Why a Bus Conversion?

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

Why did you choose a Bus Conversion over a conventional motorhome or trailer?  What advantages are important to you?

[richard5933]

Safety and road worthiness.

My hypothesis was proved correct when we walked away from a head-on collision against a car a few years ago.

Next in line was the cool factor - love vintage cars and buses, especially those with a unique look like our current bus, the GM 4108.

[dtcerrato]

Ditto what Richard said. We were able to walk away from a class C motorhome crash much better than the motor home did. It was either buy a home in SoCal or rent an apt. & get into another motorhome which we did, a bus then we got out of Dodge!

[Nova Eona]

The above, as well as reliability and longevity.  I used to have an 80s era Class A which was constantly doing its best to fall apart, and I knew that no matter how much work I put into it (without going full Ship of Theseus) it would forever be a battle just to keep the thing in one piece, all the while risking a major engine malfunction which would simply not be worth repairing.  Switching to a bus chassis meant bigger and often more expensive repair/maintenance tasks, but also that I could reasonably expect many more years of reliable service and a platform that would be worth repairing from all but the most extreme issues that might turn up.

[silversport]

Same as Richard, and all who have responded so far have GM's

[luvrbus]

Buses fare well in wrecks with smaller vehicles but they don't do that great with a head on with vehicles their same weight and size.We have owned buses for over 40 years and I never felt like I would survive a head on with another bus or 18 wheeler and most drivers don't when they meet their match   

[Jim Blackwood]

The whole S&S thing really. Having owned a trailer and a "bread truck" (an unfair characterization to the bread truck I think) and also having had to repair or replace essentially every major component except the drive axle on the RV including some of the framing, well let's just say I didn't really care for the construction. Then of course there was the one that I saw in S. Carolina that got zippered by a tree. That sort of gets your attention. Buses aren't generally known for roof leaks. That's a major improvement. But it wasn't until the roofs lifted, the mileage improved, and the cost dropped that it became practical to consider.

Jim

[richard5933]

Aside from the safety, which there are different opinions on, the road worthiness still shines as a key reason for choosing a bus.

To me, most traditional S&S motor homes are designed around being great once they get to the campground. On the road they are acceptable, usually. You have to pay quite a bit to get a S&S with good road manners.

The design priority of a bus conversion is different. Just starting out with a bus will result in a vehicle which is designed to be on the road all the time and to have good road manners. Comfort in a campground might not be as high as a S&S, but road manners will (IMO) always be better.

[luvrbus]

Aside from the safety, which there are different opinions on, the road worthiness still shines as a key reason for choosing a bus.

To me, most traditional S&S motor homes are designed around being great once they get to the campground. On the road they are acceptable, usually. You have to pay quite a bit to get a S&S with good road manners.

The design priority of a bus conversion is different. Just starting out with a bus will result in a vehicle which is designed to be on the road all the time and to have good road manners. Comfort in a campground might not be as high as a S&S, but road manners will (IMO) always be better.

I have to disagree with you on that my CC drives and handles as good or better as any bus we have owned it is a heavy sucker though
 

[richard5933]

I have to disagree with you on that my CC drives and handles as good or better as any bus we have owned it is a heavy sucker though
 

You noticed I said "most" I hope. Your coach is an exception, for sure. My point was about the typical motor home which would be comparable in price to a bus conversion. You have to spend quite a few pennies to get a S&S like you're driving.

[benherman1]

In my price range any stick&staple I could buy would have been a trash heap. For less money I bought a badly converted bus instead. Even if the bus broke in half down the middle today I could get my money back parting it out. I also enjoy antique vehicles which ruled out me wanting to spend any amount of time traveling behind the wheel of anything modern. Now that I am tearing the old conversion out and redoing the interior the end result will be extremely well insulated and finished the exact way I want it.

I'm also the sort of person who will buy a vehicle and try my best to keep it running for the rest of my life. A stick&staple will fall apart at the seams long before an MCI. I have no intentions to sell it or worry about how my build choices will affect resale value. For me that means a manual transmission, solid wood everything, built in computer desk for work, etc.

[oltrunt]

I built my little bus because I am crazy--at least that's what my friends (?) told me.  It sure is fun being crazy.  Jack

[TomC]

I drove cross country big rig Diesel (1979-2000) and saw the remains of many RV crashes. Sticks and Staples motorhomes-including rear engine Diesels, just don't fare well in a crash. Many of them literally come apart! I chose a transit bus, because it has real bumpers in front and back, is the strongest built bus, has the largest drum brakes, and the V-drive is very reliable. My 1977 looks as good as it did 20 years ago when I first got it painted-sans some small peeling spots (because of steel and aluminum fighting each other-the manufacturers didn't build buses to last 43 years). But you won't find too many sticks and staples motorhomes that are 43 years old still on the road. Plus most all the components (at least on my AMGeneral) are universal to trucks too.
But now I'm converting my 1985 Kenworth K100E 90" Aerodyne cabover into a motorhome (almost done). I just got tired of working on the confines of the bus. Plus, any mechanic knows how to work on a Caterpillar 3406B, as compared to very few mechanics that can work on a Detroit 2 cycle 8V-71. Good Luck, TomC

[peterbylt]

Prior to the Bus we had a mid 80’s Class C.
 
When we purchased it, we had to do Major renovations, no matter how much we did there was always something else deteriorating or a new leak, don’t get me wrong we very much enjoyed it and had a lot fun in it.
 
The other major issue with it, and most every other Purpose made Motorhome that I have driven is the way they drive, I never had any fun driving them, The RV’s in my price range, almost all of them when built used the minimum amount of Suspension, engine and brakes that they could legally get away with as a result you more herd than drive them down the road and I would be worn out by the time we got where we were going.
 
Looking forward to retiring in a few years we wanted to get something with more room, more suited to our needs and something that was much more fun to drive. Having driven many larger Trucks when I was younger, I knew there were much better things to drive.
 
After much research (and liking a good project) The Wife and I decided on a Bus conversion, although it would probably have made better sense to buy an already converted Bus, for us there was really no other choice than to buy a seated coach and build it our way.
 
We have not regretted our decision, I absolutely love driving the Bus, We really like the layout we designed, one of the things we had not expected, we have made it so comfortable inside, that now when we go to a campground we end up spending more time inside the Bus than we ever did in the Class C.
 
After I fixed a few major and unexpected mechanical issues that were left to us from the previous owners the bus has run good.
 
We could probably never have afforded a purpose built Motorhome that has all the amenities that we have built into our Bus, having the advantage of building it slowly over time and paying for the parts as we built has worked out great for us.
 
Even if we had bought an S&S or an already converted Bus, the wife would still have wanted to tear everything out and remodel it to her exacting standards…..
 
Peter

[dtcerrato]

@peterbylt
Not only a ditto, but mostly took the words right out of my mouth!
Not really, you said it first! Same here - In service bus 40 years ago, converted it, renovated it over & over.
Same bus now & loving it all the way through...