bus conversion vs box truck build, thoughts?

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by dazdconfsd

Just a note, I found the rear Ford Transit bench seats relatively easy to retrofit to my bus once the locating pin in the stock seat rails was knocked out. The rails are otherwise flat and easily bolted through a floor or welded to it for security and you'd then have what I'd consider a safe seat/seatbelt combo.

I just picked up one of those Ford Transit bench seats (a double) and I was wondering what I was going to do about those locating pins in the rails. I think I was going to drill a hole for the pin in the floor instead of knocking it out.

I was wondering: do you think it's safe to saw off the part of the mounting rail in front of the fore-most bolt hole? I'm planning to mount this bench (a 31" wide double) on the right just behind the entry door, as far forward as I can get it (I'm going to build a bulkhead wall right behind this, so the farther forward I can get the bench, the larger my living area will be). The place I'm envisioning will have one of the rails sticking over the edge into the stepwell by about 6" or so, and I'll need to either cut it off or put a ledge under it or something.

[dazdconfsd]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I just picked up one of those Ford Transit bench seats (a double) and I was wondering what I was going to do about those locating pins in the rails. I think I was going to drill a hole for the pin in the floor instead of knocking it out.

I was wondering: do you think it's safe to saw off the part of the mounting rail in front of the fore-most bolt hole? I'm planning to mount this bench (a 31" wide double) on the right just behind the entry door, as far forward as I can get it (I'm going to build a bulkhead wall right behind this, so the farther forward I can get the bench, the larger my living area will be). The place I'm envisioning will have one of the rails sticking over the edge into the stepwell by about 6" or so, and I'll need to either cut it off or put a ledge under it or something.

I certainly hope so since I cut the excess off already Since I used a 3 person bench, I had 3 rails to cut. I used some tape to mark them all to the same length and then used a cut off wheel. They cut pretty easily for me.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by dazdconfsd

I certainly hope so since I cut the excess off already Since I used a 3 person bench, I had 3 rails to cut. I used some tape to mark them all to the same length and then used a cut off wheel. They cut pretty easily for me.

I feel sorry for whatever poor bastards will have to ride in my tiny bench seats. They'll get less space than Royal Navy sailors got for their hammocks and they'll maybe get to test out whether the entire rail is needed for proper support.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I feel sorry for whatever poor bastards will have to ride in my tiny bench seats. They'll get less space than Royal Navy sailors got for their hammocks and they'll maybe get to test out whether the entire rail is needed for proper support.

Forgive me, my memory issues worsen. Are you the one that was looking for the seat belt bus seats with the fold down center and seat belt? The bus I just bought only has 2 stock seats in it and they are both the ones I described. I like them but notice they are narrower than regular seat. I can't think of a use for them in my current bus, so I'll just leave them in the other.

[jbeech]

I went for a Freightliner. Basically, a 26' box truck with sleeper (sometimes referred to as hotshot trucks). Local shop builds out mobile command centers for sheriff departments and the like using these as the foundation. I've got a working relationship with the foreman so I can drop by and eyeball what they're doing and vacuum up ideas for my thing.

Anyway, my application is an RV in the barest possible sense in that it will have where to sleep (air mattress), cook (microwave), electric power (diesel generator), and bathroom (I splurged, 160gal of potable water for a 48" wide shower stall plus loveable loo type toilet). However, my primary purpose is a vehicle for attending model airplane flying events, which means workbenches which fold down for me to have a shop (plus enough space for toting a small motorcycle (Harley Sportster) as an aux vehicle - there's a lift gate on back).

Meanwhile, now that I've discovered this website, I believe a 30-40' school bus would have been a great platform, also. However, which vehicle is my first-conversion almost doesn't matter. Why not? Simple, it's because over my lifetime there have been first car, airplane, and motorcycle, and all have been replaced . . . and probably will be again.

The point being, while I may be in love with this truck-conversion, in the grand scheme of things (and based on my past) this will probably just be the first, anyway. Next up may be a school bus. Who knows? I sure don't (and if I could predict the future I'd be busy getting rich off Wall Street).

[VBanaszak]

Honestly, it sounds more like you would be better off getting a trailer and making a tiny house

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Forgive me, my memory issues worsen. Are you the one that was looking for the seat belt bus seats with the fold down center and seat belt? The bus I just bought only has 2 stock seats in it and they are both the ones I described. I like them but notice they are narrower than regular seat. I can't think of a use for them in my current bus, so I'll just leave them in the other.

Yeah, that was me. I ended up getting a Ford Transit Van double-seat bench off CL for $200. It's really perfect: it's as small as something like this could possibly be, super-easy to install, has integrated shoulder belts and it's even removable, although I don't see myself ever taking it out.

[willsmusicbus]

Originally Posted by VBanaszak

Honestly, it sounds more like you would be better off getting a trailer and making a tiny house

i think most of the people on this forum would agree that hauling any sort of a trailer is a pain.

just my opinion here but if your going to build a tiny house separate from the vehicle just park the thing in one spot, at that point mobile living gets ridiculous. from a cost perspective your into a trailer house for exponentially more than anything shy of a brand new rv. Plus you add on a second big investment of the truck to haul it with, not to mention the trailer itself has to be a solid foundation to build off of, which your doing from scratch.

im looking to tour as a musician, and travel as i can through that. It will mean venturing down tight city streets, getting caught in traffic, and everything else that comes with where people go to see music.

i would hate to have even a foot of extra wasted length on a bus, im hesitant to even consider a crew cab truck... i wouldnt leave my driveway if i was towing a 30ft trailer house.

the way i see it, if theres a deck on the back to hold a harley or 2 that would get you in and out of town or through a nat park quick. really just an easy mode of transportation when the bus is parked. on a gig night you pull up out front, unload, drop the bus off at a local lot and ride the bike back to the venue. a little bit of a run around but ive had worse situations with small cars.

at a place you cant get a bus to the front door, you have an issue! i wouldnt want to tow a car, or have a chase vehicle even, but i think uber is the answer. for 20$ they pick you up from the wallmart parkinglot with all your gear and drop you off out front... problem solved right?

[HazMatt]

Originally Posted by Mark_In_MA

To me, there are two main differences : The layout, and the safety factor.

With a bus, you've essentially got the full length of the body for living space. Get a 40-foot bus, and you've essentially got an 8x40 rectangle to play with. You can move around in that rectangle at will, at any time. It's all the same space. You might normally be wearing a seatbelt in a designated seat, but you could take it off, wander back to the bathroom, grab something from the fridge, etc. etc. Everything is one room.

With a truck, you've got 2 sections - there's the cab, and then there's the room in the box in the back. A lot of the time, the two are not connected. First, that means that you can't just wander to the box to grab something from the living quarters while driving down the highway. You've got to pull over and stop. Second, It also means that all your passengers are stuck together IN the truck cab while driving. Not that it's automatically a problem, but you will have everyone in a confined space for the duration of the driving. Having the box separated from the cab also means that you lose the length that the cab takes up. You've got 6 or 7 feet of truck that you're not really using (Though you could do an over-the-cab sleeper and re-gain some of that space.)

There's also the safety factor - with a bus, you should be safe anywhere in the body in an accident. Bus bodies are built to carry people inside. Box trucks aren't. I'm sure its possible to build a body that would be considerably more durable and safe then the standard cargo box, it's just a question of where you want to spend your time - building the outside, or building the inside.

After that, I think the levels of customization are about the same.

I need to score whatever cruise control you have, that allows you to amble away from the steering wheel to go drain the lizard...

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by haz.matt.1960

I need to score whatever cruise control you have, that allows you to amble away from the steering wheel to go drain the lizard...

He said designated seat, not drivers seat.

[HazMatt]

What? You never heard about designated drivers..?

Originally Posted by o1marc

He said designated seat, not drivers seat.

[Bigdaadio]

Originally Posted by willsmusicbus

ROOF RAISE QUESTION

im 6'2" most busses are a 6'4" ceiling... thats not a ton of room

a truck ovb you set whatever ceiling height. but were talking building a house from scratch, whats the workload vs a gutted bus and a roof raise? almost further ahead to start from scratch.
but has anyone left the roof and done maybe a simple bump up/out for the roof above the main area, lets say the kitchen. notching out where the roof starts to curve and framing a 90* for 5-8ft? hallway/passage side vs over the cooktop?

That sounds like a great idea!!!