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Old 04-28-2010, 04:39 PM   #1
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 227
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Crown
Chassis: Super Coach II, 36 Ft. RE
Engine: Cat 3208T, MT643
Center of gravity with above-floor tanks and roof raise

I'm currently looking for a full-length (40 ft) RE flatnose bus for my conversion, probably a Bluebird or Thomas, although I will consider other makes. My idea is to raise the roof about 2 ft and install fresh/waste water tanks, a/c, w/h, house batteries, genset, some storage, etc. on the floor of the bus. Essentially, most of the heavy items will be at floor level, or about the height of the tops of the tires. I would then build the floor for the living quarters, about 15 to 18 inches above the standard floor. This would eliminate wheelwell humps, and provide maximum room and floorplan flexibility, and headroom of up to 7 feet.

I'm planning rather large water capacity, at least 200 gallons of fresh, at least 150 grey and at least 50 black. The fresh and grey would run down the center, the black on the side directly under the toilet. That's a lot of weight, over 1600 pounds, so I'm concerned about proper weight distribution over the axles and center of gravity. I'm also concerned how both CoG and side winds will affect handling, especially with a 2 ft roof raise.

There has been some discussion on this forum about how roof raises affect CoG and side wind handling, but I haven't seen any discussion about how above-floor large water tanks factor into this equation. I'm also concerned about structural integrity of the bus body after such a roof raise, and how to build a structurally sound second floor 18 inches above the standard floor. Any thought on these concerns from all you skoolie converters?

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Old 04-28-2010, 07:48 PM   #2
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Year: 1990
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Chassis: Super Coach II, 36 Ft. RE
Engine: Cat 3208T, MT643
Re: Center of gravity with above-floor tanks and roof raise

Good points, Smitty. One of the things I'm looking for in a bus is underfloor pass-through storage. The trouble with those is, they're usually just in front of the rear wheels, which is also usually where the bathroom is located above. I don't want to fill the storage compartments with wastewater tanks, so that's one of the main reasons I want to raise the floor. If I can find tanks that are less than 18" deep, then I won't have to raise the floor as much. Cutting up the load-bearing floor joist structure is a project I don't think I want to attempt. But beyond that, There's a lot of infrastructure that can be located under the floor: plumbing, electrical, batteries, genset, air conditioners (not the rooftop type, but inexpensive household window units), water heater, furnace, propane tanks (isolated with venting), WVO tanks, filtration and fuel delivery system, tools, additional storage compartments, etc. Setting it up this way will free up all the underfloor and interior storage areas for other things. I also want this area to be heated, at least where the tanks and plumbing are, because my intention is to use it year-round, including ski trips to the many ski resorts in the Pacific Northwest.

As for splitting the tanks, I thought of that too. I thought of running them down the middle, staggering the fresh and grey tanks so that as fresh empties and the grey fills, the change in weight distribution isn't as great. I could connect the fresh tanks to each other with plumbing, same with the grey. The black will probably go to the side, directly under the toilet.

One other thing...I've noticed most RVs have the genset housed on the passenger side near the back. Is there any reason why I wouldn't want to position it (and the a/c units) on the driver's side? Seems that when parked you'd be hanging out on the passenger side when outside, and the percieved noise would be less if the genset was on the driver's side.
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Children drink kOOlaid, adults drink T.E.A.


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Old 04-29-2010, 12:22 AM   #3
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Re: Center of gravity with above-floor tanks and roof raise

Yeah, I've also been considering MC9's and MC102's from the 1980s, and I think those would be best for me, but geez they're expensive. Most are over $10,000. The few that are less seem to be junk. I can probably pick up a good Bluebird All American or Thomas Saf-T-Liner for $2000 to $4000 if I'm patient.
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Old 04-29-2010, 08:12 AM   #4
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Re: Center of gravity with above-floor tanks and roof raise

I'm planning to raise the roof and build a secondary floor with tanks between the two floor levels.

Getting rid of the wheel humps is just a secondary benefit. My primary reasons for doing this are a: keep the tanks inside the main thermal envelope and b: keep the center of gravity low. What I mean with b: is that I don't want all my storage to be overhead cabinetry. I plan the inter-floor area to be extra storage, keeping all that mass as low as possible. Things in overhead storage should be light stuff and/or frequently accessed stuff. Heavy and infrequent access stuff goes down below. I'm also considering having a couple of access panels into that area from outside the bus (well locked and well sealed of course). I'm also going the route of extreme insulation, as I want to be able to survive a northern winter should the need arise.

For my secondary floor, I'm leaning towards using steel, with vertical supports every so often, with triangle bracing. I've also toyed with the idea of a raised floor like is used in computer rooms, with removable floor tiles. It would be easy to keep tiles clean, pop them out to gain access where needed, and the tiles contribute to the strength of the floor.

I think raising the roof and building a secondary floor is well worth the effort. Honestly, I haven't heard one good argument against going this route. As Smitty said, it's your bus, do with it what you will.

I've seen generators on either side, front and rear, as well as between frame rails at the front of a pusher, and also within the engine compartment of a pusher. You just need to figure out the best place for things to meet your needs.

hope this helps, and good luck.

jim
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Old 04-30-2010, 08:43 AM   #5
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Re: Center of gravity with above-floor tanks and roof raise

Good idea on the TGIs, Smitty. And I think I may put all the noisy equipment (A/C, genset, fans, etc.) on the drivers side.

Baadpuppy, I did think of one reason one might think twice about installing equipment under a secondary floor: Access. One needs to be able to service the plumbing, electrical, appliances and other infrastructure. So access will need to be designed in, whether by removable floor panels or exterior hatches, or some combination of these.

Question on tanks:
If I get rectangular tanks, let's say for example 1' x 3' x 7', should they be installed parallel to the length of the bus or perpendicular? And why? If I install them parallel, water will surge on acceleration and braking. But if I install them perpendicular (crossways), water will surge on cornering. How are tanks usually installed in RVs?
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(Latin) loquor loqui locutus dep. [to speak (in conversation); to tell , say, declare, talk of].

Children drink kOOlaid, adults drink T.E.A.


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Old 05-10-2017, 12:18 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Locutus View Post
Good idea on the TGIs, Smitty. And I think I may put all the noisy equipment (A/C, genset, fans, etc.) on the drivers side.

Baadpuppy, I did think of one reason one might think twice about installing equipment under a secondary floor: Access. One needs to be able to service the plumbing, electrical, appliances and other infrastructure. So access will need to be designed in, whether by removable floor panels or exterior hatches, or some combination of these.

Question on tanks:
If I get rectangular tanks, let's say for example 1' x 3' x 7', should they be installed parallel to the length of the bus or perpendicular? And why? If I install them parallel, water will surge on acceleration and braking. But if I install them perpendicular (crossways), water will surge on cornering. How are tanks usually installed in RVs?
good day Locutus,
I'm a new schoolie researching & doing (and re doing, then re doing again LOL) plans for my 1st conversion.
How did your lifted floor concept turn out?? You didn't quote any of the
people who commented, so readers can't see what was suggested.
questions i have:
Did you raise your floor?
Where did you place your H2O tanks?
What directions - parallel or perpendicular??
with gratitude,
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