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Old 11-10-2019, 06:03 PM   #21
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The biggest change might be the swing factor. I would go to a parking lot with a buddy and chalk on a stick and see what an extra 4' of tail does to the turning radius. And any steep grade transition it won't take much to drag a dovetail that is now levered out and down.

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Old 11-10-2019, 06:03 PM   #22
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When talking about not having the student weight back there now, you also don't have the weight of 60 students in the middle of the bus. It could skew the calulations, just sayin. And you did say "full size" bus, to me, that's a 40'er.. The distance from the rear wheels to the rear is the same (4windows) on my 37' and the 40'. So the shorter the bus, the more pronounced the effect.
My bus has 3 windows behind the rear wheel wells. 2 windows over the wheel wells... The center post between those windows is exactly centered over the rear wheels.

The person who I bought this bus from had an identical bus that was 2' longer behind the rear tires... Same wheel base or very close to the same.
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Old 11-10-2019, 06:11 PM   #23
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What bus is it? Length (36'), windows? Again, big issue would be ground clearance. My bus parked in the driveway on a grade takes the 40" flat clearance to less than half that. Might be a benefit for loading said Jeep without a ramp.
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Old 11-10-2019, 06:13 PM   #24
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Took some measurements.

From the center post over the rear wheel wells between the windows to the rear wall is 10'.

This is why I wanted the 4' dove tail for an overall 14'.

If 4' is going to be too much, I could possibly move the back wall of our living space but we'd lose living space.
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Old 11-10-2019, 06:15 PM   #25
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What bus is it? Length (36'), windows? Again, big issue would be ground clearance. My bus parked in the driveway on a grade takes the 40" flat clearance to less than half that. Might be a benefit for loading said Jeep without a ramp.
Bus is a '93 IH (Ward Body). 11 windows on the door side. 3 behind the wheel arches. Have not measured overall length.Click image for larger version

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Old 11-10-2019, 06:19 PM   #26
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Same dilemma I run into. Not enough living space and room for toys also. I don't really want a bigger bus, so the 7.5' garage eats up space that could be utilized better for living. Everything ends up being a compromise. Still trying to find some "closet" space in mine.
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Old 11-16-2019, 04:13 PM   #27
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I believe federal highway regulations prohibit a single vehicle over 40 feet long. You might need a commercial license to drive an oversized beast. You should look into that before you pursue this much further.
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Old 11-16-2019, 04:18 PM   #28
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I believe federal highway regulations prohibit a single vehicle over 40 feet long. You might need a commercial license to drive an oversized beast. You should look into that before you pursue this much further.
Federal regulations do not prohibit a 45' long class A or converted bus.
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Old 11-16-2019, 04:24 PM   #29
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Overall length will likely still be under 40'
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Old 11-16-2019, 04:42 PM   #30
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I believe federal highway regulations prohibit a single vehicle over 40 feet long. You might need a commercial license to drive an oversized beast. You should look into that before you pursue this much further.
Coaches are regularly longer than 40' (45') and have no restrictions on Federal roads.
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Old 11-16-2019, 04:47 PM   #31
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On a side note, I took some measurements of a local BIG bus. The big FE had 13' 6" behind the rear axle centerline. Mine is only 10'.

With that said, if say drivability as far as swing and such are concerned will be very similar and they don't seem to have any problems getting around in our small town.
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Old 11-16-2019, 07:07 PM   #32
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Overall length will likely still be under 40'
Is that like a "bag of holding"?

That is the only way I can think of to get a 45' bus to under 40".

OK... I am dating myself

45' RV's and buses exist and are permitted to travel in all 50 states.

For a number of years you could buy, pay tax and registration on a 45' rig in California but it was illegal to drive them on public roads. This law was not generally enforced. Some years ago a group of RV enthusiasts with $$$ worked to get that changed.

I would have no reservations buying a 45' bus.
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Old 11-16-2019, 07:34 PM   #33
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Is that like a "bag of holding"?



That is the only way I can think of to get a 45' bus to under 40".[emoji3][emoji3]



OK... I am dating myself [emoji3]



45' RV's and buses exist and are permitted to travel in all 50 states.



For a number of years you could buy, pay tax and registration on a 45' rig in California but it was illegal to drive them on public roads. This law was not generally enforced. Some years ago a group of RV enthusiasts with $$$ worked to get that changed.



I would have no reservations buying a 45' bus.
Lol

I'm pretty sure my bus is only 35-36' overall currently. It's an 11 row conventional with 10' behind the rear axle... 25' behind the driver's seat. Even with the additional 3-4', I'll likely still be under 40'.

It's on the small side of full size.
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Old 11-17-2019, 12:05 AM   #34
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Tail swing is gonna be your biggest issue. That’s gonna be hooking cars in the next lane etc- Is build a ramped section to drive and stow the Jeep on. Keep it close- so you won’t be hooking every car and post during a simple turn in a parking lot or down the street.
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Old 11-17-2019, 12:12 AM   #35
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Tail swing is gonna be your biggest issue. That’s gonna be hooking cars in the next lane etc- Is build a ramped section to drive and stow the Jeep on. Keep it close- so you won’t be hooking every car and post during a simple turn in a parking lot or down the street.
Tail swing should be similar to 40' busses that run 13+' behind the rear axle unless I'm thinking wrong
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Old 11-17-2019, 02:48 PM   #36
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Hey all's...


So who here has added at least 4' to the rear of their full size bus?

I just drove my big bus home from Iowa (what a trip! Build thread to start soon).

Taking measurements, I'll need a 4' dove tail extension to the rear of the frame to give me the 14' of open rear flat deck for our jeep. Going to talk to an engineer friend of mine at the local fab shop for material selection (likely 6" channel or similar). This section will support the rear of the jeep (not much weight... Maybe 1200 lbs).

So.. who has done a large extension? How is it to drive with as far as tail swing and such? Any problems come up with it?

Thanks!
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Old 11-17-2019, 03:16 PM   #37
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Mr4btTahoe,
"Taking measurements, I'll need a 4' dove tail extension to the rear of the frame to give me the 14' of open rear flat deck for our jeep. Going to talk to an engineer friend of mine at the local fab shop for material selection (likely 6" channel or similar). This section will support the rear of the jeep (not much weight... Maybe 1200 lbs)."


The only thing I question is:

When you set the ramp up to drive the jeep on you'll have the full weight of the jeep on the extension -- plan for that.

Post pix of how you do it. Some day, this may be what I want for my bus...
Would ramps like on an equipment trailer solve this issue for loading? My old trailer the ramps were wedge shaped so when I drove stuff up the ass of the trailer didn't squat down and yank my truck up in the air. When folded up they were out of the way, even with longer stuff where I had to have ramps basically straight up and down the ramps still didn't cause an issue for me. Now this was on a home made equipment trailer I bought to haul junk cars I'm not sure how well the design would work on a bus, the ramps were very heavy 100+ lbs each so that may cause an issue.
Edit** also the biggest heaviest thing I hauled was an extended e350 full of scrap metal from HVAC installs, it was behind a extended cab Chevy 1500, not safe by any means but in my defense it was a very short distance from where I picked it up to the scrap yard, and loading that didn't lift the rear of the truck, but when the weight of the van was fully on the trailer it made that poor truck squat almost to the bumpstops, very sketchy ride I must admit.
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Old 11-17-2019, 05:26 PM   #38
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The Thor Outlaw has a rear deck. It's designed on a pulley system, like a draw bridge. Held up by two really strong steel cables. Check out their design.
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Old 11-18-2019, 08:27 PM   #39
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I highly doubt it'll be enough weight to make the front feel light let alone lift it off the ground. The main weight of the jeep will be 1' behind the rear axle of the bus... And with 3k+ lbs of drivetrain/powertrain and 2k+ lbs of fuel 8' in front of the rear axle... I don't think it'll make any noticeable difference.

Also considering it's designed cargo... There was originally ~2500 lbs worth of kids behind the rear axle (estimated at 100lbs per kid). I don't think adding a total weight of 1500lbs is going to cause any issues (especially since the chassis is rated substantially higher than the coach builder rated it for).



Why so much fuel?
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Old 11-18-2019, 09:02 PM   #40
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We Homebrew our fuel and prefer to run it as much as we can.

We've got some planned trips that will be over 1k miles and would like to make the majority of the drive without paying out the nose for fuel.
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