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02-25-2023, 01:33 PM
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#1
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Feb 2023
Location: Milwaukee-ish
Posts: 46
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: E450
Engine: 7.3L Powerstroke
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Ski Skoolie: Cheapest 7.3 Diesel Shortie Conversion I could find in the USA
Hey gang, my girlfriend and I purchased some land in Southwest CO, in one of our favorite areas. It's completely off grid, and we wanted to make it livable in the shortest amount of time possible, but also have something mobile so we can continue to make improvements to the land itself (grading, possibly install a septic, etc). We looked at sheds for a while, but then started looking at buses, and I had a couple requirements:
1: I wanted a shortie for manueverability
2. I wanted a 7.3L Powerstroke, I think these engines are killer!
3. I wanted it to be finished building out inside, or close to it, so we could start using it immediately
I looked for a few months, and found a 'problem bus' in New Mexico. The owner was originally asking 15k, but the bus developed mechanical issues and would not stay driving, turns out the injectors were going bad along with a host of other things. I'm all the way in Wisconsin, so I couldn't go look at it in person, but.... we talked w the owner on the phone quite a bit, and made an arrangement to get it towed to a diesel repair place, and explained we wanted an estimate to fix it.
From there, we had it repaired, drove across the country to pick it up once it was fixed, and drove it to our land in Colorado.
Here is the first episode, hope you guys dig it! Cheers!
https://youtu.be/A0JvhuG2Uo8
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02-25-2023, 04:15 PM
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#2
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Feb 2023
Location: Milwaukee-ish
Posts: 46
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: E450
Engine: 7.3L Powerstroke
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02-25-2023, 04:58 PM
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#3
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: Near Flagstaff AZ
Posts: 1,951
Year: 1974
Coachwork: Crown
Chassis: "Atomic"
Engine: DD 8V71
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I watched your "everything wrong" video and commented. I've seen much worse build quality from expensive "pro" builders, so you can definitely work with that. I mean, some of the "pros" are doing the kind of stuff that could burn your bus down or hurt you...and in your bus, it looks like they installed a battery disconnect and fuses and decent cable sizing. I think you got a really good value there, actually.
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02-26-2023, 12:37 PM
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#4
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Feb 2023
Location: Milwaukee-ish
Posts: 46
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: E450
Engine: 7.3L Powerstroke
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rossvtaylor
I watched your "everything wrong" video and commented. I've seen much worse build quality from expensive "pro" builders, so you can definitely work with that. I mean, some of the "pros" are doing the kind of stuff that could burn your bus down or hurt you...and in your bus, it looks like they installed a battery disconnect and fuses and decent cable sizing. I think you got a really good value there, actually.
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Thanks! I agree, I think they must have hired that part out, as it's one of the only parts of the bus done really well; I still want to tear it all out and reinstall it in a neater/more compact fashion, but functionally the solar system is well designed/put together. Blew my mind that absolutely nothing in the bus was 12v tho, and they were relying on an inverter for every single thing on the bus. So bizarre.
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02-26-2023, 12:39 PM
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#5
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Feb 2023
Location: Milwaukee-ish
Posts: 46
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: E450
Engine: 7.3L Powerstroke
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Update Videos:
This is the "everything wrong" video that Ross mentioned in his comment above, and I go through the bus front to back and point out everything wrong with it. It's not like absolutely terrible, I still bought it, but it's a sign of amateur builders... things to look out for.
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03-05-2023, 10:39 PM
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#6
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Mar 2023
Location: Calgary,AB, Canada
Posts: 42
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Jimmy/Corbeil
Chassis: 96 International 3800
Engine: T444E, AT545
Rated Cap: 36
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Just an fyi....
1) 7.3L/T444e injectors are about $180 ea for remans. That's about the cheapest you can get for a diesel. You payed for the service, I guess. Probably take 4 hours tops to do them. I've never had to, but I got a couple just in case. It's like 4 screws, a plug and pop it out with a screwdriver.
2) Hang blankets over the windows, get gypsy with it. Also, a shower curtain to cover the bifold door helps with the cold, believe me. I went through -47 quite comfortably (after the wood stove was lit properly...lol
3)Awesome little unit. Enjoy!!
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01-17-2025, 05:11 PM
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#7
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Feb 2023
Location: Milwaukee-ish
Posts: 46
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: E450
Engine: 7.3L Powerstroke
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Oh man, I have not kept this up to date. Here goes:
Here's the second part to the last video, where we try to fix as much as possible, while spending as little as possible. HUGE upgrade to the electrical system, as there was literally no 12v lighting or USB sockets anywhere in the bus, which was CRAZY! We refinished the bumpers, finished the upper deck, installed a solar motion light, redid the entire shelving area at the bottom of the bed and repainted it, installed pallet boards on the rear wall above the bed, bunch of other little things
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01-17-2025, 05:16 PM
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#8
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Feb 2023
Location: Milwaukee-ish
Posts: 46
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: E450
Engine: 7.3L Powerstroke
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This was our first winter in the ski skoolie, and... it was ROUGH. Between lead acid batteries, and 6 days of storms, we really ran out of power and had to use headlamps to conserve the battery power to run the diesel heater, which then backed up in the middle of the night and filled the bus with carbon monoxide, good times! I had to disassemble the CDH and clean it out to get heat, but then we were really running out of power, so I had to plug the bus into an extension cord running to our solar shed, just to keep some power.
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01-17-2025, 05:19 PM
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#9
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Feb 2023
Location: Milwaukee-ish
Posts: 46
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: E450
Engine: 7.3L Powerstroke
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We actually just got back from another trip out west, and this time we upgraded the power system of the Ski Skoolie in a MASSIVE way, without spending a lot of cash. I show you how to use mixed solar panels, and mixed batteries to build a battery bank of mismatched lithium ions:
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