First Set of General Skoolie Questions 1/Infinity

[NavigatedChaos]

So there will be tons of questions later I know but this is the first set I am curious about. Gotta hurry though cause I got to catch a different kind of bus for work.

So I'm looking to either get a transit short bus or a school bus. Pro's and Con's of each type? Also I'm looking for at most 8 window length school bus.

Speaking of 8 windows, are there any good bus model/brand/whatever it's called for 8 window buses and below? The name of the bus type so I know what to look for?

Anyone know the middle lane height of a school bus? This should be a easy one.

Has anyone gone for bigger tires on their skoolie and if so, was it that much of a hassle? Looking for something up and off the ground a little more and something that makes the ride that much smoother.

I plan on being full time in this when it's finished. Would love to push towards 900 or 1200 watts with solar so that I can actively do everything I want, but that's not the question. For full time living, what are some essentials. Food, water, shower, bathroom, and all that is pretty obvious but what are some unknown essentials?

If we have any hardcore PC gamers here, how do you deal with the vibrations of the bus effecting your desktop components?

[Sehnsucht]

A transit bus will usually have a lower floor and therefore more headroom inside but that's at the cost of no space for underfloor storage, holding tanks, etc.

School bus ceiling heights in the aisle are about 72-78 inches. That may be less in a 'short' bus though if its not just shorter in length but also shorter in height such as a cutaway. That's when the cab is a van then a bus body was added behind the driver.

The best option for a smoother ride is air ride suspension.

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by NavigatedChaos

I plan on being full time in this when it's finished. Would love to push towards 900 or 1200 watts with solar so that I can actively do everything I want, but that's not the question. For full time living, what are some essentials. Food, water, shower, bathroom, and all that is pretty obvious but what are some unknown essentials?

There's a fella on here goes by the name of Roach711, who's also in Michigan in the Detroit metro area. He's got a small bus which I think used to be a shuttle bus. 6 windows in length. Take a look at his posts, he may even have a build thread, to get an idea of size/livability. Maybe shoot him a PM and see if you can check it out, I dunno. Another user that comes to mind is DogRescuer, who had a 7 or 8 window conventional school bus and he lived in it full time as well.


We've got an 11 window and live full time. 2 adults in the bus, probably a dog in the near future. It's cozy for us, and we might have been able to go smaller if our living and bedroom spaces didn't need to be separate. It's definitely doable for a single person. You could easily put 1200w solar up top for an 8 window bus. We've got around 1200w and it's more than enough for us. A couple of intangible things (unknown essentials) that we've come to realize.

1. Natural light. We've been in a conversion that was all insulated and skinned over with only a couple residential windows for light. Didn't much like it. Too cavernous, no way to quickly cool it down. We put down the windows, put up the screens, and open the back door and we get a decent breeze though. We've also got a couple MaxxAir fans to assist in ventilation. The natural light keeps the space open and airy and feels much bigger than its 200 sq. ft.
2. Storage space. Not only the luggage bins, but also the "a place for everything and everything in its place" concept. Having to run around and frantically store a bunch of stuff before we move the bus is a real pain. So we tried to simplify the process by having nooks for everything, shelves with baskets/dividers, hooks on cabinets, etc. This takes some of the stress off of moving day....which is stressful enough.