Choosing the Best Shuttle Bus: Co-Pilot Seating, V10 vs 7.3, F550 vs E450, and Top Build Blogs

[hertfordnc]

I've done a van conversion. Wife and I are 110 between us. I want to build something a bit more substantial with a bed that does not have to be set up.

I've scoured the whole country for busses. There are a few shuttles and party busses with a front passenger door and a co-pilot seat. That would be ideal but those are so much less common. For people who actually like your partner, how have you solved the seating problem?

I am pretty set on a V10 after 2005 to get the five speed or six speed auto. I'd like a diesel but the last good one was made in 2003 and only mates to the 4R100, it's OK but the V10 and the five speed would probably be better. I hope to drive this beast until I'm 85, (2045)

I've also seen some fantastic larger shuttles built on the F550 chassis. I'm wondering if the ride is a lot more truck-like compared to the E450?

And lastly, build blogs and good videos. Even though people have been converting busses for a lot longer, i found more digestable information on sprinter conversion than i have been able to find so far. If you have any recommedations I'd be grateful

thanks

 

[Slapdash]

Heya,

Here's how we put our passenger seat in: From Mad Scientist to Silly Seat: How we installed our passenger seat in the bus - Sunny the Bus

I have a short bus, non-shuttle chassis, if that helps (more details in the rest of the blog).

Anywho, if I could add, I know diesels are the rage, but I am SO glad Wifey pushed me into non-diesel. We are weekend warriors too, so that might be a difference. Anyway, I have a 6.0 GM in mine, and it is very, very quiet compared to like a 7.3. Can haul up mountain road and maybe pull some down. Gas is way cheaper than diesel and mine still has a 10k towing capacity.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[hertfordnc]

Heya,

Here's how we put our passenger seat in: From Mad Scientist to Silly Seat: How we installed our passenger seat in the bus - Sunny the Bus

I have a short bus, non-shuttle chassis, if that helps (more details in the rest of the blog).

Anywho, if I could add, I know diesels are the rage, but I am SO glad Wifey pushed me into non-diesel. We are weekend warriors too, so that might be a difference. Anyway, I have a 6.0 GM in mine, and it is very, very quiet compared to like a 7.3. Can haul up mountain road and maybe pull some down. Gas is way cheaper than diesel and mine still has a 10k towing capacity.

Just my 2 cents.

THat's very good. Not many people explain things in writing these days. (i hate videos)

So when you open the door does the seat rotate out of the way? I'm a little unclear.

 

[Slapdash]

Thanks! I'm a writer by trade, so it's a little easier for me to do it this way than video.

Anywho, yes, the seat is mounted on that swivel so in like day-to-day camping mode, we keep it folded down, which doubles as a table of sorts, then we rotate it 45 degrees, so it's easier to to get into the rear of the bus.

There is a lock on the swivel, so it stays straight when you need it too.

 

[hertfordnc]

Thanks! I'm a writer by trade, so it's a little easier for me to do it this way than video.

Anywho, yes, the seat is mounted on that swivel so in like day-to-day camping mode, we keep it folded down, which doubles as a table of sorts, then we rotate it 45 degrees, so it's easier to to get into the rear of the bus.

There is a lock on the swivel, so it stays straight when you need it too.

And you didn't even promote your blog (which was part of my question). It's really great. Honestly, among the best i've seen.

 

[Slapdash]

Thank you! I really, really appreciate that. The bus and the blog have been a lot of hard work, but well worth it.

Since I've dropped a few electro-related affiliate links here and there on this forum, I was trying not to be too sales-y I guess. I didn't want to be 'that guy'.

Thanks again!

 

[OscarLaVista]

We had a deadline to get the bus done, so as much as we preferred a copilot seat, we got one without. If you have time, keep looking. I drove a Chevy C4500 iirc, and it rode fairly decently, though it also moved around a lot while parked with someone walking inside. It's for her business, and the motion was unwelcome.

For an E-chassis, I strongly prefer '08+ for the better front suspension and brakes, and '11+ for the 6-speed, which was only available in the cutaway vans. Ours is a 2018.

I think converting a box truck is interesting. IDK if anyone builds them with a pass-thru from cab to box anymore; the last U-Haul I rented didn't have one. You get your copilot seat, a tall interior with straight walls, and no wheelchair lift. Lots easier to find and fix water leaks before you build, easy to insulate with foam board, put your windows wherever you want. Put in a side door with steps like some delivery trucks do. If you planned on a mini-split, you don't lose anything by getting something that doesn't have factory rear AC.

 

[Slapdash]

We considered a box truck as well and looked at an older U-Haul fleet sale. That particular one, a Ford van front (before they started looking like the upside-down face kid on Family Guy), did have a pass-thru door to the cab. I really liked that feature and all the reasons @OscarLaVista mentioned. That particular truck was just too beat up to make it an economical starting point in our case. Then the bus we bought just popped up, so we snagged it up quick. Shorties were very, very hard to find at the time.

 

[AlphaHare]

If you're up to it here is an admittedly extreme solution. It was a lot of work but the result is (IMO) awesome and really transforms the space in a good way.

I had hoped that I could work out a folding/sliding/clever engineering solution to putting the passenger seat over the original stairwell, but everything was a compromise and nothing really worked for me.

So I moved the door one bay back, built stairs, and rebuilt the passenger area. The big skin will have two windows arriving soon.