Semi truck bus project

[Cazer57]

Hi I am new to this forum has anybody on here ever tried to do a semi truck school bus type of conversion. That would include cutting the back of the bus taking out a big section in the middle and welding the backside back on to create a “bed” and then putting a 5th wheel hitch and pulling a camper. I had this crazy Idea to do this instead of buying a dually and was wondering if anybody on here had any input?

[DeMac]

https://www.google.com/search?q=site...iw=360&bih=662

[Cazer57]

I appreciate that but I was looking for something more like this I was just wondering if anybody on here has attempted anything like this

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/39/6f/5d/396f5dee044172b5734683a12847e0bb.jpg

[Cazer57]

I appreciate that but I was wondering if anybody on here has built anything like this or attempted to build it


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/39/6f...a12847e0bb.jpg

[BeNimble]

You could do that..takes a lot of work, and then have a much heavier and more expensive to maintain truck vs a 1-ton pickup. There are many heavy duty short wheelbase trucks you can buy much cheaper than a school bus these days, in particularly because of the commercial diesel laws in California, there was a F550 tow truck for $3k that was tempting me, and also an actual international tractor rig with big rig 5th wheel hitch that auctioned at $5k

[Cazer57]

Thank you for the input, but the main reason I want to go through with this project is because of the storage capacity the bus would have vs a truck, because I’m going to be full time living out of the camper so storage is going to be very important

[rossvtaylor]

I saw a video, not long ago, of a nice conversion of an expediter truck. Those are the semi truck chassis with a long frame and a box on the back. I see them most often operated by FedEx, it seems. They have both a sleeper cab and a box. They made this one into a two bedroom rig which they took to business shows. But I can't find the video again right now. It was a cool rig, though.

[Cazer57]

I’ll look into that for sure

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Cazer57

Hi I am new to this forum has anybody on here ever tried to do a semi truck school bus type of conversion. That would include cutting the back of the bus taking out a big section in the middle and welding the backside back on to create a “bed” and then putting a 5th wheel hitch and pulling a camper. I had this crazy Idea to do this instead of buying a dually and was wondering if anybody on here had any input?

Toterhomes are rad, man.

[Cazer57]

I appreciate it man I know it’s going to be a lot of work but it’s something that you don’t see everyday and I’m all for that

[rossvtaylor]

I found it! Now...they left out some things you'd definitely want...but the concept is cool and it's an interesting and sturdy platform, for sure.
https://youtu.be/Rq3bpJdTQ1Y

[Cazer57]

Thank you very much I’ll head over there and check it out right now

[Rock-N-Ruth]

Originally Posted by Cazer57

Hi I am new to this forum has anybody on here ever tried to do a semi truck school bus type of conversion. That would include cutting the back of the bus taking out a big section in the middle and welding the backside back on to create a “bed” and then putting a 5th wheel hitch and pulling a camper. I had this crazy Idea to do this instead of buying a dually and was wondering if anybody on here had any input?

If you are up for the work it is a great idea. You want to get that 5th wheel hitch pretty much right over the rear axle for handling. You might want to use a shorter wheel base bus like a 10 window, for maneuvering. You'd end up with a pretty God sized mobile garage.