have you tried to move the door to the middle of school bus

[kimberlink-SKO]

Im thinking of moving the school bus door to the middle of the bus to allow for a seat to be put in its place. Has anyone tried this? what kind of pain have you encountered?

 

[lornaschinske]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

While I think it would have been possible on our Blue Bird given how the framing appears to be laid out, It would not have worked out all that well FOR US.
1) We have an engine in the front between the driver seat and the entry steps, So that area was messed up in the first place.

2) Unless I win the lottery (gotta buy a ticket one day), we will still need two drivers to get our mess relocated. We are logistically challenged.

3) David is partially deaf. If he's driving and I'm riding with him in the bus, he can hear me better if I am sitting in my seat directly behind the drivers seat. We'll see how that works when we make a trip to Carlsbad Caverns in December. I'm the navigator and plan the trip routes & stops. David just knows the end destination. That was a pita on our trip out west since he was in the lead. I had to tell him (& my daughter who was following me) at every stop what to look for next. Good thing we were all running cellphones & had service most of the time.

4) the floor plan we ended up with was basically laid out for the Eagle05 we used to have and refit into the current bus with a few minor tweaks. I liked my Eagle layout.

Everyone is different.

 

[bansil]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

I thought aout that also,since I haven't found a used rv door localy(easiest option)
Until I checked out the guides tec the door uses,so we will probably makeb our own door,don't know yet...I am 99.9999% sure I will not retor fit the stock door.
Look for a used rv door,several pctorials here,check ount rainbows build....very clean install

 

[bansil]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

Lorna,have you thought about an in vehicle pa type sytem?you can speak and then your voice can be heard by David thru an ext. Speaker? Or maybe just one ear bud for him?

 

[chev49]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

it is not difficult to put an rv door ahead of your rear axle somewhere. but, you gotta check to see that gas tank or air tanks, etc are not in the place where you want to put a door because you need to cut the entire floor out almostback to the frame rail in order to put the steps in. you gotta cut out your door opening and should weld the bottom step landing to properly give support to the door frame and body integrity. then put the steps in and fur out the door area so you can screw the rv door on.

i put my door around 4 feet ahead of the pass rear axle, having the bottom step part of the compartment, and built the 3 additional steps out of wood, so that i can remove them easily if necessary. i also removed the front double door and furred out that entrance after removing all the stairs, and put the generator there. i then put another rv door there.. (should put "visitors entrance" sign over that one...)

i have built steel doors for a couple of busses for other people, but thats way too much work if im not getting paid for it.. rv doors will last a long time if installed right.

 

[kimberlink-SKO]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

Okay Chev49 you talked me into it..... If nothing else nothing a good tarp and some straps can't fix Right....LOL I am pretty handy when it comes to body work used to do custom work before the service. It didn't look like it would be to difficult just wanted some reassurance before I tackle it. Im unsure if i'll use the stock door (modified like RV) or just get a used RV Door which does sound easier. If I can get my kids to help with this web page thingy i'll post some progress pics on there. and add the link to this post.

Break Break

Lorna, have you checked out this place http://en.visonerv.com/cgi-bin/c/rvsalv ... tingout.pl? they are in KY and have all kinds of used RV parts. For the communications to David i would look into a set of intercoms tha i used to have when I rode Motorcycles. They are kinda like an ear bud with a mike and not to expensive.

 

[lornaschinske]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

David has "tone" deafness. Some pitches he can't hear from decades of using power tools. Mostly higher pitched voices like women (women singer are completely unintelligible to him). He also can't understand British accents. The PBS shows I watch are gibberish to him. Hearing aids haven't worked for him because they seem to amplify everything so all he hears is loud gibberish. He is not interested in the things anymore because it makes his ears hurt and he still can't hear anything but gibberish. My daughter & I are seriously considering ASL. Oddly enough, he can hear me when I say things quietly to myself that he wasn't supposed to hear. :? Perhaps he's like our last dog.... she couldn't hear us say "get off the couch" when we were standing three feet away from her but she could be 200 ft away from the house in the back yard and hear a slice of cheese being unwrapped in a closed up house with A/C running.

 

[Newfiedogs]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

I have done this very task, it's not that hard of a job if your into fabrication, oh ya, and many "thinking beers". Check out my pictures in the gallery of what I have done. It was one of the best modifications that I have done so far. The toughest part is cutting that big of a hole in the side of your rig. Just tack in supports before you cut and you should be golden, and amazed at what you have just done to your bus. There is nothing better than those nosey neighbors, Oh my god, look honey, now he's cutting a hole in the side of that damn thing. Just let me know if you want any additional views of how I did it, as all here, we need to help each other out and through this sickness...
Tracy

 

[kimberlink-SKO]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

I have done this very task, it's not that hard of a job if your into fabrication, oh ya, and many "thinking beers". Check out my pictures in the gallery of what I have done. It was one of the best modifications that I have done so far. The toughest part is cutting that big of a hole in the side of your rig. Just tack in supports before you cut and you should be golden, and amazed at what you have just done to your bus. There is nothing better than those nosey neighbors, Oh my god, look honey, now he's cutting a hole in the side of that damn thing. Just let me know if you want any additional views of how I did it, as all here, we need to help each other out and through this sickness...
Tracy

LMAO the problem here isn't neighbors its my son (28) n daughter in-law, they think i'm a redneck anyway LOL. I live in the country between a drag racer and a circle drit track racer, figured i'd join them....

Tried looking your pic up in the Gallery (dont know if i did it right) and didn't find anything. I would love to see some how toos'

 

[Newfiedogs]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

Kimberlink
Page 14, Under Hank youlubdabus...The one with the Newfoundland dogs.
Tracy

 

[sportyrick]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

I've done it also, sportyrick in gallery, well worth the effort. An RV door just happens to fit between a pair of support rails. sportyrick

 

[TheRainbowBoxer]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

Sportyrick was my inspiration for adding a door midships. I will say that everything really fell into place on mine (I'm guessing it was luck more than anything), including the frame ribs being exactly the correct distance apart for the door fit. I am very happy that we went that route.

*edited to add note* The door install starts on the 6th page of my build "Ludicrous Speed"

 

[chev49]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

i put in 2 rvdoors.. rear rv door was 1/2 in too wide for the upright rails, the front rv door was 3 inches too narrow...
best idea is to measure the door if buying one..
i didnt pay for either of mine, so the little extra work was worth it.

 

[kimberlink-SKO]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

 

[kimberlink-SKO]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

 

[Diesel Dan]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

Sweet 8)

 

[bansil]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

Sweet 8)

X2
That just "looks" like the nicest door move...bravo ,good job

 

[kimberlink-SKO]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

Thank You, it took alot of nerve to get the guts up to doing it but like you all said it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Cutting that big of a hole in a perfectly good vehicle espessally when it runs better than what I drive to work was very nerving.

I checked around at the local RV stores and online and on e-bay there was a door for 125 that was perfect fit between the frame rails. Out came the Saw zall, welder, tin snips and away I went. I even surprised the wife on how it looks a feels. My goal is to get all the holes closed up before it gets cold outside so when the weather turns cold I can work on the inside floor and floorplan.

P.S. sorry I need spell check for us Publik Skuel edumacated skuelies. sorry for the spelling errors.

 

[Skunky Bus]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

Awesome how-to photos, Kimberlink. I just bookmarked your photobucket page.

My final plans for around the front passenger seat will have to wait 'till I get the danged bus.

 

[kimberlink-SKO]

Re: have you tried to move the door to the middle of school

Well thank you skunky, I just got through labeling the photos also. If anyone has any guestions or better explanation just let me know I'll try and answer them.