Gone full retard RV conversion

[Colibri]

Well, I've just purchased a 2006 bluebird all American 40 foot diesel pusher bus. She's out of Arizona, maricopa county to be exact. It's a decommissioned prisoner transport! Shes running a 7.2 cat C7 and an Allison pts 2500. I'm going to turn this thing into a home on wheels/toy hauler that can pull the wagon around the country. Taking delivery tomorrow, coming in on an 18 wheeler flatbed!

[RustyPW]

Hell of a project. Keep it that color, and you could freak people out in the campground when you pull in. Any idea yet on the layout?

[Colibri]

Hahaha outside is definitely staying like it is, may have to get myself an orange jumpsuit for when I'm driving too. Waiting till I actually get inside it to start toying with floor plans, all I know so far is I want to put as many solar panels as I can on the roof and do a composting John so I don't need to haul black water.

[Will]

That would be hilarious to drive it around wearing an orange jump suit.

[TwinStick]

Sure, if you want to get shot. I am a Corrections Officer. We are allowed to shoot a fleeing felon on sight. Sooooo, you might want to think that one over a bit !!! LOL

Just sayin'.

Love the bus. The fact that is a decommissioned prison bus is awesome. Check for handcuff keys & shanks !!! LOL

[Will]

What if he only committed a misdemeanor? Haha

[Colibri]

Got her home today! Unloading was a spectacle and everybody damn near got whiplash when I drove by lol. It rode and drove suprisingly well and I took her on a 15 mile trip from where we unloaded to home. King of the road!!! Going to start tear down this weekend. This thing is absolutely massive!

[Colibri]

Moar pics!

[TwinStick]

That thing is AWESOME !!!

[adeluca73]

[TwinStick]

Not sure if those single seats are for Hannible Lecter types, spitters or for the Correction Officers ??????????????? LOL

[Ducky's Dad]

It will probably get better mileage than the PW.

[w2dodge]

[Bill2014]

I'm just speechless!

[fbenross]

Not sure if those single seats are for Hannible Lecter types, spitters or for the Correction Officers ??????????????? LOL

I would keep that for the "Angry Drunks" in our group!

[RustyPW]

What size generator you going to install? My 41fter has a 8.5KW 3 cylinder water cooled diesel Cummins Onan to give you an idea. If you can swing it. Get a 10KW unit. This way, you can run just about anything your heart desires. Plus if the power goes out at the house. You can back feed it.

[Colibri]

This is going to be the house! I'm not sure exactly what size Rusty, but I'm also going to do an extensive solar system and large house battery bank, so I assume the generator would be used more to charge the batteries rather than to run things directly? I'm new to all this really and open to any advice

Thanks for the kind words fellas! And yes, I'm definitely keeping at least one solitary cell and recycling a pair of the benches to make a dinette.

If you look at the engine bay pic there's an absolutely massive ac compressor and extra alternator to run the industrial rooftop ac. that's belt driven of the engine. I'm probably going to remove all of that and move over to a couple rv style self contained rooftop units. That space in the engine bay is where I'm thinking to put the generator.

[RustyPW]

Remember, if you put the generator next to the engine. The engine heat in the summer time. How would that affect the generator. For batteries. I have 2, 12v for the engine, and 4, 6v batteries for the house. Plus a solar panel. The thing with solar panels. You have to use the largest wires to eliminate voltage drop. You have to keep the panels clean. On some panels, if there is a leave or bird crap on a cell. Half the panel goes dead. You'll find out that the high end panels are not cheap. They seem to be less likely to be affected by dirt.

Go dig through some rv forums. They will have some answers to your questions.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=c ... rv%20forum

[FirerescuePW]

If you are installing 2 rooftop A/C units, you will need a large genset to run them. I don't know that you will be able to fit enough panels and batteries on board to run A/C. A microwave, converter, and your entertainment system(s) are the other main 120VAC users. The rest can be 12VDC, such as lighting and vent fans. LEDs are your friend!

Good luck with this! I like bus conversions. Wanderlodge used to build using Bluebird chassis. They have a very unique look. I'll be watching (both sites!).

[RustyPW]

Adding to what Mike said. 2 A/C units and accessories will need about a 8KW genset. Shore power will be a 50amp, 120v. A camper with 1 A/C is 30amp, 120v to give you an idea. Don't exspeck to run your A/C units off of the solar panels and batteries. You can run the mircowave, coffee pot, fridge, and a tv and some other stuff. If you're putting a propane tank in. Get a 40 gal tank. That's about a 120lbs of propane.

[Colibri]

Great information! Thanks you guys, I've got a ton of reading and talking to people to do. I figured on about 8-10k to do solar the right way and now I'll count on needing a good size generator as well. I want to boondock so much as possible but am definitely doing 50 amp shore power as well. The end goal is to be able to boondock for a couple weeks at a time while exploring and playing in the truck or on the klr. Me and the misses prefer solitude lol

[RustyPW]

We dry camped last year at Lone Rock Beach, north of Page Az. for a week. On the beach. They had a quite time from 10pm to 8am. So you couldn't run any generators. So we had the open up all the widows and run all the vent fans to keep the inside cool enough to sleep. Which brings me to something else. Vent fans. You will need them. I love the remote Maxx Air Vents. I changed my camper,1st mh and 2nd mh over to them. You can set them to open up automatically to either pull air in or push it out. Plus variable speed. You will need about 3 of them. Above the kitchen, bathroom, and bed. They operate off of 12v.

http://www.maxxair.com/products/maxxfan ... deluxe.php

Camping World, everything you might need for camping.

http://www.campingworld.com/search/inde ... Hwoder0Aow

[RustyPW]

Read this about solar.

http://www.gonewiththewynns.com/solar-power

[Colibri]

Thanks for all the links!

Snapped a pic of the rear end and driveshaft and transmission while I was out there, it's insane how large everything is lol.

[RustyPW]

The problem with everything being that large and heavy. Chances are you don't have the tooling to fix it. I had to replace both front axle seals last summer. I didn't have a jack big enough to lift one corner of the motorhome or something to help in taking the tires off. It cost me $600 per side, and another $600 to replace all of the sway bar bushings. Something to thing about.