enclosed trailer that I want , then a friend seen this bus on Evilbay and I got it for a pretty good price and it was close to home too, so I am ending up with my enclosed trailer but it has a engine heh

I will be installing a trailer hitch so I can tow a trailer on bigger trips when I team up with friends.
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Old 04-21-2006, 10:39 PM   #6
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I've seen a bus were someone made a small door out of the part to the left of the rear door (looking at the back of the bus from the outside) They opened sorta like barn doors, the right side (where the original back door hinges remains solid.

If I ever went that route, I think thats what I'd do.
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Old 04-22-2006, 05:03 AM   #7
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Trx altered the back of his bus to act as a ramp. You can see pictures at:
http://trx.punknet.org/gallery/skoolie
It's a pretty slick operation!
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Old 04-22-2006, 07:54 AM   #8
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I saw a bus on johndee.com a couple years ago where some guys modifeid the back end a bit and with a folding ramp they put 6 snowmobiles in the back. The pictures are not real good but anyways here is a link to the gallery.
http://www.johndee.com/guestshots/kenhelmer.htm
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Old 04-22-2006, 10:07 PM   #9
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Thanks guys thats what I am looking for, I started my conversion I will post some pics when I get more progress.
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Old 05-03-2006, 07:25 PM   #10
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Door

I have the suicide door cut into the left panel on the rear of my bus.
I used a large piano hinge and had some sheet metal bent up to close the open ends. It works slick. I will get some pics
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Old 05-10-2006, 09:29 PM   #11
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Here's a couple shots of another ramp configuration:

http://www.husbussen.se/images/start/mix/qld225_02.jpg

http://www.husbussen.se/images/start/mix/qld225_01.jpg
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Old 12-23-2017, 10:24 PM   #12
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None of the previous links are live. Can anyone direct me to options for converting to a wider rear door for motorcycle storage. I'm wanting to do a short 6-7' shop at the back with a hard wall and door up to the RV section.
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Old 12-23-2017, 11:10 PM   #13
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I've seen that done once to accommodate inflatable river rafts.

Are you sure a wheel chair lift wouldn't work well for that. My garage is in the rear 6' of the bus and the chair lift insures I don't have unhappy attempts at getting the bike through the back door.

Anyway to answer your question the widened rear entry that I saw was done by cutting out the driver's side portion of the rear wall, including the window. That section of wall was hinged so it could swing open opposite of the original rear door making about a six foot wide entry. From what I understand the biggest problem was they had trouble sealing airflow on that rear wall section.
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Old 12-23-2017, 11:28 PM   #14
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I just had a thought, cut off the back 6" of a front wrecked van and weld the door assembly to the rear of the bus. Takes care of the wind sealing issue. Wheel lift might work, but would need to accommodate 5' wheelbase and would add a bunch of weight.
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