“Dream Liner”

[Crlefley]

Ok. Short post, you can get the idea, progress was made. Installed the two rear bedroom windows. They are both vented windows. Went in nice. Gotta put the strapping back to tie them in.
Then, dissassembled the bumper. Going for a 42” extension. Why? Not sure. But it will be bolt in, and removable if I hate it.
Enjoy!

 

[Crlefley]

So... Im sitting here at work, every day, thinking of all the stuff I need to get done before I can insulate it.
Ive decided the majority of my electrical will be AFTER insulation. The major stuff (dc/dc charging/solar gland/ac panel) will be placed before. But the rest will be after.
I also need to guesstimate my plumbing rough ins. But those are flexible also.
I will be leaving my vehicle wiring outside of the foam... Im replacing the rear harness with trailer wiring loom, and hopefully reducing the amount of electrical needed behind the switch panel.
Ill also need to know my camera locations, mini split entry, and so on. But I can drill through spray foam if I have to.

Ive narrowed down these things.
Fridge, stove top, sink, shower, diy toilet w/ diverter, and of course, the bed location.
also: water tank location, battery storage, electrical storage.

I have yet to figure out:
Solar racking and panels, roof hatch location for max fan, or haiier (i cant remember the brand spelling) fan installs.
Also, What other windows im planning on putting in. Im conflicted between the spray foam, rockwool comfort board, or straight foamular now. The spray just makes so much more sense.

Ive also got to finish some exterior stuff still. A couple rivet runs, and I plan on painting all of my rivets and seams with a product called "Gluvit". Its made for sealing leaks on riveted seams for aluminium boats. If anyone has used this stuff, interested to know how its worked.

Anyways. Thats all for now.

 

[nikitis]

If you are going with Close cell spray foam, and you don't do wiring first you'll have to add extenders to mount your interior walls with to make room for electrical runs. This is fine but you lose like 3-4 inches in your total width of the bus overall, and something you should consider.

 

[Crlefley]

If you are going with Close cell spray foam, and you don't do wiring first you'll have to add extenders to mount your interior walls with to make room for electrical runs. This is fine but you lose like 3-4 inches in your total width of the bus overall, and something you should consider.

I’ve already thought about that. My thought is to mount some 1 or 1-1/2 inch pvc or flexible pipe/hose of sorts to “mold” in some runs behind the studs. I’ll lose some insulation, but only in those areas, and it really won’t be that much. At least when it’s done I’ll be able to pop those hoses out. I think anyways.

 

[Crlefley]

Update. So, after spending too much time browsing all week while I work, I found @fo4imtippin s thread. He’s got a crane. I thought that was super smart… so what did I do? Went and bought a crane.
I also bought a few feet of 8” 11.7 c channel for my rear frame extensions. I will be bolting them into place using existing holes, so no drilling required (to the factory frame).
Hoping I’ll get that done tomorrow, and then I can do a bit of pseudo framing for the deck support itself. The two 8’ sections of c channel came in and just shy of 200lbs. I don’t think I’ll use it all.

I think my plan is to overlap 24” and extend 42”, meaning each c channel section will be 5’6”. Being 11.7 steel that’s 130lbs roughly in frame rail metal. The crane operating weight is 280lbs. I’m guessing the rear deck itself, and all of its associate things will come in aroubd 800-1000lbs.

Figuring my rear axle is rated for 19,000, I’ll be hitting the scale soon here to get a dry weight pre deck, and pre insulation, then another afterwords.

Onward.

 

[Crlefley]

Hey… also, quick question, my bus has 11r22.5’s on it. It came that way to me. That doesn’t change the axle rating obviously. Just thought it was interesting bevause the sticker says it was on 20” tires.
Any reason for concern?

 

[fo4imtippin]

Update. So, after spending too much time browsing all week while I work, I found @fo4imtippin s thread. He’s got a crane. I thought that was super smart… so what did I do? Went and bought a crane.
I also bought a few feet of 8” 11.7 c channel for my rear frame extensions. I will be bolting them into place using existing holes, so no drilling required (to the factory frame).
Hoping I’ll get that done tomorrow, and then I can do a bit of pseudo framing for the deck support itself. The two 8’ sections of c channel came in and just shy of 200lbs. I don’t think I’ll use it all.

I think my plan is to overlap 24” and extend 42”, meaning each c channel section will be 5’6”. Being 11.7 steel that’s 130lbs roughly in frame rail metal. The crane operating weight is 280lbs. I’m guessing the rear deck itself, and all of its associate things will come in aroubd 800-1000lbs.

Figuring my rear axle is rated for 19,000, I’ll be hitting the scale soon here to get a dry weight pre deck, and pre insulation, then another afterwords.

Onward.

Nice work. Excited to see how you do it. The pivot on my crane is 12ft behind my axle and then with 4ft boom, im 16ft of leverage onto my rear airbags. I don't do anything special for 300lb dirt bikes, but if you are lifting something heavier, you may bring a jackstand or some sort of foot to place between the crane and the ground for more stable lifting.

Also, everything on my rear deck is bolted. I have many welds, but everything pretty much got a bolt through it as well to ensure it wont fly off if a weld would crack and fail.

I used a wood deck, but building it from scratch again, i may have topped it with a full sheet of diamond plate instead as it would have waterproofed everything below. I ended up having to build a little stainless hood for my grill pocket.

 

[Crlefley]

Nice work. Excited to see how you do it. The pivot on my crane is 12ft behind my axle and then with 4ft boom, im 16ft of leverage onto my rear airbags. I don't do anything special for 300lb dirt bikes, but if you are lifting something heavier, you may bring a jackstand or some sort of foot to place between the crane and the ground for more stable lifting.

Also, everything on my rear deck is bolted. I have many welds, but everything pretty much got a bolt through it as well to ensure it wont fly off if a weld would crack and fail.

I used a wood deck, but building it from scratch again, i may have topped it with a full sheet of diamond plate instead as it would have waterproofed everything below. I ended up having to build a little stainless hood for my grill pocket.

Good to know! I thought about that as well. When extending the frame, I was able to reuse existing bolt holes. I woll elaborate in the update below, but thought about my cross members and how to brace those accordingly.
Good thought on the jack as well. My distance from the axle will be similar to yours. I’m really curious how you mounted it to a spindle… does the lower swivel also? I may be lifting a few engines here and there. (6-700lbs). I don’t have air ride, but a jack is a good idea for sure! Maybe a fold down leg inside the frame.

 

[Crlefley]

So, I’ll keep this short and let the photos explain.
8” c channel, spaced up 1 inch. I reused the holes in the frame from the bumper mounts. This is the test fit up, and I will be using all new grade 8 hardware.
10 bolts per side, and will drill 2 more.
The photos of the welded portion was from an exhaust bracket I had to cut off. Thay to me looks like it will be the weakest potential point of the frame, but even still I’m not worried.
The final photos are of the gap difference. I figure it’s about 1/32 of an inch difference between both sides. Not bad for one guy leveling everything with a plastic table and some 2x4 shims.

I will be cutting the ends off to an even 40 something inches, and then figuring out how to drill the bumper mounts. I may even flip them around and paint the holes on from the frame… I’m not sure yet.
But, it is SOLID. I can tell you that for sure.

 

[nikitis]

So I would of personally mounted the new extender C-Channel on the inside of the existing C-Channel to get that upper and lower C strength. Maybe the C Channel you got doesn't fit inside of the existing?

However you added plenty of length and bolts, it should be okay for a 700 lb lift of an engine later with your new crane.

I'd also add a cross member somewhere in the middle and end of your newly built channels to add more strength so it doesn't sway as much while driving. Those channels will bend slightly as the bus moves. The cross member doesn't have to be anything official. Just get a 1/2 inch steel sheet, weld some ends to it and bolt the ends to the newly created frame on both sides.

But what you are doing should work out okay.

 

[Crlefley]

So I would of personally mounted the new extender C-Channel on the inside of the existing C-Channel to get that upper and lower C strength. Maybe the C Channel you got doesn't fit inside of the existing?

However you added plenty of length and bolts, it should be okay for a 700 lb lift of an engine later with your new crane.

I'd also add a cross member somewhere in the middle and end of your newly built channels to add more strength so it doesn't sway as much while driving. Those channels will bend slightly as the bus moves. The cross member doesn't have to be anything official. Just get a 1/2 inch steel sheet, weld some ends to it and bolt the ends to the newly created frame on both sides.

But what you are doing should work out okay.

I did think about running them on the inside, and then jamming a set of 1x1 pipes on the top and bottom of the new C's to press onto the old C flanges in the event of flexing.
Reason I didnt, was after looking at other builds of them being on the inside, and measuring the distance between the tow hook mounts, I would have been spreading the extension out to mount them inside the rails, or cutting them and making them narrower. So I opted for the outside mounting points.
Essentially I want my cross members to do this \ / instead of spreading like / \ at the end. If that makes sense (obviously not that extreme).

It was also MUCH easier for me to mock them up this way, as the flanges of the original frame rails are slightly curved, and dont provide much of a level playing field even with clamps.

I will be adding a cross member under the bumper, and thats the other reason for the outside mounting points. I can measure the original cross members up under the frame, that are all the same for mounting the fuel tank too, and the old spare tire carrier. I might even be able to buy some oem ones off a bluebird at the bus yard (the one I got my extra roof from). putting the new channels on the outside will allow these to be a bolt up affair as well with virtually no measuring. I like that idea! Also, the amount of bolt up factory accessories (extra fuel tank, possible air tank) that these can adapt to make it make sense for me.

More to come this weekend. But its going to be 0 degrees here so I might not be doing a whole lot.

 

[Crlefley]

Rear deck pt. 2.

So, after looking at things for longer than I should have, I just started working. I decided in an effort to keep the frame manageable when removing I would weld tabs on for the cross support mock ups. You’ll notice my framing is much similar to @fo4imtippin

I wanted to do a full rectangle and not have the center support but I don’t have my receiver hitch yet so center support it is.
For reference, this is all 2x2x1/8 wall tubing. The welded brackets are 2x2 angle. The upper mounts are bolted with 3/8ths grade 8 bolts for the mock up.

Then the lower support frames. I set the crane up top, and noticed enough deflection to say, better beef it up.

Again, wanting to keep it a bolt in affair, and knowing welds will crack, I welded the uprights to the cross members, and bolted them through with 1/2 bolts. I also bolted the inner uprights to the frame rails to add some deflection support side to side.

I haven’t yet decided which side to mount the crane. Either side has its pros/cons.

This is where it sits right now as a roughly completed frame. I need to add one more lower support this weekend, and can add angles for the boards to sit on. All in all, very happy with it.

Lastly, I’ve been very busy doing some side work to make the bus money. So here’s a pesky German timing belt. 1 of 4 I’ve done in my driveway this week. If you know anyone who needs TDI work done, I can be that guy. This one was the Audi flavor.

More to come this weekend!
Peace.

 

[Crlefley]

Quick update here. Got the crane mounted. Considering putting it on the drivers side for weight. I also don’t like the idea of it bouncing/flexing going down the road in one spot. But, I guess I can deal with it.

Here is the video where I explain how I built it.

And some fun photos for fun!!!

 

[nikitis]

Can't wait for the Burgala!