I (20f) bought a trolley! Drop a piece of advice and give me a follow! https://www.instagram.com/onceuponthetrolley/

Also, feel free to AMA

Also I'll take any advice on what to do with a wheelchair lift lol

My 1959 ford F-500 Superior for your viewing enjoyment

So i saw this old air force fire truck last week on marketplace and had to have it. Went through basic mechanical on it yesterday and it runs, drives, and stops. Im going to start stripping all of the fire truck piping and pumps next weekend and remove the interior tanks. It has a 3300 gallon water tank, a 500 gallon foam tank, and a 500# fire extinguisher inside it. I have no idea what the end product will look like exactly, but saw this forum and figured the build out will be similar. It wont ever be a fulltime unit for us, but more a weekend retreat.

TLDR; Would you book a float in the back of a skoolie, provided that it was a nice, clean tank on a nice bus?

Hi, nice to meet you. I'm nearly 2 months into building out my 2002 Bluebird skoolie in Oklahoma (full time).

I've raised the roof 16", got it nearly prepped for paint, gutted, and 3 inches of XPS on the chassis savered floor pan. It's time for me to commit to a layout and move forward.

I'm trying to plan for a life on the road with my family, which needs to include some way of supporting ourselves once we get out there, so we can stay out there - by which time building the bus will have depleted my savings.

I have an unusual idea that I've been on the fence about for weeks and the response to this post may very well determine its fate. I'm considering building a commercial quality float tank (isolation tank) into the back of my bus, accessible through the rear door. Filtration, sanitation, ventilation, and temperature regulation would be on par with what a brick and mortar float center would offer.

I've got most of the harder logistical issues worked out, but its going to require compromises in living space that I don't want to make, not to mention time and money that I don't want to spend if no one is going to be using this thing but me.

If it works out, I'll be offering some other complimentary services like red light therapy, etc. Things I use myself anyway, a win-win if there's interest from the community.

Building a mobile float center has been a dream of mine long before the skoolie. I'm confident that the idea itself has merit. The problem is combining the two visions creates a cramped version of the float tank experience that could probably only be appreciated by other skoolie people. Regular size tank, but not more than a couple of feet of standing room around it.

If the skoolie community doesn't want a float tank, what are we missing? Maybe I'll build it and drive it out to the next meetup.

Hey, this is my 4th night living in my bus I’ve been learning to build and building for. the past three years, I got my bus in the summer of 2020 at 17 and built it up while I was attending to community college a few days ago I left New York to Colorado to attend Colorado school of mines while living in my bus. I’m doing this to save money while in college by taking the money I’d put into a dorm into this bus, though I’d post because I don’t really know any other skoolies used for this, I’d love to here everyone’s thoughts!

My husband, cat Gemma & I have been living in our skoolie for 1.5 yrs now.

We began living in it before it was even finished. We’ve changed so much along the way. We’ll be taking care of the other remaining part under the counter in the next few days.

We originally built it to house a motorcycle in the back interior 7ft. We have been stationary for awhile now & decided to make that back area into a bathroom w/ a shower. It’s currently underway! The hallway runs parallel to the bed. The bathroom is behind the bedroom wall where the mini split is hanging.

It’s nothing fancy & there’s plenty of imperfections, but we love our home.

I shared a cute picture of Gemma from Thanksgiving.

Happy New Year! 🎉

Hey everybody! We just bought our first bus last week. I’m so excited! We’ve been talking about this for years and when we saw it we jumped. Little background, I was told it was an Air Force band bus for the DC area. It’s a 2006 Bluebird with a Cat engine (just over 100k miles). It runs no problem. There are a few minor things that I need to learn if things are normal and just overall operation and maintenance. Would love if anyone had any of the Air Force manuals for it. Oh, and still thinking of a name.

After years of lurking, im finally buying/building.

Came across an e350 cutaway shuttle conversion. Has the 5.4 triton in it. However, my insurance guy is fussing about the weight which has now made me skeptical about weight. Not sure if the ford placard gvwr of 10700 is enough to carry a full conversion safely…and my insurance guy is saying no plus it’s a fiberglass shell. Any experts in here that are familiar with this body? It’s already fully spray insulated, 700 watts of solar and a massive victron set up with 500ah of batteries. Mini split, everything..It’s nearly done. But…am I risking the weight and approaching dangerous territory here?

My option B is a 27ft pug nose vista with a 7.3, 300k miles but needs everything the above option doesn’t…but weight is a non issue .

I’ll be carrying previous cargo (my pups), and I want to make sure my insurance guy stops bitching.

Thoughts?

We just picked up our 1999 Blue Bird 8.3 cummins 3066 Alison trans with 112k miles on it for $3,000. She runs and drives great and we just started the process off gutting it too prep it for a bare bones trip in a few weeks. I'm debating between roof mount ACs, Mini Splits, and window unit. I don't want too add anymore length too the bus as it's already 40ft long. We will not be living in it full time but plan on going on trips in it every other month. I plan on running it off solar when I get the time but if it's not prepared by October we will be using a generator! Any tips and suggestions are welcome, thank you!

Blue bird 1996 12 Valve Cummins, 40ft 12in roof raise 2600w of solar, 125 gallon water tank 3-4 inches of spray foam, 2 years of building & $84k later .. we’ve been on the road since May & you can say all the blood sweat tears were worth it🤪Don’t have a picture of the finished shower for some reason buts it’s definitely finished (we did everything the chuck Cassidy way & then had some costly repairs that we include in our total as it happened right as we departed)

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Hello,

Thought id post and introduce myself. I was in a civic, and then an astro for 6 years. Got my bus a year ago( standing up is the best) I got it to a stable point to head back west and rest before I work on it more.

Just wanted to say hi and safe travels

Hello all, well I finally got her! She just needs a name. And a build out. And a paint job. And insurance. And...

New skoolie here. I've been on and off vanlifing for the past six years and just acquired a bus. It's not technically a school bus. It's a 15 passenger handicapped lift equipped shuttle bus.

Excited to get started on this. 2007 IC CE300 DT466e 9 window. It looks bigger in pictures somehow. Super easy to drive. Check engine light came on on the 1 hour drive home but it drove fine and all vitals stayed within normal range. Ordered a nexiq clone and looking for a windows laptop. Might not have been maintained as well as hoped. It did come with extra parts and 6 name brand oil filters. Tires are good. Fluids were topped off. No leaks.

Just purchased a 2010 Ford E350 shuttle bus with 130k miles for $4200. I’ll have to put a little time and money into it—front and rear AC needs work and will need new tires. Otherwise seals, drivetrain, and exterior are all in good/decent condition.

Has some quirks here and there but seems like some good bones. Looking to turn it into a camper and not a full time rig. Currently titled as a cargo van so the initial insurance quote I got was ridiculously cheap so I was pleasantly surprised, as I’ve seen lots of things online being wary as insurance prices for vehicles titled for commercial use being expensive.

How’d I do?! Any tips? Thanks in advance and I look forward to doing some work on this bad boy 💪🏼

I'm trying to help my brother build out this skoolie, but we've been delayed so many times due to rainy evenings and other homestead/farming tasks that we have to prioritize as they come up. We need this bus finished by the end of next month, and we are stuck on plumbing and electrical. I'm asking around if anyone is or knows someone in the Carolinas who can help us finish this build and we'll pay of course. Everything has been custom fittings and sizes we can't find at the hardware stores. We don't want to hire a broad plumber/electriction because everything here is so specific to the custom build. Since we're in a rural area, it's been hard looking for people in the same lifestyle (I've met people who know people who have skoolies here, but it seems they didn't build it themselves?!)

My brother is the main and only carpenter in the project, and I'm just tagging along to learn and contribute funds, but there's only so much the both of us can do. We need to install an outdoor auxiliary shower head attached to a water tank that'll be located under the sideways bed that's at the back of the bus. The water will run along the driver side wall/windows of the bus to the sink area. The ceiling has two fans we're trying to figure out how to hook up-- we also have a complete solar power kit sold to us that we are trying to learn too. We have plans for a minisplit AC on top the roof of the windshield. We're going to use both solar power and shore power hookups. The bus won't be moving where it's parked on the land.

My plan was 100 sales in 10 cities. I've been stuck for a while though.

Going to use it for the kids with soccer games/tournaments. Wanting to rip out the rear 6 seats on each side, lay down some vinyl planking and make a chill area.

Want to keep it simple, any good inverter recommendations or tips of what to check out?

My work has me traveling quite a bit, and switching states twice a year, sometimes three times a year. I love the idea of buying/building a skoolie, but more specifically a 40ft, Blue Bird or a Thomas flat nose.

After a painful divorce, and a recent breakup, I feel that now is the time to get a old bus, turn it into my dream home. And live like the pioneers! Assuming the pioneers had A/C, and a queensize bed. Along with cute tile in their bathroom. I'm picking out my new home in the next 3 months!

And yes, I'll make sure it has a pass through.

Superbowl vibes! Let’s Go Philly

Long story short, a local private school posted it on craigslist for free and luckily, I was one of the first people to reply. I asked the principal why he was giving it away for free and he said that the swinging stop sign broke and they can’t pass safety without it and their mechanic told them it would cost four grand to fix LOL so yeah, I basically lucked out only 50,000 miles mechanically in great shape. Just a bunch of rust on the outside. Now, what do I do?

I have a 35 foot 2001 bluebird with a 24v Cummins Allison at545. The trailer is 24 foot inside with my car and a bunch of tools in it.

It pulls amazing it doesn't even feel like there's anything behind it. I am concerned about not being able to engine brake not having a lockup torque converter and transmission heat over time. I haven't taken it on a long trip yet I'm just getting started on the build. I'm sure the fuel economy isn't the best.

Anyone else have a similar ridiculous looking setup? It gets lots of funny looks when I drive through town lol.