Jumping on the band wagon or maybe off of the bridge.

[DoninTexas]

I only jacked on the back wall of the shuttle bus, from about the rear emergency door to the passenger side along the wall just inside the bumper.

[DoninTexas]

I had intended to post progress photos this week, but life got in the way. We are now on our third excursion with this bus. This one will be about 900 miles round trip. The first one, two weeks ago, was about 250 miles round trip. The second one, last weekend, was around 180 miles. Before this longer trip, I had the oil changed, the cooling system flushed, and the rear end oil changed. They inspected the bus for me, also. So, I got all my paperwork together and went the the weigh station and got an official weight, 9940 lbs. I took that and the paperwork to the DMV and after 4 trips back home for more paperwork, I, now have a bus that is inspected, tagged, and titled as an RV.
On our last trip my generator quit. I got to spend a day working on it. It is repaired and running great, so far.
I had noticed that my trailer lights were not working properly. Had to rewire the trailer. They are now working like they should. My rearview camera system came in, so, I had to get it working and installed for this trip. It is fantastic. I, nearly, got trapped in a Pizza Hut parking lot, no exit. I was able to back my trailer like a pro to get out of there.
Needless to say, I didn’t get a chance to post photos. Maybe next week.

[IDIaddict]

Did you end up also installing blind spot cameras? This is something I've wanted to do but wasn't sure how to set up the screen or screens.

[DoninTexas]

So far, I have only installed the 2 rear camera. 1 that looks over the top of the trailer that I pull, and 1 that looks down at the trailer hitch to help with hooking up the trailer. I plan on installing the blind spot cameras this week.
I have about 5 weeks off, so the bus will get a lot of attention. I plan on getting the cabinets and water system installed, and several walls up. Hopefully, the bus will be closer to a finished project at the end of this time.

[DoninTexas]

Well, I, finally, have the pictures of our shuttle bus ready to post.
This is where we started in March. More coming.

[DoninTexas]

This is where we started. We removed the seats and repaired the floor. More images.

[DoninTexas]

We started construction with putting the electricity and the air conditioning in place. We, also, installed and mounted a 7.5 cu. ft. refrigerator. We put in a lay flat reclining love seat to sleep on and a dresser to hold clothes. We caught a good deal on a sink cabinet, sink combo, and mounted it temporarily for several short trips we needed to take for our business.
This is where we were until last Monday.

[Oscar1]

Fantastic progress and looking good.
Keep the pace and get cruising.
Cheers

[DoninTexas]

I had to have a trailer hitch on this bus. My wife and I travel and do craft shows. We make and sell our on line of gourmet food and beverage mixes. (Dip, soup, cheese-ball, no-bake pie mixes, and wine-slush mixes) These are all hand made and they are my wife's recipes. So, we have to haul our booth in a trailer and we sleep in the bus. If you are interested in what we sell go to Home.
So, on to my adventures with adding a trailer hitch. My first try was a miserable failure, luckily not tragic. I found a bolt on to the bumper hitch. I installed it and hooked on my trailer, a 6x10 single axle enclosed unit. We headed out on our first trip with the bus. It was a short trip, 110 miles or so.
We did our show, then I went to hook up the trailer and load. I spotted that the bumper was starting to break loose from the frame pieces and it was sagging. I hooked on and made a miserable 35 mph trip back home over rough Oklahoma panhandle highways. 4 hours to make a 2 hour drive.
On that Monday, I started investigating what it would take to mount a good trailer hitch on to this bus. I found all kinds of solutions that were expensive and/or required welding. I can sort of weld, but I don't trust my welds to hold a trailer hitch carrying our whole business. I, finally found what I thought would work and was about to order it. Yes, it was expensive, but I thought it would work. Then, my brilliant wife suggested that I measure the hitch that was on an old e350 van that I have for parts. Amazingly, the trailer hitch from that econoline van was a perfect fit for my shuttle bus. Drilled 6 bolt holes and mounted right up.
Wiring the lights was a bit of a puzzle that I am still working on. I have gotten it to work well enough for now with an adapter to go from seperate brake lights to the combined trailer tail and brake light.
That is the tale of getting a trailer hitch on my bus. I have made 2 trips since then, the trailer pulled beautifully.

[DoninTexas]

If you need to put a hitch on a ford shuttle bus, a good hitch for an e350 ford van should work and listen to your wife.

[Oscar1]

Yes! Listen to the wife.
That’s great work.
Cheers

[Oscar1]

Wow! The kitchen looks awesome! That’s a fantastic business you and Kaye have got going there. Very much looking forward to trying some Armageddon.
Keep up the good work

[DoninTexas]

Yes, it is really good. She got the right mix of heat and taste. You will enjoy it!

[DoninTexas]

I thought I would show my floor plan. It is starting to come together.

[DoninTexas]

The bus is inside the black lines. Photos later.

[DoninTexas]

We are getting closer to the finish line. I think we are about half way there. The walls are up and most of the wiring is covered. The walls are painted. I still have to build the doors for the closet and and the bathroom. I am about to work on the front, the driver's seat, and dashboard. Here are pics of our progress, so far. Pardon the mess. Still debating about the rear air conditioner. More pics latter.

[DoninTexas]

We are getting closer to the finish line. Just kidding. We went out last weekend and it went very well. We are about go out on another short trip. I have been working very hard to get ready. I have finished installing the blind spot cameras. It was interesting. This is what it took to get the wiring right.

[DoninTexas]

More photos of camera install.

[DoninTexas]

Current state of the build.

[Fox Slider]

Cool deal! Looking good. Good one on the reciever hitch. Wondering how ima pull that off myself too. Lol. W/o getting expensive.