Side door/ Rear door

[SeanF]

Hey Smitty

The rear door on my bus (the emergency exit) is about 4' tall. Same with the side door (wheelchair lift). I guess one could get used to ducking, but even when I had the side door accessible with folding steps, I never used it. The front door is just too easy. Or you could add a stair well (like the front main door) but that sounds like work.

A rear deck would be nice, but your view may not always be visible from that vantage point. Get one of those collapsible 10' canopies and some outdoor carpet and have a movable/deployable chill spot. But I must confess, it would be cool to have a rear deck built like a real porch, with a porch swing and a screen door that slaps shut. Next bus, maybe.

Cheers
Sean

[paul iossi]

think dognose for ease of maintainence and "millicent" for a large rear door/porch. elevator? research the lift mechanism that they use on nascar transporters and educate us please,

[Sojakai]

http://www.techdigest.tv/2008/04/bloomframe_fold.html

One of the ideas kinda reminds me of one of my wild ideas... Make the porch sturdy and big enough to park one of those 'Smart' cars or maybe a mini-cooper, if its small enough, on the porch in the back... Just find another bus like yours and get the back end from it to skin out the porch to look like it is part of the bus. Wire the new external lights up, and wire the new inside tale lights as porch lights.

[josetann]

Personally, I like the idea of having an awning installed on the side. Build some storage bays underneath, and keep foldable chairs there. If you can get a portable porch swing (does such a thing even exist?), even better. I see that as being much easier to setup and breakdown than a porch that has to be put on and off your hitch.

As for door locations, a rear door would never work for us. I want a regular queen-king size bed, not something that has to be rearranged every night to turn into a bed, and then back again the next morning just so we could use the rear door. Due to the size of the mattress, it needs to be put in the very rear as there's not much walking room around it. I'd love a pusher just for the extra living area it'd give us (the head of the bed would fit nicely over top of the hump), but don't want to deal with the other hassles it'd bring. Maybe someday if I find a really good deal I'd buy one.

[Ray_WA]

Side door as in the typical emergency exit side door? My bus doesn't have one but are they as wide as a typical rear emergency door? I got me a little shorty bus but it has a full width rear door. I wanted to see if getting in and out of it would be practical because I too am thinking of putting a deck back there. What I found was that it is surprisingly easy coming in and out that back door, IF you have a step down as you go. Sure, it's a very short door but coming in you're a step below and you bend forward a bit as you "climb up" through the door. It is a natural and comfortable movement. Coming out is equally easy IF you step out the door backwards. Going forward out the door is possible but not quite as natural.

Keep in mind that I'm a very big boy and disabled. I use two canes when I'm up on my feet. I find it comfortable enough coming in the bus that way that I built me a set of wooden steps and I prefer coming in and going out through that back door rather than the front door.

Deck? Go for it. Coming in and out is not a problem.

-Ray

[baadpuppy]

Originally Posted by Ray_WA

Side door as in the typical emergency exit side door? My bus doesn't have one but are they as wide as a typical rear emergency door?

I just went out and measured (in the dark, by myself, and holding the flashlight, so take that into consideration), and on the rear engine bus with side door, the door is approx. 25" wide by 54.5" high, and the conventional engine with rear door, the door is approx. 35" wide by 55.5" high.

So, the rear door is definitely larger.

An interesting point is that the side door is in a single plane, while the rear door is cocked a bit due to the rear of the bus being angled halfway up.

hope this helps,
jim

[baadpuppy]

A couple more measurements you might wanna know. Today I put a fogger in both my busses, and exited via the emergency door for both.

The fall from the side door hurt more. I got the tape measure, and determined the rear door is approx. 35" off the ground, while the side door is approx. 42" off the ground.

I'm willing to bet the difference is more a matter of bus size and style than door location. The pusher is rated for 33,280, while the conventional bus is rated at 25,500. My guess is that means a taller suspension and taller frame on the pusher. Adding up it seems to about 7" taller.

hope this helps,
jim