Lower bay slide outs.

[Chopper Scott]

I'm looking for some ideas for making slide outs for the lower storage bays on my bus. I have my own welding shop but am curious to what others have done. thanks

[luvrbus]

Scott, I bought mine from Walter at Joey Bed when he was the owner I believe you can build a better unit but go to www.joeybed.com you may get some kind of ideas mine was pass through style you could roll it out on either side made it nice when some guy park to close on 1 side

good luck

[Oonrahnjay]

  I'm looking for some ideas for making slide outs for the lower storage bays on my bus. I have my own welding shop but am curious to what others have done. thanks 

     Scott, my friend Gary ("Garhawk" on this forum) is building a conversion on an RTS bus.  Since it's a "transit" bus, it didn't have real "bays" so he built some in.  Some are simple side-to-side boxes, some have a platform slideout, and some have slideout boxes on rails.  Why don't you message him and ask him if he has any photos?

BH   NC    USA

[lostagain]

My MC5 came with them from the PO. I kept them to try them for the first summer. They take up at least 2 inches of space. I did not like them. I took them out. They probably weigh at least 300 pounds. I will give them away to anybody who visits here.

JC

[Purplewillie]

We may be into an East Kootenays road trip this summer, but just to say hi.
Don't think We need bay slides.
Mark

[Sam 4106]

JC, 

Are your bay slides home made, or manufactured units? If they are manufactured, what brand? That seems like a lot of weight. Just curious, don't need any.

Thanks, Sam

[lostagain]

Mark, be sure to call or email before you come and visit. Lots of room to park your bus here for a night or two.

Sam, the slides are factory made in Edmonton, Alberta. I don't recall the name, I'd have to go look. They are very good quality, heavy steel, with 3/4" plywood on top. They would fit any MC 5, 7, 8, or 9. Or any 96" wide bus I guess.

JC

[Seangie]

Scott,

In the latest version of BCM, there was an article that Bruce Fay wrote that showed how he built a slide out battery bay on rollers. 

Maybe he will post some detail here as to what he did.  It was a nice setup with tool boxes and all.

-Sean

[Iceni John]

I made slide-out trays for my starting batteries and house batteries, using bearings running against square steel tubing.   Each tray is made from one piece of perforated angle steel that's bent into a rectangle, with an aluminum stiffener in the bottom to keep it square.   Along the sides are bolted lengths of 1" square tube that stiffen everything and join the ends of the angle steel.   There are three sets of bearings underneath (front, middle and rear) and one set on the top to prevent the tray tipping when it's pulled out.   It's a fundamentally simple system that can be scaled up to suit any application.   Mine are strong enough that I can bounce with my full weight on their ends when they're fully extended, in other words plenty strong enough!

Some folk have used cam followers instead of cheapo bearings like mine, but they're all good for the job.   I also made simple self-latching stainless latches that work well and are unobtrusive.

Another idea I saw from someone here is to use 2-drawer steel filing cabinets inside the bays for odds and sods that need a home where they're easily accessible.

John

[Chopper Scott]

Thanks all. The joeybed site has some nice slides. I like the cam follower idea also and will check into that. Thanks again