Bus Challenger

[New2Skool]

Hello My wonderful Skoolie people.
This winter has been long and frustrating in efforts to work on the bus.
I have been stockpiling materials, supplies and planning.
There are materials to insulate, sheath and rough in my flooring.
I have cedar ready to space out the walls before spraying insulation.
Windows have been purchased and are ready for installation once framing is confirmed.
So, there is no physical progress on the bus but, I am ready to rock and roll as spring finally springs which appears to be soon.
I need to thank each and every one of you lucky souls in warm climates that were able to share the year round work on your skoolies. It helped to feed my fire and remind me of what I am working towards.

The reason for my thread today is the newest arrival and challenger to my skoolie project.

http://i.imgur.com/X6lzQbU.jpg

This is my new truck, one that I have wanted to own for many years. Now, I do. So, it has already stolen much of my time, energy and money away fromt he Skoolie.

Either way, I love them both and it is pretty cool we have the Skoolie Forum and now I am on the Steel Soldiers Forum another site much like this one but for MVs (Military Vehicles).

Have a great day.

[Njsurf73]

Originally Posted by New2Skool

Hello My wonderful Skoolie people.
This winter has been long and frustrating in efforts to work on the bus.
I have been stockpiling materials, supplies and planning.
There are materials to insulate, sheath and rough in my flooring.
I have cedar ready to space out the walls before spraying insulation.
Windows have been purchased and are ready for installation once framing is confirmed.
So, there is no physical progress on the bus but, I am ready to rock and roll as spring finally springs which appears to be soon.
I need to thank each and every one of you lucky souls in warm climates that were able to share the year round work on your skoolies. It helped to feed my fire and remind me of what I am working towards.

The reason for my thread today is the newest arrival and challenger to my skoolie project.

http://i.imgur.com/X6lzQbU.jpg

This is my new truck, one that I have wanted to own for many years. Now, I do. So, it has already stolen much of my time, energy and money away fromt he Skoolie.

Either way, I love them both and it is pretty cool we have the Skoolie Forum and now I am on the Steel Soldiers Forum another site much like this one but for MVs (Military Vehicles).

Have a great day.

Can that be registered and driven on the road?

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[BurlKing]

sure looks like it can, has customized MN plates, somebody has been driving that thing! very cool.

[New2Skool]

Yes it can be, that is one of the hassles of buying these vehicles. They are dirt cheap from gov auction sites, 5-8k but you are buying an unseen vehicle without any records, details or top to bottom inspection. Once, you win the auction you have to do a mountain of paperwork, Dept of Defense, End User Cert, Residency requirements and inspections, purpose and background check all of that. Then once the paperwork is done you wait between two and seven months before you can hire a federal licensed transport to pick up, transport and deliver your vehicle to you. That is when you get to start dealing with having a vehicle that doesnt have a title or ownership. The state is not going to be happy with that and since they dont deal with these vehicles often not many people there know how to process a vehicle like this. Before it is titled it needs to be inspected be declared road worth and demilitarized. Then it needs an emissions stamp and inspection. Then you get to visit your local state police office and go over traffic requirements, lighting needs to be changed and or added, safety features need to be installed, and all of that fun stuff.

Once that is done, you can apply for a street legal road title.
Then you can cruise these big loud cold noisy cramped machines through town at a whooping cruising speed of 42-56 mph at a crushing 7-9 mpg.

All that if you are lucky enough to get a vehicle that runs, doesnt need 7,000 in work and parts. Trust me insurance companies hate them as well, they are the same as skoolies except a skoolie can be visualized as an RV and easily converted into RV guidelines. A humvee cant really be anything else than an off road vehicle, a massive gas guzzling joy rider or a war machine so it is tough.

I was very lucky to find a pre-gulf war vehicle with under 30,000 miles that was well treated. It was a national guard depot truck issued to a Lt. Ward. It was overhauled, upgraded and rebuilt in 2012 and sold in 2015 as surplus. The original owner went through everything listed above and unfortunate his business is sinking and he needed to unload his projects, Humvee, Stringray, Boat and Vacation home but to my gain I was able to snag the truck off him for $13,500 and so far I have put about $2,000 into it. Replacing half axles, 200 amp 24v generator not an alternator and numerous small things to upgrade major systems and components.

So, look out Skoolie you are in a battle for attention now haha.

[Njsurf73]

Originally Posted by New2Skool

Yes it can be, that is one of the hassles of buying these vehicles. They are dirt cheap from gov auction sites, 5-8k but you are buying an unseen vehicle without any records, details or top to bottom inspection. Once, you win the auction you have to do a mountain of paperwork, Dept of Defense, End User Cert, Residency requirements and inspections, purpose and background check all of that. Then once the paperwork is done you wait between two and seven months before you can hire a federal licensed transport to pick up, transport and deliver your vehicle to you. That is when you get to start dealing with having a vehicle that doesnt have a title or ownership. The state is not going to be happy with that and since they dont deal with these vehicles often not many people there know how to process a vehicle like this. Before it is titled it needs to be inspected be declared road worth and demilitarized. Then it needs an emissions stamp and inspection. Then you get to visit your local state police office and go over traffic requirements, lighting needs to be changed and or added, safety features need to be installed, and all of that fun stuff.

Once that is done, you can apply for a street legal road title.
Then you can cruise these big loud cold noisy cramped machines through town at a whooping cruising speed of 42-56 mph at a crushing 7-9 mpg.

All that if you are lucky enough to get a vehicle that runs, doesnt need 7,000 in work and parts. Trust me insurance companies hate them as well, they are the same as skoolies except a skoolie can be visualized as an RV and easily converted into RV guidelines. A humvee cant really be anything else than an off road vehicle, a massive gas guzzling joy rider or a war machine so it is tough.

I was very lucky to find a pre-gulf war vehicle with under 30,000 miles that was well treated. It was a national guard depot truck issued to a Lt. Ward. It was overhauled, upgraded and rebuilt in 2012 and sold in 2015 as surplus. The original owner went through everything listed above and unfortunate his business is sinking and he needed to unload his projects, Humvee, Stringray, Boat and Vacation home but to my gain I was able to snag the truck off him for $13,500 and so far I have put about $2,000 into it. Replacing half axles, 200 amp 24v generator not an alternator and numerous small things to upgrade major systems and components.

So, look out Skoolie you are in a battle for attention now haha.

But it had portal boxes!
[emoji12]

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[cadillackid]

I thought those things had good heat and A/C, the ones my cousin drives in Iraq do.. (surprised me.. power steering, A/C, and heat)..

-Christopher

[New2Skool]

They have heaters, in my climate they are cute. The vehicle is not very insulated. The AC units are add on units and expensive to the point I would rather risk heat stroke then cough up a mortgage payment buying an AC unit haha. They are nice vehicles.

[New2Skool]

Power steering is a must, the off roading design requires power steering. If you hit a rock or swing a tire into a gap in a river bed that steering wheel will swing around and take your fingers with it. I did that a couple times in my old 68 C10, the tires would decide to glance off the curb and the steering wheel was going to catch up in a big hurry and if your thumb or fingers were wrapped around the wheel they were getting crushed.

[BlackJohn]

Looks like a beauty! Maybe you can use it to tow in broke down skoolies of which there should be many.

[cadillackid]

you cant just pout regular A/C units in those? kind of Like the Custom Dash A/C and Heat i did in my DEV bus?

-Christopher

[New2Skool]

There are specific AC units, the heating unit is built in.
The truck runs on a 24 volt system and it limits everything.
I am not bothered by a lack of AC, this vehicle is not about comfort.
The seats are basically cushioned folding chairs.
It is insanely loud inside from engine noise, wind, rattling.
It is not a sunday family cruiser, it is a 30 year old war machine with the only purpose of getting oil capturing soldiers to the battlefield.
I dont mind cruising at 45mph, it is not about the comfort or performance.
It is enjoying the experience and realizing it is a steel war horse of modern ages. I love it.

[Robin97396]

If you're going to foam insulate you'll be shocked at how much noise goes away.

[New2Skool]

I cant haha. There is so much heat running down the channel of the truck the military puts an insulated barrier pad cover cut out thing anywhere near passengers. The engine is one thin layer of aluminum away from your hips, knees, ankles most of the time and after a half an hour ride you can put your hand on the channel and feel the heat just out of touch.

It is a crazy vehicle, the brake system is redundant and modular. Technically you could blast an entire tire off and the other three will be able to drive, steer, brake and turn without issue. Granted the balance and all that is shot but it is still operable. The manuals are written for kids, well honestly you get a bunch of 18 year old kids that barely made it through high school and throw them in a garage and have them fix vehicles for two years the books need to be step by step in crayon.

I will insulate the doors after I make them and the new helmet top after I make it haha. Just to firm it up a little to touch and help with sound and insulating values. Everything has to be aluminum so a little more spendy but rust free and that is huge to me after reskinning my entire bus.

[Robin97396]

I think you'll be amazed at how much quieter your bus gets after insulation. I like your build. It's an amazing story.

Hey, a number of decades ago I was one of those 18 year old military mechanics. I was in a third shop, not a motor pool. I can no longer recite the seven types of precombustion chambers in piston heads. I do know how to split the injection pump on a deuce and a half and make those trucks go 85.

I like your new toy. Those were invaluable. I have three deuce and a halves sitting in my yard which tends to make me look like a dangerous prepper and keeps people out of here. Did you know these deuce and a halves get about 16 or 17 miles per gallon on the highway?

[superdave]

I was a driver over in Germany, I drove about everything the army had. I delivered these when they first came into use. we loved them and hated them, we felt trapped in them compared to the old open jeeps. have fun in that thing, they were hard to get stuck.

[New2Skool]

Exactly, I am lucky the tech, parts, service manuals are so easy to understand. Most of those numbering formats, the language and systems are confusing and honestly it is the first time my eyes have ever fallen on them.

I didnt, they are big trucks and that is good mileage.

They do feel kinda of enclosing, I cant wait until summer I am going to remove all of the covers, flop the windshield down and cruise flat and open. It will feel dull driving it with everything put back on. I was impressed with the rear tire built in winch. So simple but, brilliant.

[EastCoastCB]

Wonder which will get better mpg's- your bus or your Humvee.

[New2Skool]

So far the M998 is about 4 mpg ahead. Give it time, after I fabricate doors, hardtop, load it with gear and goodies it should be about even. I can drive faster in the bus however haha.

[Robin97396]

There's a brand new hood for one of those at Ft Lewis on GovLiquidation.

Everybody likes your new toy.

[New2Skool]

Thank you Robin, luckily my hood is in good shape.
Now, that I have become a M998 owner and need advise and assistance.
I have been using Steel Soldiers Forum it is just like our skoolie from but, for military vehicles.
The only thing the other forum lacks is the constantly updating project pictures.
I suggested it, I hope they adopt the idea.
It is hard to find photos on their site at times especially, of specific projects but they do have a much better search engine and result display.

Keywords, Part Numbers, random sizing gets a lot of returns. I typed in 2x2 in the search and had about 600 resulting threads and highlighted 2x2 terms. Everything from 2x2 armor plating to 2x2 lumber used to prop open a broke door on the side of a mountain. So, it is pretty cool but, I am still a skoolie boy at heart. Besides the new truck is breaking my bank, $600 for an alternator, $400 for two half axles, $400 for service fluids filters and materials, tons of small stuff to prepare for fabricating my own parts and goodies.

I have material for the bus stockpiled from winter but, the weather wont hold long enough to apply glue, prime lumber, install windows, do flooring, and work on the body finishing touches yet. I have things to do just not at this moment. I love it.