Which rv/5th wheel solution for full time?

[sixstringsteve]

@hickey, is yours the hydronic one, or the airtronic model? That looks like just what I need (though I may need 2 of them).

 

[sixstringsteve]

So Steve it sounds like you sold your house. Is this a closer step to you RV Dream? A lot sooner then a year or two or just down sizing?

The house sells on Thursday. We're renting in the mean time, while we figure out what we want to do. We're 90% sure we want to start the full time RV dream sooner than 2 years. We still have a lot of decisions to make and research to do before taking the plunge, but it's looking like it's going to happen.

If we do go this route, we'll probably make our decision of what we want to do in the next few months, and if we go forward with the RV dream, we'll buy a bus in the next few months (provided I can find one with a rear emergency exit and a DT466 engine) and slowly start building it. I'm betting it'll take 6-10 months to build it.

I know nothing about building houses, so I have a lot to research in regards to heating, cooling, hot water, plumbing, insulation, framing, solar, electrical, batteries, diesel maintenance etc. It's going to be a learning experience for sure.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Last night we were looking at rates at Granite Flats up AF Canyon. $150 a month. That's only $600 a month. That could be a really fun month to shakedown the bus, while still keeping our day jobs. Granted, we could just head up the dirt road and boondock there for free, but even $600/month for rent isn't bad.

 

[frieed]

@hickey, is yours the hydronic one, or the airtronic model?

the hydronic one is an engine block heater...

 

[sixstringsteve]

Ah, makes sense. Thanks Eric. So if I wanted radiant heat (I don't think I do), the hydronic one would be the one to go with.

I wonder if I should look into some sort of engine block heater on a DT466 bus. Truth be told, we plan on being in warmer climates in the winter (st george, az, nm, etc), so I'm not sure how much snow we'll be in, but I'd like to have options.

I also wonder if I can use some sort of diesel heater to make hot water for the shower, and to keep the pipes from freezing. I found this:

[video=youtube;0OiDufshu_Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OiDufshu_Y[/video]

 

[idahoyj]

I'm sure that most busses will have an engine block heater already.

 

[Hickey]

@hickey, is yours the hydronic one, or the airtronic model? That looks like just what I need (though I may need 2 of them).

Airtronic. It's about the size of a loaf of bread.

Mine only has to heat the sleeper and cab of a semi truck, so two would probably be best for you.

 

[zmotorsports]

If you are looking to go hydronic heating and are building a bus from the floor up I would suggest going for it. Adding hydronic heating to an already built coach is not practical but when building one it is definitely a plus. Our Dynasty has Aqua-Hot hydronic heat for both heating the coach as well as domestic hot water and I wouldn't go back to an LP furnace and water heater. The hydronic heat was on our must have list when we were looking for this coach back in 2006/2007.

Mike.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Cool. I have a lot to learn on hydronic heating. We're still not sure which route we'll choose, but today I'm leaning 90% towards building a bus from the ground up.

@mike, is your coach completely propane-free, or does it still use the propane as a backup for the fridge?

 

[zmotorsports]

Cool. I have a lot to learn on hydronic heating. We're still not sure which route we'll choose, but today I'm leaning 90% towards building a bus from the ground up.

@mike, is your coach completely propane-free, or does it still use the propane as a backup for the fridge?

Our fridge and stove operate on LP. A residential refrigerator and an electric range was an option on our coach but the original owners who ordered the coach opted to keep the absorption refrigerator and the LP range. When boondocking I like the LP option so I am on the fence as to if/when we decide to ever upgrade coaches whether we will opt for an all electric coach or not. I have checked with the insurance company and it is a very, very minor savings to have the LP removed from the equation.

To be honest, LP components are not a big deal to work with. There are so many tens of thousands of RV's on the road with them they are not even worth worrying about.

My wife and I just returned from an RV rally/Jeep rally in Texas yesterday, I was asked to give a small seminar and talk about RV maintenance and repair. Afterwards several people had come up to me and told me how relieved they are that they do not have to deal with LP any longer. It is funny when talking to people who have opted to go with an all electric coach how the first thing they mention is how "they are so glad to not have to deal with propane", like it was keeping them awake at night. I am sorry, but there are a hell of a lot more things to worry about when RVing than LP issues. With proper care and maintenance they are pretty trouble free and very safe.

Mike.

 

[mbryson]

LP was the least of my worries on my trailer. That was one of the easy things to understand/maintain in my mind.

 

[sixstringsteve]

do you have solar panels mike?

 

[zmotorsports]

do you have solar panels mike?

Yes. I have added two with a small stand alone charger management system tied into both my house and chassis batteries, but just enough to replenish my parasitic power consumption, not enough to actually run off of. I have a 10kw Onan diesel genset to recharge my house bank and/or run my electrical system when boondocking.

Mike.

 

[Corban_White]

Steve, here are my thoughts. I have rented a trailer one or two weeks a year for the last several years and in doing so came to the same conclusion you have; that commercially available trailers have a bunch of things I don't want and are lacking in the things I do want, as well as the durability issues. Last year I looked pretty seriously into building my own camp trailer. I have experience with pretty much every aspect of residential construction as well as off road fabbing. As I planned it I realized that the costs were going to be excessive to do it the way I wanted and that the hours it was going to take would be long. In the end I would have a very durable high quality product made exactly how I wanted for my needs, which in turn would make it worthless for resale if I ever decided to change my plans. For those reasons I think that you will regret trying to convert a bus, especially a school bus. It will take much longer than you anticipate and by the time it is done (if you have that much patience) you will be so sick of it you will not want to live in it. Think back on the other similar projects you have undertaken in the same quest for the perfect ________. The kdx-cr hybrid. Numerous toyotas. I'm sure others that I have forgotten about. In the end they all got sold at a loss. I think the bus conversion project will be the same.

Isn't one of the reasons you wanted to get rid of your house to avoid the maintainence? A home conversion will be constant maintanence. All after you are burned out from spending so much time building it. And another thing, if you do go with a bus IMO you will be happier with a regular bus than a school bus. Remember, you are planning to live in this thing. The school busses I have seen (including hanks) look like something fun to spend a few weeks at a time in but not something that would be awesome to live in for years. There is little to no outside storage under the passenger compartment. The windows are less conducive to a living space imo. And, it looks like a bus you would live in down by the river. If you are really serious about a converted bus I would look seriously at some that are already converted that would be remodeled to suit your needs, possibly over time while living in it. However, I still think that the best option is the super c. Not the super c on the top kick/kodiak chassis but one built on a real OTR truck chassis. Like this one: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=34730225&cat=143&lpid=&search=Super c&ad_cid=8 or this one: http://www.usedrvs4sale.co/detail/u...SEL-SUPER-C-BUNKS-FREIGHTLINER-M2-HD-MOTORHOM There is another one or two at the new rv place right by my house on state street just south of 2100n in Lehi. IMO in the long run something like these that you can modify to suit your needs will make a much better house on wheels than a converted bus. It will be move in ready, parts will be easier to get and it will last many many years.

All that being said, if you do decide to go the other route and build your own out of a bus I would love to help with the component selection and construction. I think it would be a really fun project..........for me to assist with and not have to deal with the headaches and stress.

 

[Corban_White]

Here is the one at the new place on state street. I know nothing about it other than what you can see in the pictures.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Thanks corban, good info. We are definitely in the research stages right now, and that helps.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Corban, I've been thinking about your comments a lot.

S... commercially available trailers have a bunch of things I don't want and are lacking in the things I do want, as well as the durability issues.

100% agree. I looked at all the RVs for $50k or less, and I don't like any of them.

I have experience with pretty much every aspect of residential construction as well as off road fabbing. As I planned it I realized that the costs were going to be excessive to do it the way I wanted and that the hours it was going to take would be long. In the end I would have a very durable high quality product made exactly how I wanted for my needs, which in turn would make it worthless for resale if I ever decided to change my plans. For those reasons I think that you will regret trying to convert a bus, especially a school bus. It will take much longer than you anticipate and by the time it is done (if you have that much patience) you will be so sick of it you will not want to live in it. Think back on the other similar projects you have undertaken in the same quest for the perfect ________. The kdx-cr hybrid. Numerous toyotas. I'm sure others that I have forgotten about. In the end they all got sold at a loss. I think the bus conversion project will be the same.

Let me know if I'm off on my rough estimates on cost:

$4k to purchase the bus
$17k to renovate/build it

Value to sell if I ever wish to: $6k max. Money saved not paying a mortgage: lots.

Isn't one of the reasons you wanted to get rid of your house to avoid the maintainence? A home conversion will be constant maintanence. All after you are burned out from spending so much time building it.

That's an excellent point. What drove me crazy about owning a home was all the yard maintenance and how much time it took. I definitely did not expect a bus conversion to be constant home repair maintenance, so that's something to consider. I figured if I designed it right, it'd be easy to maintain, and since it'd be built stronger than a regular RV, it'd need less maintenance. At least I'd know where all the wires/pipes were and how to access them in the event of a repair. But I could be way off here, so I value your opinions/input on this.

The school busses I have seen (including hanks) look like something fun to spend a few weeks at a time in but not something that would be awesome to live in for years.

I've seen a few "nice" ones, but they all have a bit of a DIY feel to them, much like a tiny house. I'd rather have a DIY feel than a nasty 90s floral print wallpaper feel that I'm seeing in so many RVs these days.

There is little to no outside storage under the passenger compartment. The windows are less conducive to a living space imo.

This is true. I would be banking on all my storage being inside the bus. And school buses aren't known for their wide or tall interiors, so it'd be cramped, which means less storage space. In my mind, the huge advantage to a school bus is the reliability, overbuilt specs (when compared to a motorhome), simplicity, towing capacity, price, and ground clearance. I don't plan on going wheeling in my house, but I'd like to be able to boondock down a dirt road that has a couple rocks in it without worrying that I'll be ripping off my plumbing or a storage compartment.

The windows are less conducive to a living space imo.

100% agree on this, the windows are a major drawback. Plus they rob a lot of heat in the winter.

If you are really serious about a converted bus I would look seriously at some that are already converted that would be remodeled to suit your needs, possibly over time while living in it.

I'm 100% open to this idea, as long as the conversion was done well, and the mechanicals were reliable (something I don't know a ton of in non-school bus language).

I still think that the best option is the super c. Not the super c on the top kick/kodiak chassis but one built on a real OTR truck chassis. Like this one: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=34730225&cat=143&lpid=&search=Super c&ad_cid=8 or this one: http://www.usedrvs4sale.co/detail/u...SEL-SUPER-C-BUNKS-FREIGHTLINER-M2-HD-MOTORHOM IMO in the long run something like these that you can modify to suit your needs will make a much better house on wheels than a converted bus. It will be move in ready, parts will be easier to get and it will last many many years.

Super Cs are not out of the running, I really like them, and something like that would be AWESOME. I'm thinking they're going to be out of my price range. Speaking of price range, I'm not entirely sure what my price range is. I don't want to spend over $60k, and if I could keep it closer to $20k that'd be even better. I'd love to own it outright and not have a loan on it, but i'm not sure how feasible that is.

I'd like to keep it around 30-35 feet, just so I can get into small places. And I'd like a place to store my bikes inside. If I could find something that met those criteria, I'd be game.

All that being said, if you do decide to go the other route and build your own out of a bus I would love to help with the component selection and construction. I think it would be a really fun project..........for me to assist with and not have to deal with the headaches and stress.

Thanks, that would be extremely helpful. I'm a semi-decent online researcher, but it'd be really helpful to be able to bounce ideas off someone who actually knew what they were doing.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Within the next month or so we'll be deciding on whether this is the right time to make the jump to a full-time RV. We're 98% sure our next home will be an RV, and we plan on taking the plunge this year, we just have to weigh a few other options and make sure we're fully informed on this decision.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I dig Jarrod's bus conversion.

You can see a brief overview here.

[video=youtube;mq8Vb1yDGvo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq8Vb1yDGvo[/video]

 

[sixstringsteve]

hands-down, my favorite interior layout of any RV is airstream. They seem to be built with extremely high quality materials, and have an excellent design/flow. I think an airstream interior in a bus would rock. Unfortunately I'm not near the craftsman i need to be to build cabinets well.

I can't remember if I've posted this yet.

[video=youtube;5sgdIaBfyjc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sgdIaBfyjc[/video]