New Skoolie Discussion Board

[luvrbus]

Well, early 70's was well before my window of any interest in driving an RV around. The VW bus and painted yellow buses were the go to travel vehicles. I wonder how many bus conversions showed up at Woodstock? I'd take bets  the old white god fearing bunch in the FMCA were off somewhere else.

I was working 

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

To Sandy and Gary.  So.  This has been a far flung thread.  Where are we?  Who's a skoolie?  How do they get signed up?  Can they respond to everything?  Am I a skoolie?  What is the plan to bring in skoolies?  Etc.  Etc.  Jack

Jack, Sorry for taking so long to respond but I have been busy traveling to the Loudonville, OH Flxible rally that starts this week.   

I am simply AMAZED and excited that we have had so many positive posts about School Bus Conversions on the main Forum. I have seen some School Bus conversions myself that put some over-the-road bus conversions to shame.  I do like the ground clearance you get with a School Bus as I like to get off the beaten path, but I also like the smooth ride and voluminous storage in my 1967 Eagle.

That being said, we started a new thread for School Bus folks to post their concerns and questions that may pertain only to Skoolies.  They have unique issues that they have to deal with, such as do I have to paint my bus or can I leave it yellow (Which Jon Usle wrote an article about that very subject which is now on our Blog).  Now they have their own place to post those questions to get more immediate attention. 

Of course, they are also welcome to post on the main part of the Forum as well, as everyone with any kind of bus is welcome here. Of course, anyone can read the Forum, but to see the photos and to participate fully, they have to become members and Phil has to swear you in, just like we all had to. 

And as to your question about how we plan to bring them in, we have been alternating over-the-road buses with Skoolies every other month on the cover of Bus Conversion Magazine for almost three years now.  Everyone here should be a subscriber to support the Forum, and to see what some of those great folks have created.

To see their posts you can go to the Skoolie thread here:  https://www.busconversionmagazine.com/forum/index.php?topic=35630.0

And yes Jack, you are a special kind of Skoolie person.   

[windtrader]

Now that we can't say he or her anymore, it's all gender neutral in the big world, I guess we need to make a label for something like a Bluebird - non-bus, bi-bus trans-bus, hema-bus (i.e. hermaphrodite) 

[chessie4905]

Windtrader:"white god fearing bunch in the FMCA" Full moon?

[sandra@BCM]

That was a great discussion! 

All I can say is we LOVE our Skoolie.  We get to travel the country and I don't really let the negativity dictate what I do with my life or travels. If people don't want us to stay because we are "Hippies" in a School Bus, that's fine, I probably don't want to be in your area anyways.

Mostly we have received excitement and love.

I LOVE all buses, and we do our best to represent all the bus love.

Hope to see you all on the road.

[windtrader]

Agree 100%! Just like as society in general embraces diversity, we just extend that to buses. We like all buses and the variety of ideas and perspectives too. thanks bcm!

[dtcerrato]

A bus is a bus is a bus - the people that drive them or hosts them as RVs not so much...

[Dave5Cs]

Welcome to the good life... We fulltime also and love it. No problems so far and have been excepted into 99.9% of RV parks and the place we are at right now have two of their own for taking the people that come here to the river to float and pick them up with two Blue Birds. Ones a pusher and the other is a puller. Have fun and good luck.

[Tedsoldbus]

Don't worry Sandra,
We don't bite. Most of the over the road bus guys are old and we envy that you are full timing with your family and living the dream. I am 64 and probably one of the "pups" on this forum. As far as "hippies", I am 25 years retired military, a retired police officer (8 years), NRA member, I hunt, tend to vote republican, and drive a 1980 Prevost bus. Before that makes you run away, know that I married a vegetarian (she eats some meat now), candle making, tie dye shirt wearing, incense burning free spirit 30 years ago. Although I think we probably vote differently when we close that curtain, we are still in love and driving the country whenever we can. We wish Covid would go away because my spouse likes to be plugged in most of the time. Campgrounds are jammed I think thanks in part to Covid.
I'd like to come to one of your meets and get ideas.  If you are ever in the N Ga mountains your family is welcome here anytime. We live on Lake Nottely about 90 minutes N of Atlanta and have 50 amp and water at the house. Good luck with the Skoolie forum!

[RJ]

All I can say is we LOVE our Skoolie.

Sandra -

This week there was a FE Blue Bird skoolie in the same campground I'm in, army green with a white top underneath the solar panels and roof deck. Didn't see the owners much, as I think they were taking their kids to the N ID State Fair that's currently playing in town, and they left this morning.

What I found interesting was the name they've given their bus: "Dulcinea."

I chuckled thinking about that clever name, one that a lot of folk will not figure out.

[oltrunt]

A regular little siren that Aldonza!
Jack

[chessie4905]

In our travels, passed a Bluebird that had top cut and added higher window section added. Wanted a picture, but no room to turn around for several miles.

[somewhereinusa]

newbees with their never to be completed projects

Jack, does that mean I'm still a newbee? It's going on 11 years now. 

I'll probably finish it if I live long enough.

[dtcerrato]

Jack, does that mean I'm still a newbee? It's going on 11 years now. 

I'll probably finish it if I live long enough.

No way Dick you're getting old with us! Your rig is awesome...

[someguy]

I am surprised at all the 5th wheel travel trailers you see RV parks are full of 5th wheels We are hanging out with friends in Boise Id that sold his MCI C converted by Custom Coach that bought a 550 Ford and high end 5th wheel and he says he close to 300k in the package and loves it,it iis nice but for 300k  it should be

Well... I own a big 5er.  Not a really fancy one, but a big nice one nevertheless. 

The reason people buy these things is because they look great in the showroom (or at least good), they don't require any build time and you can finance them like a house, for 20 years.  Ditto with the tow vehicle - its all shiny and new and you can finance it.  Wala, instant RV.   

What people don't realize is that the build quality on 5ers is very poor.   Fawcets, sinks, plumbing, hot water heater, fridge, couch, mattresses, axles, tires, brakes... all RV quality instead of residential quality.   By the time you use it for 10 years, you'll have repaced everything.  All you basically have left is the frame and shell and not even that is very good.

More powerful tow vehicles have also driven this craze.  400HP/900 ftlbs handles a 20K 5er pretty well.  And you can finance these for a long time too.   

But what people don't realize about modern diesel pickup trucks is that they are essentially throw aways after 150K miles.    150K miles would be a lot of RVing, but most people end up using their TV as their daily driver and 150K adds up pretty quick.  About 5 years for most if you are doing a lot of RVing.   

Yes, you can nurse a diesel pickup truck along to 200 - 250K miles.  But it gets expensive and troublesome.  Injectors, turbos, EGR valves, EGR coolers, radiators, DPFs, etc will need to be replaced.   My friend runs a roofing company and has a fleet of F150s and Superduties.  The Ecoboost engines are garbage.  He keeps Superduties for 4 years or 100,000 miles, whatever comes first.   His luck with Dodge gas 1/2 tons has been poor.

If I had to buy a new truck for RVing right now, it would be an F350 with the 7.3 Godzilla gasser.  And I'd only use it for pulling my trailer.

However, I'm going to sell my trailer and replace it with a bus conversion.   I'll get a good used F150 with the 5.0L engine for my truck.  No more $60-80K diesel pickup trucks.  I'll probably buy a crossover SUV for my daily driver and to pull behind my bus.

As far as schoolies go... if it works for them, great.   But what most people don't realize is that it takes a lot less work to convert a coach and when you are done you have a great platform under the build.   Schoolies are designed to transport kids from a bus stop to a school at the lowest possible cost.  Coaches are designed to haul 40-55 people and all their gear from city to city, in comfort for years on end.

Personally, I'm waiting for the schoolie crowd to figure this out.  Because it is only a matter of time before they do.