Structure and frame of a skoolie

[pengyou]

Please excuse my primitive drawing. The attached picture shows the cabin of a school bus (in yellow, of course), the steel "slats" that support the floor (in blue), the steel frame that runs from front to back (in red) and the tires (in black). Is it correct that the cabin is mounted to the floor slats, and the floor slats are mounted to the frame? or is the cabin mounted in a different way, directly to the frame?

[Native]

Originally Posted by pengyou

Please excuse my primitive drawing. The attached picture shows the cabin of a school bus (in yellow, of course), the steel "slats" that support the floor (in blue), the steel frame that runs from front to back (in red) and the tires (in black). Is it correct that the cabin is mounted to the floor slats, and the floor slats are mounted to the frame? or is the cabin mounted in a different way, directly to the frame?

You got it mostly right.


In general:
In a full size school bus (not a cut-away), the floor is made up of "C" shaped pieces that are welded together to form the I-beam structure that runs across the bus. The floor is attached o the chassis rails at set intervals along the rails. The ribs of the structure are attached to the floor on the outside of the floor and extend down below the floor line. The chair rail attaches to the ribs and the floor and is part of the structure. The skin of the body is attached to the ribs on the outside.

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by pengyou

Please excuse my primitive drawing. The attached picture shows the cabin of a school bus (in yellow, of course), the steel "slats" that support the floor (in blue), the steel frame that runs from front to back (in red) and the tires (in black). Is it correct that the cabin is mounted to the floor slats, and the floor slats are mounted to the frame? or is the cabin mounted in a different way, directly to the frame?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBcUnUCbEsg

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by pengyou

Please excuse my primitive drawing. The attached picture shows the cabin of a school bus (in yellow, of course), the steel "slats" that support the floor (in blue), the steel frame that runs from front to back (in red) and the tires (in black). Is it correct that the cabin is mounted to the floor slats, and the floor slats are mounted to the frame? or is the cabin mounted in a different way, directly to the frame?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxZBHyt6j-M

[Native]

I enjoy watching those videos every time!

[pengyou]

Are the red beams on the outside of the flooring what you call the seat rails?

[Native]

Originally Posted by pengyou

Are the red beams on the outside of the flooring what you call the seat rails?

The seat rails are the point to which the seats are attached to the wall.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by pengyou

Are the red beams on the outside of the flooring what you call the seat rails?

Do you mean the red beams from your drawing? The red things in your drawing are the chassis rails (part of the truck frame), and the blue thing is the floor of the bus body. The bus body floor is clamped on top of the chassis rails.

The chair rails make up the base of the body walls, and are attached to the outside edge of the floor.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Native

I enjoy watching those videos every time!

It's my exact bus (down to the number of seats) being built, which is extra-cool. I had absolutely no idea what was going on with the floor of my bus until I watched this video, and then it was all completely clear. It also explained a few mysteries, like why there's a pointless black screw in every other channel just above the window.

[pengyou]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Do you mean the red beams from your drawing? The red things in your drawing are the chassis rails (part of the truck frame), and the blue thing is the floor of the bus body. The bus body floor is clamped on top of the chassis rails.

The chair rails make up the base of the body walls, and are attached to the outside edge of the floor.

No, the red beams in the video...that are attached to the body walls...they are probably the chair rails?

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by pengyou

No, the red beams in the video...that are attached to the body walls...they are probably the chair rails?

Oh, I see what you're talking about right at the end of Part 1. No, those red beams are part of the factory device that grabs the floor and flips it right-side up after fabrication. They're not part of the bus itself.

You can see the chair rails starting at 0:43 of Part 2. They are grey and right at the edges of the floor (you can see how the chair rails are partially cut out for the wheel wells here).

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by pengyou

No, the red beams in the video...that are attached to the body walls...they are probably the chair rails?

I had to look at the video again - those red rails are part of the machine that picks the floor up, turns it right side up and places the floor for the next step in the bus construction - they aren't part of the bus

[pengyou]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Oh, I see what you're talking about right at the end of Part 1. No, those red beams are part of the factory device that grabs the floor and flips it right-side up after fabrication. They're not part of the bus itself.

You can see the chair rails starting at 0:43 of Part 2. They are grey and right at the edges of the floor (you can see how the chair rails are partially cut out for the wheel wells here).

So they miss a step. They don't actually show the chair rails being ASSEMBLED and attached. At the end of the video one, they show the completed floor. At the beginning of video 2, the chair rail has already been assembled. Is that correct?

[WARGEAR]

The obnoxiously circled part is the chair rail lip. That’s where the seats themselves attach to the sides of the bus. The dingy white vertical portions of metal are riveted and bonded to the vertical “studs” of the bus body and stop at the floor of the bus. The studs themselves continue all the way to the bottom of the bus body which is better seen from the outside. That chair rail is attached in many ways and locations to the bus body to provide strength as rigidity.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by WARGEAR

The obnoxiously circled part is the chair rail lip. That’s where the seats themselves attach to the sides of the bus. The dingy white vertical portions of metal are riveted and bonded to the vertical “studs” of the bus body and stop at the floor of the bus. The studs themselves continue all the way to the bottom of the bus body which is better seen from the outside. That chair rail is attached in many ways and locations to the bus body to provide strength as rigidity.

The ribs do not go to the bottom of the bus body.

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by o1marc

The ribs do not go to the bottom of the bus body.

according to the construction videos l watched, they go to the bottom of the body and fit in a hole there - l wonder if the hat channels in your picture were cut off for some reason?

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Sleddgracer

according to the construction videos l watched, they go to the bottom of the body and fit in a hole there - l wonder if the hat channels in your picture were cut off for some reason?

You think someone went in and modified how the ribs attach from the factory?
All the ribs I exposed were short and secured with "L" brackets.

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by o1marc

You think someone went in and modified how the ribs attach from the factory?
All the ribs I exposed were short and secured with "L" brackets.

interesting - l guess all buses aren't built the same

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Sleddgracer

interesting - l guess all buses aren't built the same

You're not just figuring that out are you?

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by o1marc

You're not just figuring that out are you?

hardly