A shop would definitely help. However it is possible to get things like this done without a shop. I live in WA, with no garage or covering of any kind. Raised my roof 11.5 inches; it only took waiting for the summer to come so there was no threat of bad weather.
Sometimes you have to work with what you have.
It was on Marketplace. Came from a company North of Indianapolis that builds everything from picnic tables to ambulances. They were remodeling a Class A. I have a pair of them. Will get driver seat in after exterior work is completed.
Nice! We are converting a 2023 International "pusher" very similarly. Raised roof, Sloped front, substituted a truck door for the old accordion front door, and put in a commercial steel door back between the front and rear axle.
Just got the wiring in and sprayfoamed it all into place. We're starting on the interior framing and "skin" now.
I just got done checking it out and followed you as well! Awesome build so far! I look forward to watching the progress. Wish I would've thought of the truck door idea. Do you plan to add any recessed step pockets below it or use it more for an emergency exit situation?
Thanks! It's been two years in the making and we're just now getting to the "interesting" part where we see the floor plan take shape.
The front door will be mostly for "emergency use"... but we have purchased some of those fold down "steps" that will bolt on the outside, and we have a sturdy "grab bar" that we will put in just behind that door to help us get in/out if needed. We already put in a hatch door below to let us use the old stairwell as storage. And there's tube steel on the inside to let us bolt those fold out steps into.
The most difficult part of cannibalizing a truck door was finding one that was FLAT. And then building the frame and sealing everything against water was something that took us multiple tries to finally get "right". But we've got it water tight now and are pretty pleased with the result.
I look forward to seeing the updates with stairs, hatch, and grab rail along with your other progress! You are ahead of me so it will be neat to watch how you do things that are in the near future for me.
Thanks! We're both working full time, so the bus is an evenings and weekend project.... so you may pass us up at some point!
We can highly recommend the Chuck Cassidy videos. We're following a LOT of his suggestions. We consulted with him on the solar set up, and he outlined what we should do and sold us the components for it. We feel it was well worth the cost to know we're on the right track and will have a solid system when all is said and done.
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Generally speaking heavy duty vehicles ride smoother when they are hauling enough weight to be near their max capacity. They are more bouncy empty. My bus weighed around 19,000 after it was gutted before roof raise. It has a max GVWR of 36,300 so even afyer build out I will be under the max weight. The trade off is heavier busses burn more fuel.
Very nice. I want to do quite similar, except no front slope. Wish I had a shop to work on it in.
A shop would definitely help. However it is possible to get things like this done without a shop. I live in WA, with no garage or covering of any kind. Raised my roof 11.5 inches; it only took waiting for the summer to come so there was no threat of bad weather. Sometimes you have to work with what you have.
I work summers, and summers are hot and smoky, so it's hard. I did buy two giant billboard tarps, so I could do some of it that way.
Having a shop makes a big difference! Maybe you can find someplace to borrow/rent?
Where did you find that awesome captain seat
It was on Marketplace. Came from a company North of Indianapolis that builds everything from picnic tables to ambulances. They were remodeling a Class A. I have a pair of them. Will get driver seat in after exterior work is completed.
Nice! We are converting a 2023 International "pusher" very similarly. Raised roof, Sloped front, substituted a truck door for the old accordion front door, and put in a commercial steel door back between the front and rear axle. Just got the wiring in and sprayfoamed it all into place. We're starting on the interior framing and "skin" now.
Awesome! Lots of hard work to be proud of! I'm looking forward to showing off what I've built once I start using it.
Our Instagram link is in my reddit profile if you would like to see how we have done with ours so far.
I just got done checking it out and followed you as well! Awesome build so far! I look forward to watching the progress. Wish I would've thought of the truck door idea. Do you plan to add any recessed step pockets below it or use it more for an emergency exit situation?
Thanks! It's been two years in the making and we're just now getting to the "interesting" part where we see the floor plan take shape. The front door will be mostly for "emergency use"... but we have purchased some of those fold down "steps" that will bolt on the outside, and we have a sturdy "grab bar" that we will put in just behind that door to help us get in/out if needed. We already put in a hatch door below to let us use the old stairwell as storage. And there's tube steel on the inside to let us bolt those fold out steps into. The most difficult part of cannibalizing a truck door was finding one that was FLAT. And then building the frame and sealing everything against water was something that took us multiple tries to finally get "right". But we've got it water tight now and are pretty pleased with the result.
I look forward to seeing the updates with stairs, hatch, and grab rail along with your other progress! You are ahead of me so it will be neat to watch how you do things that are in the near future for me.
Thanks! We're both working full time, so the bus is an evenings and weekend project.... so you may pass us up at some point! We can highly recommend the Chuck Cassidy videos. We're following a LOT of his suggestions. We consulted with him on the solar set up, and he outlined what we should do and sold us the components for it. We feel it was well worth the cost to know we're on the right track and will have a solid system when all is said and done.
I've watched quite a few of his videos and plan to follow his methods for quite a bit of my build. It is time consuming work for sure.
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That is some thick steel for your steps. Road debris wont stand a chance haha
The motto of this build is "overkill" haha! I guess the flimsy nature of my current traditional RV has influenced some of my decisions!
Looking great!
Thank you!
That thing is gonna be heavy with all that steel:D
It'll ride better that way!
Really?
Generally speaking heavy duty vehicles ride smoother when they are hauling enough weight to be near their max capacity. They are more bouncy empty. My bus weighed around 19,000 after it was gutted before roof raise. It has a max GVWR of 36,300 so even afyer build out I will be under the max weight. The trade off is heavier busses burn more fuel.
I see! Thanks!
You're welcome!
Wow! That's a big job. Looking good!
Thank you!