Has anyone reomved the rubbed rails on there bus

Kirbystud · 10-10-2006, 06:46 PM

Two things 1. I would like to get rid of the rubbed rails. But how much support are thay???? 2. Is there a seem in the sheeting under them????

Steve · 10-10-2006, 07:25 PM

I think they are there for protection against rubbing against things and side impacts. There is metal under them they are just riveted to the side of the bus. If you take them off you should have a smooth side.

TomCat · 10-10-2006, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirbystud

Two things 1. I would like to get rid of the rubbed rails. But how much support are thay???? 2. Is there a seem in the sheeting under them????

I guess it would matter who manufactured your bus, but I removed 2 of the 4 side rails on my Thomas.
I had originally removed the bottom 3 rails, but my painter pointed out how much the bottom rail contributed to keeping the skirt straight.

There are 4 rails on skoolies by federal mandate.
1 at the bottom of the skirt.
1 at the level of the floor.
1 at the level of the seat bottom.
1 at the base of the window.

Jay
87 SaftLiner

busone · 10-11-2006, 12:27 AM

Here is a picture of a bus that was not used as a school bus. As you can see it does not have many rub rails.

Kirbystud · 10-11-2006, 06:24 AM

Great.....Looks like mine are going to come off. Thanks......

GoneCamping · 10-12-2006, 09:43 PM

I took the bottom rails off my Thomas, but I had to in order to get my under carriage storage compartment doors to work. I did notice that the bottom rail helped keep the skirt in place, but I have cured that with the cargo deck in the middle, I can always attach the skirt to the inside supports if I have any further problem.

Mine had this huge rippled rail between the middle 2 rub rails, and would have required a lot of cutting for all those rivets and bolt heads, then a lot of filling behind them. While I really wanted to remove the rub rails I opted to leave most of them in place.

sportyrick · 10-13-2006, 08:48 AM

What are you going to do with all those holes that are left after removal of the rivets and rub bars?????????? that's a lot of welding and grinding; you can't get to the backside to put rivets back in unless you remove the interior walls, so that's probably out. Better think about that one!!!!!sportyrick

TomCat · 10-13-2006, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sportyrick

What are you going to do with all those holes that are left after removal of the rivets and rub bars?????????? that's a lot of welding and grinding; you can't get to the backside to put rivets back in unless you remove the interior walls, so that's probably out. Better think about that one!!!!!sportyrick

I put rivets in two rows, and screws in the others. If you plan on interior walls, just run the screws all the way through to the steel interior wall by 1/4 inch.

Jay
87 SaftLiner

Steve · 10-16-2006, 12:09 PM

Mine is a 72 and has three rows.

the_experience03 · 10-16-2006, 08:33 PM

If you want to know just how much safety the rails add, read up on the history of Wayne buses on wikipedia. Wayne discovered quickly (and logically) that long interconnected pieces of metal keep people safer by spreading the force over a greater area. The rub rails do just this. On top of that, Wayne made the body panels continuous.

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