What to do about wheelchair tracks

[skytz]

Is there anyone out there has wheelchair bus be able to help me with this situation? I bought a 30ft 2000 Thomas wheelchair bus and have recently been stripping it down.










As you can see most of the plywood is gone. What remains is the bane of my existence which are the wc tracks. I've been told to leave it and build on top of it. Because I'm keeping the lift would had presented new problems. Based off of what's I've seen on previous videos of possible serious rust, I stripped it. Except for around the back door, section in the middle, it doesn't seem to be too bad yet. I'm doing this bus but myself which is fine. I just need some serious advice on how to get rid of five 20ft tracks that will not cause too much compromise on knee limitations. Thanks.

Sorry about the 1st 2 pics.

 

[Rovobay]

2 person job. one under the bus holding the nut, the other inside unscrewing. 1/2 socket or wrench underneath (I believe) and I think a 3/16" allen bit on an impact driver in the inside. That is what got me through. it also helped to wrench it free from the underneath before unscrewing with the allen bit.

 

[Dog Rescuer]

Just seeing those makes me shiver! I had to get help to hold the Alan key inside the bus while I tried unbolting those rails - which seemed to be bolted every 3 inches. I was able to get most of them - and only had to grind off a handful. It just took a long time.

You can put the seat belt piece into the floor to stop the Alan key from turning - and unbolt them - but that's going to take a lot longer.

I did think about leaving them (I left the ones on the walls) - but I knew I wasn't going to be using them - so pulled them out. And so far - I have not regretted it!

Good luck!

 

[skytz]

I was so hoping you wouldn't tell me about going underneath the bus. Remember it's just me, myself and I with messed up knees. Does anyone know a guy named Steampunk Steve? He drilled through the screws. Someone else suggested using a hole saw that's small enough to fit into the opening, but big enough that it'll totally encapsulate the screw and cut around it. Just pick up the track and cut the screws with a grinder. Yes, I know I'll be on my knees, but not consistently and I'll be in the bus and not under. The issue is all my tools are battery operated. I've got an impact drill which has torque but will it be enough. And can those suggestions work at all?

 

[dbhost]

I was so hoping you wouldn't tell me about going underneath the bus. Remember it's just me, myself and I with messed up knees. Does anyone know a guy named Steampunk Steve? He drilled through the screws. Someone else suggested using a hole saw that's small enough to fit into the opening, but big enough that it'll totally encapsulate the screw and cut around it. Just pick up the track and cut the screws with a grinder. Yes, I know I'll be on my knees, but not consistently and I'll be in the bus and not under. The issue is all my tools are battery operated. I've got an impact drill which has torque but will it be enough. And can those suggestions work at all?

I watched his build videos, he is one of the ones that gave me the idea of wanting to do a skoolie...

Building a Skoolie solo is possible, but it WILL be harder than if you had help...

 

[mikerob643]

We just got done getting the L tracks out of our bus. It took three weeks and about two hours a night worth of work I would say. I was under the bus cranking the 7/16 bolts with an impact wrench in my wife was holding the top with an allen wrench. A lot of them stripped and that had to be dealt with which really sucked but I found that soaking every single bolt in PB blast and then coming back to it soaking it again and then a day later trying to take them out works the best. I read on a few threads on this forum to angle grinder them out. Ours were aluminum and I think most are. So if you have aluminum L Tracks as far as I can tell it's very unsafe to angle grind aluminum and would be a bad solution.
I know this might not help you because you were looking for a solution with just one person. I can say that I did drill through a few of the bolts that we could not get you from the bottom and it was very time-consuming and I went through a few drill bits but it was an option.

 

[skytz]

Thanks for the input so far. So drilling might be out, not sure yet if it is. Tool wise I have a 20 volt impact drill that might have umph. Any feedback on the hole saw?

 

[skytz]

Royobay,
I'll trade bus with you. Cause you've got one that's wheel well free.

 

[EastCoastCB]

Thankfully, my WC mounts were just plates bolted to the floor like seats would be.
That L-track looks formidable.

 

[skytz]

Thankfully, my WC mounts were just plates bolted to the floor like seats would be.
That L-track looks formidable.

No kidding. I've been doing this all on my own to keep the overhead as low as possible, until I need to bring in those who know what I don't know.

 

[Thomas1985]

Seriously just leave it there. It's not worth your time and effort and isn't in the way. Your insullation will work perfectly on top of it.

 

[jjhwick119]

I was searching for something and stumbled across this. Roach711 had the channel in his too. maybe he has some pics or posts that might help
http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f27/insulating-floor-then-using-luxury-vinyl-plank-15629.html

 

[skytz]

Seriously just leave it there. It's not worth your time and effort and isn't in the way. Your insullation will work perfectly on top of it.

There's a problem with that scenario. I have a couple areas that have serious rust issues, which can't be resolved because the tracks are in the way. In one section, it's basically a straight line from one side to the other side of the bus.

 

[skytz]

I was searching for something and stumbled across this. Roach711 had the channel in his too. maybe he has some pics or posts that might help
http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f27/insulating-floor-then-using-luxury-vinyl-plank-15629.html

Thank you.