Connect 2 buses together at back door

[Beeb2]

Ok, call me crazy, but I have a question I've never seen on here before...

Does anyone have any good ideas for how I could connect two buses together at the back door? Obviously, not while driving, but just semi-permanent parked. I want to extend the living space by backing two buses back to back and connecting the two back door openings together in a way that is both weatherproof and bug-proof, but also removable when I need to drive one of the buses.

[Booyah45828]

I'd think some nylon fabric and some heavy duty zippers could be made into a hallway and used in a similar fashion that 2 tents are connected together. To remove you'd unzip both ends, fold it up, and stow it away.

I've got no examples of it, but that's the quick and easy way that I would do it. You could also use an accordion section, similar to what an articulated bus would use between the 2 sections, But I'd think that'd be tougher to fab and build, let alone be a lot heavier then tent material.

[Marceps]

This is an interesting idea—though I would personally be more interested in joining the side doors. It would be more convenient, as the farthest you could ever be from the other end would be half the distance of back-to-back. Also, logistically it would probably be easier to park a couple buses side-by-side than back-to-back, particularly if precision is a prerequisite.

With doors that don't hinge out (e.g. pantograph hinges or sliding doors), you could park the buses less than a foot apart and just treat the doors like regular, old, annoying, house doors—no need for weather proofing.

[Beeb2]

Great ideas!

Yeah, I would go for using the side doors too, except that our primary bus (which we've been in for a few years now) already has our side door blocked with our kitchen and I don't feel like doing a full remodel at the moment. Perhaps someday down the road.

[cadillackid]

I would make some type of Boot similar to what airplanes use for jet bridges.. i would plan on taking the rear doors off of the busses while parked just so you dont have to deal with the doors themselves..

[musigenesis]

You could replace the original door hinges with Jeep door hinges so you can remove the doors easily when necessary.

[Beeb2]

Hmm Jeep door hinges. That's a good idea. I was just out there staring at the door to try to figure out what to do about the fact that it hangs out so far when it's open. I want it on for when we drive, but it's really in the way if we're going to park with two buses connected.

[MountainJeff]

How close are you thinking of parking them?

I'm thinking of putting some kind of patio out the back by extending something out from the frame rails. Would have to deal with either cutting holes in the bumpers or fabricating custom bumpers.
In your case, it would be like a skybridge between the two. You could just put a tarp or even something like HF's portable garages on the platform.

[Unpluggedone]

You could fashion a square house where each bus could back in, and use it as a summer porch even with one bus, heck could give it 4 entrances and invite friends!

[WRS_Mark]

I'd try a wooden frame, insulated, hung from one bus, with rubber gaskets that would allow you to back the buses up to one another and create a seal. Shouldn't be too difficult to shape and bang together. Cheers!

[LargeMargeInBaja]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

You could replace the original door hinges with Jeep door hinges so you can remove the doors easily when necessary.

.
Semi-retired welder-fabricator here.
.
Often, the outer dimensions of common pipe fit the inner dimensions of the next-bigger size.
If the clearance is too tight, a few seconds burnishing the outside of the small pipe with sand-paper or Emory cloth should ease your fit.
.
After mounting, a monthly oil spritz on the drag surfaces keeps down on the squeaks.
We use f*irearm lube because it's always handy around here.
.
In our introduction with plenty of portraits plus our reasons for our decisions, you might notice I fabricated our door hinges using these pipes:
https://vanlivingforum.com/threads/e...8/#post-576110
.
An aside:
In our introduction and based on the portrait of the side-by-side rigs with the awning between, I tend to think their enclosed patio would be awfully dark.

[Beeb2]

Originally Posted by MountainJeff

How close are you thinking of parking them?

I'm thinking of putting some kind of patio out the back by extending something out from the frame rails. Would have to deal with either cutting holes in the bumpers or fabricating custom bumpers.
In your case, it would be like a skybridge between the two. You could just put a tarp or even something like HF's portable garages on the platform.

Originally Posted by Unpluggedone

You could fashion a square house where each bus could back in, and use it as a summer porch even with one bus, heck could give it 4 entrances and invite friends!

Yeah, I started going down this route too. Seems like a viable option, and maybe the easiest to solve. Thanks!