Bus Height

[VillageBus]

While I am new to this forum, I am beginning to do my homework on bus conversions before taking the plunge and buying a bus to convert.  That being said, it may sound premature, but I have a slight height issue as the garage for storing/working on the bus has a door on it that will only open to 9ft 10in.  Once inside the garage the ceiling is taller (12ft).  Aside from the obvious answer of cutting the doorway and putting a new door on, does anyone have any suggestions on which style/make of bus would be reasonable given this constraint?  I've read some of the posts on this site on air suspensions that can lower (deflate the bags) but wasn't sure how practical that would be to do every time we pull it into the garage.  Any thoughts would be great, thanks!

[muldoonman]

Welcome on board. I have a 14' door I had installed in barn and clear about 6" . That's with sat. dome upstairs. Don't drop mine but would figure about 6" when mines down. There is a plate on dash that says 11'7" at ride height. Seems taller than that. My coach is a 91 Prevost.

[B_K]

If you really want an over the road coach I'd bite the bullet an get a 12' door!

Persona;;y I prefer 14' doors but then again we have TALL buses that are 12'3"
  BK 

[Oonrahnjay]

If you really want an over the road coach I'd bite the bullet an get a 12' door!

Persona;;y I prefer 14' doors but then again we have TALL buses that are 12'3"
  BK 

     Tall?  Ya want TALL? 

[Iceni John]

A 9'10" door won't work for any bus you'd want to convert.   Even a low-roof Thomas MVP school bus is about 10'3", and you REALLY wouldn't want one of those!   My Crown is about 10'9", and that's low compared to "real" buses.

John

[Dave5Cs]

depending on your existing door you can cut the hole larger add track move up the spring and curved sections add a panel to the top. Just an idea!...

Dave5Cs

[HighTechRedneck]

These are the stock heights of a few bus models (does not include anything you may need to add to the roof like a/c's, vents, satellite dish, etc.). Dumping the air from the bags will bring it down a few inches but that is all.

MCI MC-7	10' 9"
MCI MC-9	10' 10"
MCI 102A3	11' 1"
Prevost LeMirage	10' 11"
Prevost XL	10' 10"
GM 4104 & 4106	10' 1"
GM 4107 &4108	11' 0"
GM PD4501 & PD4905	11' 2"
GM RTS	9' 11"
Non-air suspension
Eagle Model 01 & 05	11' 2"
Eagle Model 10	11' 4"
Eagle Model 15 & 20	11' 5"

[lvmci]

Hi All, not positive, but a 5A may under 10' without roof air, lvmci...

[Lin]

Can you lower the floor?

[bevans6]

MC-5C is 10'-6" with nothing on the roof.  With an AC unit it's about 11' 4".  My door is 11' - 6" on the work shed, around 14' on the storage shed.

Brian

[chessie4905]

   I'd have someone of competence raise the door opening, and buy the larger door. BTW, how wide is the existing door? Is this a pole building? I have 12x12 doors and when I brought my 4905 home, the roof air in the middle cleared the opening by the thickness of a credit card,no lie. I had the gravel drive slightly regraded to increase that to 2 inches.
  Even with a twelve foot door, you won't have any room to do any work on roof of coach. I have 15 foot ceiling inside mine.
  With 12 foot, you will have to carefully check and verify height of any coach you buy. By adding the air suspension lowering system to your new ride you will gain 4 to 6 inches more as already stated. Of course you may only want the space for storage only. It depends also on how your building is constructed, and what will be involved  to make the change($$)
   School buses are lower if that is a consideration.

[John316]

We are 13'1" including AC's.

Go with a 14' door. lol

[chessie4905]

14 foot door with a 12 foot ceiling?

[B_K]

    Tall?  Ya want TALL?  

Bruce gotta remember my buses are STOCK charter buses in regular service and have nothing added to the roofs!   (no double decks, sat domes, roof warts, etc)
Yes I know there are many buses out thar taller than mine. (but for regular stock coaches mine are tall)

These are the stock heights of a few bus models (does not include anything you may need to add to the roof like a/c's, vents, satellite dish, etc.). Dumping the air from the bags will bring it down a few inches but that is all.

MCI MC-7	10' 9"
MCI MC-9	10' 10"
MCI 102A3	11' 1"
Prevost LeMirage	10' 11"
Prevost XL	10' 10"
GM 4104 & 4106	10' 1"
GM 4107 &4108	11' 0"
GM PD4501 & PD4905	11' 2"
GM RTS	9' 11"
Non-air suspension
Eagle Model 01 & 05	11' 2"
Eagle Model 10	11' 4"
Eagle Model 15 & 20	11' 5"

SETRA Model S215-S217     11'9"
SETRA Model S417               12'3"
[/table]

[John316]

14 foot door with a 12 foot ceiling?

Walla....he didn't ask how to raise his whole barn. Just the door.