Low's Moto Hauler

[Low594]

Not alot has happened with the bus lately. The last few months I was working too much, then went on a long ride from Oakland to Eureka to Vancouver, WA to Seattle to British Columbia and back. During that ride I sent the bus to Left Coast Diesel to look it over, they cleared the codes, fixed a faulty switch and installed a new Banks muffler, sounds great!
Yesterday I took the taillights out and installed new ones. Just gotta finish the left side today.
From this:

To this:


The extra red running lights and the old reverse lights will be going away.

[milkmania]

Originally Posted by Low594

Not alot has happened with the bus lately. The last few months I was working too much, then went on a long ride from Oakland to Eureka to Vancouver, WA to Seattle to British Columbia and back. During that ride I sent the bus to Left Coast Diesel to look it over, they cleared the codes, fixed a faulty switch and installed a new Banks muffler, sounds great!
Yesterday I took the taillights out and installed new ones. Just gotta finish the left side today.
From this:

To this:


The extra red running lights and the old reverse lights will be going away.

Send them my way!

http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f14/in...8-a-14401.html

[Low594]

Originally Posted by milkmania

Send them my way!

You definitely need them! Pay shipping and they are yours!

Or I have brand new Sound Off LEDs, $50 shipped?

[milkmania]

Originally Posted by Low594

You definitely need them! Pay shipping and they are yours!

Or I have brand new Sound Off LEDs, $50 shipped?

Nah, I don't need any LED's yet... But I sure could use the factory setup!
Get a price on shipping and I'll send you a cashier's check or money order... I don't have checks on my bank account.

PM me your contact info and I'll reply with mine.

[Low594]

Im trying to figure out the overhead lighting switches.

[Low594]

Well, I've been working on the rear lighting a few hours at a time.

Mostly, I just wanted brighter lights that were less prone to damage, so I went with LEDs from superbriteleds.com. I did alot of bodyfilling with epoxy, so it would last. All the old mounting holes got filled and the huge crack in the upper left corner got repaired. I thought I was all done with it until I got into buliding the bumper, that was until I drove it last night and did a walk around first. It seems when I have the taillights on and turn the clearance lights on, the voltage gets too low for the tail/run lights. So it seems they have the 2 circuits tyed together, sometime soon I will have to go thru the wiring diagram and find the link. Hopefully I can separate it.

Here is part of the plan for the rear bumper.


For a bit, the bumper will be pushed 16" out to the rear, this will give the jerry cans 10" for their carrier and 6" beyond to walk on. I might change to NATO Jerry cans, I can fit (3)5gallon cans on each side vs (2) on each side of the moto style cans. The only real concern is that I own 4 of the moto style and would have to buy the NATO style, which at 6 x $30-$50, ends up $180-300 plus the mounts! But it would allow me to carry 30 gallons of liquids, that can be changed up. 30 gallons of diesel or gas or water or whatever mix seems appropriate for the trip.
The long term plan is a tube bumper, extended 16" topped in diamond plate. Can mounts on both sides, folding ramp covering the door and (3) 2" receivers (center for trailer, corners for moto rack, Vise, BBQ or other large tools

[Oldcarnut]

Any updates on your bus? Nice buold and like all the work you have done.
Did you ever figure out how to secure your rear door?

[toplessartist]

Great build and attitude! Best bike i've ever had is the V-Strom for so many reasons. The 1000 wasn't comfortable to my legs/seating position but loved the power… found the 650 to be just perfect for all my needs. Took an ATV U-shaped pack system and mounted it around the back (behind my wife's seat) and rested the "arm" sections on the cans (adventure model has the side cans)… tripled my capacity and was easy access to stuff. KLR was to buzzy, being a single cyl motor, would have killed me on long trips. If my bus were 6 feet longer it would be an interior bike hauler.

[CaptSquid]

Low594 - the red/amber switch, when activated, will flash the amber lights. When the parking brake is engaged with the amber lights on, they will now flash red and the stop sign/kid whacker go out.

[Rusty]

Lights look awesome, just want to add a caveat--

Old rear lights were more visible from the side than flush-mounts. May want to add a couple side markers, as well.

[Low594]

Well, its been a long time since I last updated this or last worked on this project.

Ive been wanting cruise control for quite a while and with the upcoming trip to San Felipe now was the time to make it happen. Ive found a ton of info, but its been all across the board! This thread had the best info:
adding cruise control - Sportsmobile Forum
On saturday, I drove an hour to a PickNPull, they had recently gotten a van conversion '99 E150. Several parts I potentially wanted (driver door electrics, door panel, carpet, etc.), none of those panned out, but it did have the cruise control wheel in better shape than my wheel. Mine leaves foams in my hands while driving, so at least I was getting a better wheel out of it! These wheels do not use a standard steer wheel puller, they use a gear puller and you also need a T50 socket. I couldnt detach the wheel from the column, since I had the wrong puller, which worked in my favor since the multi function was in better shape than mine. PNP charged me somewhere in the $75 range.
Today, I swapped the necessary clockspring, multifunction & steering wheel and took it for a drive. I actually wasnt expecting it to work since so many have had trouble, but it work and worked well! I believe since it started from Ford as a Cutaway Cab, they installed all of the parts except the clockspring and steering wheel, since the vehicle could have been used as an RV or other type.

Now that its working, Id like to test my theory and see if a leather wheel from a similar year Excursion or Expedition fits, looks like its just down to the splines!

[Low594]

I picked up the bus from Bruces Tire in Fremont, where they installed the WeldTec Designs Ocotillo Cruiser 4" front kit, replaced all the steering components with new Moog Problem Solver parts, new brake pads and Falken WildPeak AT3W tires! It looks so much better and doesnt have the stinkbug stance anymore! It looks like we got 2.5"-3" of lift in the frontend, plus another 1.25" in tire! The tires were upgraded from 225/75-16(29") recaps to 235/85-16(31.7"). The passenger doors dont hit the curb anymore!

[weboughtabus]

Originally Posted by Low594

Well, its been a long time since I last updated this or last worked on this project.

Ive been wanting cruise control for quite a while and with the upcoming trip to San Felipe now was the time to make it happen. Ive found a ton of info, but its been all across the board! This thread had the best info:
adding cruise control - Sportsmobile Forum
On saturday, I drove an hour to a PickNPull, they had recently gotten a van conversion '99 E150. Several parts I potentially wanted (driver door electrics, door panel, carpet, etc.), none of those panned out, but it did have the cruise control wheel in better shape than my wheel. Mine leaves foams in my hands while driving, so at least I was getting a better wheel out of it! These wheels do not use a standard steer wheel puller, they use a gear puller and you also need a T50 socket. I couldnt detach the wheel from the column, since I had the wrong puller, which worked in my favor since the multi function was in better shape than mine. PNP charged me somewhere in the $75 range.
Today, I swapped the necessary clockspring, multifunction & steering wheel and took it for a drive. I actually wasnt expecting it to work since so many have had trouble, but it work and worked well! I believe since it started from Ford as a Cutaway Cab, they installed all of the parts except the clockspring and steering wheel, since the vehicle could have been used as an RV or other type.

Now that its working, Id like to test my theory and see if a leather wheel from a similar year Excursion or Expedition fits, looks like its just down to the splines!

Thank you very much for posting this at exactly the time I was asking about it! I've got an '04 E350 that I want to add CC to, but had read mixed results about swapping wheels. Fingers crossed that I can get a wheel and it's plug and play like yours!

[leadsled01]

Weldtec makes some awesome stuff.