Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 07-01-2018, 07:26 PM   #1
New Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Posts: 5
Friendly Hello

Hello All,

My name is Holly and it is nice to "meet" you all. I don't have a skoolie yet, and I'm not sure when I will be able to afford one but I'm determined I will have one eventually. I'm here to browse the tutorials and get some answers to the million questions I have.

LadyScarlet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-01-2018, 07:31 PM   #2
Bus Geek
 
EastCoastCB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyScarlet View Post
Hello All,

My name is Holly and it is nice to "meet" you all. I don't have a skoolie yet, and I'm not sure when I will be able to afford one but I'm determined I will have one eventually. I'm here to browse the tutorials and get some answers to the million questions I have.
Nice to have you!

If you avoid CL and dealers the buses are much more affordable!
EastCoastCB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-01-2018, 07:41 PM   #3
Bus Crazy
 
Johnny Mullet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Ashtabula, Ohio
Posts: 1,494
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: International
Engine: T444E 7.3L
Welcome to the site!
Johnny Mullet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-01-2018, 07:42 PM   #4
New Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Posts: 5
Quote:
Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
Nice to have you!

If you avoid CL and dealers the buses are much more affordable!
Thanks, my intention is to try to find a local (semi local) auction, the only real issue i see arising is that I'm not mechanically inclined, or have any of the skills I need to convert. But I'm buying books and reading all that I can to try to learn, and browsing the forums here to learn what I can so when I finally get a bus i may know where to start. I'm making a list of questions to find the answers to.
LadyScarlet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-01-2018, 07:43 PM   #5
New Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Posts: 5
Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Mullet View Post
Welcome to the site!
Thank you so much! Super excited to be here.
LadyScarlet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-01-2018, 08:40 PM   #6
Bus Geek
 
o1marc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Dawsonville, Ga.
Posts: 10,482
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Genesis
Chassis: International
Engine: DT466/3060
Rated Cap: 77
If you're diligent you can still get a deal on Craigslist, mine came from there.
o1marc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-01-2018, 08:42 PM   #7
New Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Posts: 5
Quote:
Originally Posted by o1marc View Post
If you're diligent you can still get a deal on Craigslist, mine came from there.
Good to know, thank you.
LadyScarlet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-01-2018, 09:04 PM   #8
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Conneaut, Ohio
Posts: 189
Year: 2004
Chassis: International CE 300
Engine: DT466E
Rated Cap: 71 passenger / 12 window
PLC (peace, love, and cooperation) to you!

So I was in your shoes not that long ago. I can give you some advice from one near-noob to one noob. Here goes.

1) Buses are NOT expensive. I got mine (12-window, 71-passenger) for $2,000, many people have gotten theirs for less (especially if they're short buses), and most people say that a really nice bus will be $4,000 or more at auction.

2) The conversion doesn't have to be fancy. I've spent maybe $300 on my conversion thus far, and that's for plywood, screws, tools, plywood patch paste, carpet tiles, and paint. If you add in the mattress that'll go on top of the bed deck I built, that's another $350 or whatever it was. I've been using mostly scraps and spare parts that I had in my garage and shed, and I've skeletonized a couple of other things I've built that I no longer need. My build is not as fancy-looking as most others I've seen, but it's functional enough to get the bus to meet Ohio's requirements for a motorhome, and it'll do the job for us just fine... for now at least. By the time I've installed everything I intend to install, I still expect to be under $1,500 for the build if I don't decide to buy a new generator or go for a fancy electrical setup with solar panels and a battery bank. (It could be a lot less than that, even.) So I'm going to end up with, in essence, a 33-foot medium-duty motorhome that cost me less than four grand. You won't find that anywhere else other than if you convert a bus.

3) Make a new thread for every important question you're going to ask, once you start converting your bus. Search the threads for an answer first, but if you don't find one, don't post five big questions in one thread. You won't get the answers you seek. One big question per thread, and you stand the best chance.

4) Removing the seats is a serious pain... no two ways about it... and you might find that ripping up the vinyl covering on the plywood floor is also a huge hassle. Budget more time for that than you expected, and make sure you have an angle grinder to shear off the bolts holding the seats down if you can't get them to turn with a socket wrench or impact wrench.

5) If you've never driven something that big before, make sure you don't go to pick it up in bad weather. I have driven a 29-foot class C motorhome for over 12,000 miles, and when I picked up my bus, shortly after a huge snowstorm, I'd never been so scared to drive a vehicle in my entire life. I made it home okay, obviously, but it's an experience I'd sooner never repeat.

6) I don't know how TN works, but in Ohio, if you want a temporary license plate, you must not get the title transferred into your name. If you do, and THEN you go for a temporary plate, you won't be able to get one. You'll have to get a real plate, which for a bus requires things like an inspection and other DOT garbage. Once I got the title transferred into my name, without the temporary plate, there was literally no legal way that I could drive the bus home. (A state cop told me, without technically telling me, that they probably wouldn't give me a ticket for that. But still, I had to have my wife follow me so that there was much less of a chance that a cop would follow me. I'd have been pulled over for sure, with no license plate.)

7) Have fun! That's what it's all about, anyway.
RomaniGypsy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-01-2018, 09:16 PM   #9
New Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Posts: 5
Quote:
Originally Posted by RomaniGypsy View Post
PLC (peace, love, and cooperation) to you!

So I was in your shoes not that long ago. I can give you some advice from one near-noob to one noob. Here goes.

1) Buses are NOT expensive. I got mine (12-window, 71-passenger) for $2,000, many people have gotten theirs for less (especially if they're short buses), and most people say that a really nice bus will be $4,000 or more at auction.

2) The conversion doesn't have to be fancy. I've spent maybe $300 on my conversion thus far, and that's for plywood, screws, tools, plywood patch paste, carpet tiles, and paint. If you add in the mattress that'll go on top of the bed deck I built, that's another $350 or whatever it was. I've been using mostly scraps and spare parts that I had in my garage and shed, and I've skeletonized a couple of other things I've built that I no longer need. My build is not as fancy-looking as most others I've seen, but it's functional enough to get the bus to meet Ohio's requirements for a motorhome, and it'll do the job for us just fine... for now at least. By the time I've installed everything I intend to install, I still expect to be under $1,500 for the build if I don't decide to buy a new generator or go for a fancy electrical setup with solar panels and a battery bank. (It could be a lot less than that, even.) So I'm going to end up with, in essence, a 33-foot medium-duty motorhome that cost me less than four grand. You won't find that anywhere else other than if you convert a bus.

3) Make a new thread for every important question you're going to ask, once you start converting your bus. Search the threads for an answer first, but if you don't find one, don't post five big questions in one thread. You won't get the answers you seek. One big question per thread, and you stand the best chance.

4) Removing the seats is a serious pain... no two ways about it... and you might find that ripping up the vinyl covering on the plywood floor is also a huge hassle. Budget more time for that than you expected, and make sure you have an angle grinder to shear off the bolts holding the seats down if you can't get them to turn with a socket wrench or impact wrench.

5) If you've never driven something that big before, make sure you don't go to pick it up in bad weather. I have driven a 29-foot class C motorhome for over 12,000 miles, and when I picked up my bus, shortly after a huge snowstorm, I'd never been so scared to drive a vehicle in my entire life. I made it home okay, obviously, but it's an experience I'd sooner never repeat.

6) I don't know how TN works, but in Ohio, if you want a temporary license plate, you must not get the title transferred into your name. If you do, and THEN you go for a temporary plate, you won't be able to get one. You'll have to get a real plate, which for a bus requires things like an inspection and other DOT garbage. Once I got the title transferred into my name, without the temporary plate, there was literally no legal way that I could drive the bus home. (A state cop told me, without technically telling me, that they probably wouldn't give me a ticket for that. But still, I had to have my wife follow me so that there was much less of a chance that a cop would follow me. I'd have been pulled over for sure, with no license plate.)

7) Have fun! That's what it's all about, anyway.
Thank you. I enjoy the input and appreciate the time it takes to type a response. I will look into the title thing, as that is something i have yet to think about.
LadyScarlet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-02-2018, 12:32 AM   #10
Bus Nut
 
Rovobay's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Damascus, OR
Posts: 681
Year: 2004
Chassis: International
Engine: T444e w/ 2000 Allison Trans
Rated Cap: 35
very good info shared thus far. welcome to the site where you will find everything you'd want to know about skoolie building and skoolie life!
__________________
My Build: https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f11/sk...doo-22140.html

Follow our build on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/skoolie_doo/
Rovobay is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-02-2018, 12:01 PM   #11
Almost There
 
WanderlustExistence's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Florida
Posts: 73
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas Build
Chassis: International
Engine: 466E
Rated Cap: 66
Nice to meet you!!!!
WanderlustExistence is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-02-2018, 01:00 PM   #12
Bus Nut
 
Whatthefak's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Wisconsin N.E.
Posts: 412
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Thomas
Engine: 5.9
Rated Cap: 72
We got ours for just under 3k from Cherokee county sc. I'd recommend their buses, if just for the fact they contact out work to an awesome shop! The guy there gave me all the records on this bus was super helpful and fixed some issues for pretty cheap.

I'd ask any seller if the do maintenance or contract it out. An independent shop will give you records and an honest opinion if you ask nice.

Welcome and good luck!
Attached Thumbnails
IMG_20180625_201153343.jpg  
Whatthefak is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:58 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.