I had to smile, because I never would have thought you could cover so many bases so well on a selfie bus. A wood stove and a washing machine and a door to the back half?! You definitely rocked out on this this one. Very, very nicely done!
Your work is one of the best I have seen inside a bus. Love your choice of materials. That shower "door" that slides back behind the toliet is super cool. I'm going to do that in my conversion. Also, your tour was very nice and easy to watch, unlike many I have seen. Thanks for the great ideas and lovely presentation.
Wow! I don't impress easily and I want to say "I'm impressed!" Of all the rigs I've seen on youtube and in-person... this is my favorite. It's clean, tastily done, engineered with forethought, energy efficient, and made for real people with full-size bodies! Wow! Nice job y'all! My hat is off to you, in all sincerity! THX!
I love your bus! My parents had one but it was no where as nice but my stepdad did as best as he could and I have some very fond memories of camping in that bus! It was very recognizable as an old school bus as it was still bright orange-yellow with black painted stripes and the extra lights removed from the back to make it legal as a camper. My stepdad always meant to paint it, but never got around to it. It had a small bathroom at the very back with just a port-a-potty. Opposite that was a couch that converted to a two person bed. It had two small bunkbeds that was used for storage when they weren't in use anymore and a dinette table that made into a bed. So it could sleep 4 adults and 2 small kids. It had a long counter where it had a stove and an oven installed, a sink, and a small fridge. It also had overhead storage cabinets. Many of the same features that campers have but this bus was done on a very tight budget and constructed with 2x4 framing and OSB boards. Someone also decided that the wood should all be painted that green-blue color to match the inside original colour. lol! My mother made all the curtains and cushions in there in bright colors and they really popped! It was all meant to be "just for now," but later never came! I miss that bus!
great job , love that it is so spotless , usually people don't clean up and have everything in the way. great job, well done. i'm rather jealous. i gotta get me one bus.
W.A. watson We decided that two or three feet away versus ten feet away didn't make that much difference. The only time it makes any difference is when two people are sleeping and in the middle of the night one of them has to go to the bathroom. If we had designed the bus with children in mind, or for more than two people, I'm sure the bathroom would be relocated. Thanks for the comment and question.
This is fantastic....the only thing I think is unnecessary is the sink in the washroom area. Its just in the way for me and unusable anyway since its so small and the stove. I mean the kitchen is big enough to incorporate a gas stove or the stove you have and leave the space for a cupboard below the tv...for dvds etc... so that when your sitting down your in a livingroom area instead of looking at your stove. I like it when the spaces are individualised, but apart from that everything else is well planned out and amazing.
The small sink issue was one that we wrestled with originally. While certainly not being the ideal sink, it is quite useable. The mirror above it is a bus mirror that can be moved from side to side and that helps out when shaving, putting in contacs, etc. But the real decision maker with us on the sink was the fact that we wanted public and private space. If we had guests in the front and needed to use the sink it would suit for those purposes. Also if we were getting ready to go somewhere and both needed a sink, then it works out very well. And we just decided that it wasn't a large investment of money and it hides behind the door when we don't need it. Thanks for your comments!!!
We used an Aquatic brand from a local vendor. I think Delta sells a very similar model at Lowes. One caution I would give you the shower is very tight to get through the back door. It needs to be set in place before anything else goes in. My shower is a one piece unit. It might be easier to put in a four piece but you'll have to determine that by where you want to set the unit. The cuts at the top of the unit that go around the curved ceiling required a lot of time to get right. I then went back and made cardboard templates and from those templates cut out aluminum flashing metal like you would use on the outside of a house around vinyl siding and windows. This is waterproof and the paint is a baked on finish. This allows you to cover the rough edges and it's flexible enough to mold into the corners. In my case the shower install was a very time consuming process in the build. another caution would be to think about where the drain for the shower will come out. Make sure that the drain hole does not land over top of the steel frame of your bus or any heavy duty structural element. This will create an unsolvable problem. Note that underneath our bus there is an extra hole cut for the shower that we could not use. Make sure that you have your layout for the gray water tank already solved before you pick the location for the shower. My first choice for location was forward of the wheels but it soaked up too much of my storage space and I ended up moving it to the back. Our gray water tank is 80 gallons and I was trying to offset some of the weight from the opposite side. By moving it to the back it worked out better. Thinking about all those things make sure you have the full plan in place before you set the shower. I've been a plumber and electrician for many years and do stuff like this for a living. And would give this a high difficulty rating. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.
Deborah Dean We used an Aquatic brand from a local vendor. I think Delta sells a very similar model at Lowes. One caution I would give you the shower is very tight to get through the back door. It needs to be set in place before anything else goes in. My shower is a one piece unit. It might be easier to put in a four piece but you'll have to determine that by where you want to set the unit. The cuts at the top of the unit that go around the curved ceiling required a lot of time to get right. I then went back and made cardboard templates and from those templates cut out aluminum flashing metal like you would use on the outside of a house around vinyl siding and windows. This is waterproof and the paint is a baked on finish. This allows you to cover the rough edges and it's flexible enough to mold into the corners. In my case the shower install was a very time consuming process in the build. another caution would be to think about where the drain for the shower will come out. Make sure that the drain hole does not land over top of the steel frame of your bus or any heavy duty structural element. This will create an unsolvable problem. Note that underneath our bus there is an extra hole cut for the shower that we could not use. Make sure that you have your layout for the gray water tank already solved before you pick the location for the shower. My first choice for location was forward of the wheels but it soaked up too much of my storage space and I ended up moving it to the back. Our gray water tank is 80 gallons and I was trying to offset some of the weight from the opposite side. By moving it to the back it worked out better. Thinking about all those things make sure you have the full plan in place before you set the shower. I've been a plumber and electrician for many years and do stuff like this for a living. And would give this a high difficulty rating. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.
Rich A I am in agreement with your comment. We have a small 1500 watt electric space heater we keep in the bus. For us we built the skoolie as a bug out vehicle (prepper type) with the mindset from the beginning that it had to function in most climates completely off grid. Therefore the need for a wood stove, large water tank, and redundant ways to live, cook, and maintain normal sanitation. I'm not sure I would call it completely off grid but it was as close as we could get it. The wood stove is certainly not the best use of space but let me set a scene for you. Last year it was about 20 degrees outside. I had the wood stove fired up, looking out the window at the snow, laid back in a soft easy chair, wood crackling and the sleet and rain tapping gently on the bus roof. Absolute comfort. Electric heat is convenient but I don't much that takes the place of a wood stove. The only thing that could make that better is a big pot of chili beans cooking on top of it. Thanks for the comment!
Lucy L. It is a Century wood stove purchased at Northern Tool. I don't think they sell them anymore. But you can look them up online. Make sure you install a stove that has an outside combustion air intake. Ours is on the bottom of the stove. You can't see it in the pictures. It's a separate kit that you can buy to add on most any stove that's rated for a mobile home, which ours is. Most of the mobile home rated stoves also have the doubled up walls on the sides and back. This gives you a little bit of extra protection from burns as a secondary piece of metal doesn't get quite as hot as the original steel wall around the fire. The outside combustion air vent is necessary to prevent a small area building up too much carbon monoxide, and to be able to run something like a Fantastic fan or bathroom vent. When you turn on the fan to draw out cooking odors or bathroom odors it will draw the smoke back through the drafts on a normal wood stove. The exterior combustion air vent prevents this from happening. Thank you for the comments and question.
Thank you for letting me know, I appreciate it! I will have to look that up maybe they have something small like that. With this weird weather I am thinking I would like to have something like that for a back up heat. I live in 200 sq ft.
Shane Bradley We've used the rear AC extensively on the road (see video). It actually seems to work better on the road as the wind coming across the bus helps to cool the coil and make it more efficient. It's a standard Frigidaire 5000 btu window AC from the factory. It was equipped with a soft start compressor. It's a manual model with buttons and knobs. It also has a clear plastic vent cover that can be purchased at Lowes, over the return air grille. In a small space this is important as it helps keep the cool air from getting sucked back in the return too quickly. A cheap modification that works beautifully. (See video). We also use a timer on the wall where the unit plugs in so we can run it for 3-5 hours at night off of our batteries and after we're sound asleep it shuts down. Things that you can't see would include a serious metal bracket bolted to the chassis of the AC. Basically an aluminum L shaped bracket that is bolted to the bus and extends past the AC 6" on both sides. The upper bracket on the top of the AC is also an aluminum L shaped bracket and there is a piece of 1x4x 3/4 thick vinyl trim board that creates a small pad similar to a window sill. I foamed in with spray foam around all the steel bus parts to keep water out and strengthen them. There are also some pieces of wood on the side because the hole is oversized just in case we need to put a bigger AC in, or some other change. And there are removable diamond plate covers and surround on the outside. Most everything is sealed with #1 grade clear GE silicone if it is unpainted. The painted parts were sealed with GE ultra paintable silicone. This was also used in other parts of the bus as you can spray normal car paint over it and it will stick well. Note that our bus is very well insulated. 6" of foam in the floor underneath. 2-1/2 in the walls. And 2" in the ceilings. And we stuffed every conceivable air infiltration point with spray foam and/or roxel sound guard commercial insulation. We spent untold hours insulating this bus. This AC combined with a high end Vornado fan pushing the cold air from the floor in the back up to the front through the red door opening. In 98 degree weather, high humidity in NC it kept the front of the bus in the high 70's and fairly dry while traveling. This AC is designed to be portable and has a fairly efficient rubber compressor vibration dampening system. We also tilted it so it would drain. Some of the newer models you might have to drill the pan as they don't have a factory drain. We have had zero problems. The AC is five years old and has had probably about 3000 miles of travel time plus the time it's been used while the bus is parked. It's been run weeks on end while setting with no problems. We live in Virginia hot and very humid. High 90's in the summer. 90% humidity. Fan and AC are able to keep the bus very comfortable. It will run off our inverter and alternator while we are on the road. Straight solar when the sun is out. Batteries at night. Or a generator if necessary. Note we have a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter and the AC pulls about 720 watts when it starts and runs for about 460 on high. The fan we use pulls about 75. We obtained all this information from the onboard kilowatt at the receptacle. One time we had a little bit of water that came back in the grille because a car pulled out in front and we had to slam on brakes. Normally this does not happen. Thank you for your questions. Hope this helps. Michael
What is your facbook? Would like to follow you there. Great job on your bus. My hubster is converting a short 28 ft Blubird, Keep the content coming plz....Cindi in CA
We have been working on some large projects around our house. We should be getting back on the bus. We have a few videos in mind and hopefully some travel plans. We have posted these same videos on my wife's Facebook page (Cosette Marie Conaway). We don't have a page just for Trampas at this time. Thank you for your comments. Keep in touch!
We use a Sundanzer freezer because a freezer is much more efficient. We freeze 8x8 ice blocks and use a yeti style cooler to keep the things that need refrigeration (which are very few for us). This is explained in detail on one of our other videos, when we were camping in NC during the eclipse. Be sure to watch all of our other videos that go into detail about a lot of the systems on our bus and why we use them. Thanks for the question! Let us know if you're interested in a custom bus build!
Fantastic build.An looking for a schoolie. You are not that far away I'm in North Florida. What is the length of you beautiful bus. and what would a build like that cost?
The length is 39' with the front box included. Trampas is for sale for $85,000. It is currently licensed in Virginia. It has a current inspection sticker and could be driven across the US in as is condition and lived in permanently. This bus is super maintained and if I sold it I would build another one pretty much identical. If you brought me a bus in good shape mechanically I could build a copy of Trampas for about $60,000 including most of the gadgets and goodies that you see on our bus. A basic white paint job with a few stripes, solar, wood stove, stereo, and appliances. Furnishings would be up to you. There are definitely less costly builds as well as more expensive ones. An example of less costly would be off the shelf quality cabinetry from Lowes. A more expensive addition would have a raised ceiling. We have a used bus provider about five miles from my house (Sonny Merriman) that sells about 350 busses/year. Parts are readily available. I have a good relationship with the staff there and also have a good working relationship with the International dealership here in town, and also a family owned diesel mechanic business called Garbee truck and trailer. I am a licensed electrician, plumber, HVAC, and gas fitter. The best way to price a bus would be to get the exact bus that you want to start with in hand and go from there. There are so many different situations when dealing with small spaces it is hard to price unseen work. You can contact us at MasterBuildPro@aol.com. Thanks Michael
A couple of reasons for the size of the wood stove. We definitely wanted a mobile home-approved stove that had outside combustion air. This stove at one time could be purchased at Northern Tool off the shelf for about $339. As far as we know it's the smallest commercially available stove that meets the above mentioned criteria. Note that the stove is highly modified but it gave us a good starting platform. Secondly, we heat our house with a wood stove that was built in the 70's by Englander. We have found that a larger stove helps maintain a fire overnight. Note that small wood equals short burn time. Also our bus is designed for use in Alaska or northern tier states. The larger capacity gives you the ability to heat when it is very cold outside. The design of the dampener can be shut air tight. Note that the bus even well insulated, 2" of HD foam on most places, and 6" under the floor, still gets chilly because the bus is made out of metal. The sides of the stove are covered with sheet metal panels to help keep someone from getting burned if they touch it by accident. Also the rear of the stove has a 25' copper coil outside of the fire box, attached to the back of the stove. This coil is piped through a small pump that will heat the water in our tanks directly under the foot of our bed at the back. The sheet metal panels and copper coil box are an inch and a half thick, adding 3" to the width and an 1-1/2 to the depth. I am currently working on a rocket stove design with a good friend of mine that should be much more efficient.
Gerald Bennett We decided on the wet bath idea based on the time spent using each area. If you break a 24 hour day up in the areas you spend the most time then the shower and the toilet fall short by a long ways from every other area. If you notice the sink is on the outside which gives us a little bit of flexibility in that someone could use the toilet or shower while the other is using the sink. In most wet bath setups the sink is also included in the enclosure. From my experience a sink and mirror are the things that are used for an extended time in the bathroom. Now I know all of this is based on people's preference. Having a spa in our bus wasn't in the cards. We really thought about having a home on wheels and keeping all the components of the bus within the conditioned spaces or under lock and key. 200 gallons of onboard water tanks and a large storage space underneath the bed forced us to steal space from somewhere and "tag, bathroom, you're it"!
I had to smile, because I never would have thought you could cover so many bases so well on a selfie bus. A wood stove and a washing machine and a door to the back half?! You definitely rocked out on this this one. Very, very nicely done!
Chuck Thank you!!!
Your work is one of the best I have seen inside a bus. Love your choice of materials. That shower "door" that slides back behind the toliet is super cool. I'm going to do that in my conversion. Also, your tour was very nice and easy to watch, unlike many I have seen. Thanks for the great ideas and lovely presentation.
Love this bus conversion, and your presentation of the information!
This bus is amazing!!! I was honored to have been given a first hand tour!!
Genia Rowles Glad to do it!
One of the best custom builds I've seen on TH-cam. Great job!
Wow! I don't impress easily and I want to say "I'm impressed!" Of all the rigs I've seen on youtube and in-person... this is my favorite. It's clean, tastily done, engineered with forethought, energy efficient, and made for real people with full-size bodies! Wow! Nice job y'all! My hat is off to you, in all sincerity! THX!
mcdee56 I didn’t respond to your comment. Don’t know how I missed it. Thank you!
I love your bus!
My parents had one but it was no where as nice but my stepdad did as best as he could and I have some very fond memories of camping in that bus!
It was very recognizable as an old school bus as it was still bright orange-yellow with black painted stripes and the extra lights removed from the back to make it legal as a camper. My stepdad always meant to paint it, but never got around to it.
It had a small bathroom at the very back with just a port-a-potty. Opposite that was a couch that converted to a two person bed. It had two small bunkbeds that was used for storage when they weren't in use anymore and a dinette table that made into a bed. So it could sleep 4 adults and 2 small kids.
It had a long counter where it had a stove and an oven installed, a sink, and a small fridge. It also had overhead storage cabinets.
Many of the same features that campers have but this bus was done on a very tight budget and constructed with 2x4 framing and OSB boards. Someone also decided that the wood should all be painted that green-blue color to match the inside original colour. lol!
My mother made all the curtains and cushions in there in bright colors and they really popped!
It was all meant to be "just for now," but later never came!
I miss that bus!
It is obvious that you put a lot of thought into your van build, and I am very impressed of how you built your "schoolie". Very well done job.
Wisconsin Rails to trails cycler Thanks.
What a very clever build! Good job!
T Smith Thank you!
This is the best build I’ve seen!! Kudos!!
i like the red n white colors....very clean looking....
great job , love that it is so spotless , usually people don't clean up and have everything in the way. great job, well done. i'm rather jealous. i gotta get me one bus.
john hodg Thank you!
Form follows function. Very nice work sir. I have refit a few yaghts and am thinking about doing a bus conversion for my family.
I loved you designs. It looks amazing
Ramona Hopewell Thanks for the comment. If you need help on a bus reno or would like someone to build a bus for you let us know.
Great bus. Thanks for the tour.
Great tour!
That's the best that I've ever seen that's real classy.
Thank you!
I absolutely love this build price
That’s the best bus ever seen 🌹❤️💗
Be sure you have good ventilation, some of the tiny houses are having problems with black mold
Very nice bus conversion
Fabulous in every way!
Son you got that thang nice way 2 go !!!!
Nicely done, I'm impressed!
Fantastic!
Peter Blank Thank you!
Nicely done.
awesome bus,,,,,,could u spell the name of your fan,,,,and the name of your wood stove...thank u
Love it, just not sure if I like that the stove in in the living room? why not put it closer to the kitchen cupboards?
Wow super nice well done
nice set up
Excellent work. I suspect you are booked up until 2100 AD... LOL.
I didn’t catch what brand your wood stove was? Great job!
Hell of a JOB~!
Rob Rossi Thanks!
Great bus. I had a problem with the toliet closeness to the bed.
W.A. watson We decided that two or three feet away versus ten feet away didn't make that much difference. The only time it makes any difference is when two people are sleeping and in the middle of the night one of them has to go to the bathroom. If we had designed the bus with children in mind, or for more than two people, I'm sure the bathroom would be relocated. Thanks for the comment and question.
Nice to see video w/o noise "music". You get 10 from me presentation and completion of your bus!
brickley2 Thank you so much!
Posting of the stove is weird.Across from the super large couch?
Nice looking!
Nice job.
This bus it's awesome!
This bus is really lovely. May I suggest when you video you swing the camera around a little less it makes me a bit seasick. But the bus is stunning.
This is fantastic....the only thing I think is unnecessary is the sink in the washroom area. Its just in the way for me and unusable anyway since its so small and the stove. I mean the kitchen is big enough to incorporate a gas stove or the stove you have and leave the space for a cupboard below the tv...for dvds etc... so that when your sitting down your in a livingroom area instead of looking at your stove. I like it when the spaces are individualised, but apart from that everything else is well planned out and amazing.
The small sink issue was one that we wrestled with originally. While certainly not being the ideal sink, it is quite useable. The mirror above it is a bus mirror that can be moved from side to side and that helps out when shaving, putting in contacs, etc. But the real decision maker with us on the sink was the fact that we wanted public and private space. If we had guests in the front and needed to use the sink it would suit for those purposes. Also if we were getting ready to go somewhere and both needed a sink, then it works out very well. And we just decided that it wasn't a large investment of money and it hides behind the door when we don't need it. Thanks for your comments!!!
awesome bus
I love your bus. The layout is awesome. I think I've decided to go with the 48 inch shower like you have. I have pleanty of room
We used an Aquatic brand from a local vendor. I think Delta sells a very similar model at Lowes. One caution I would give you the shower is very tight to get through the back door. It needs to be set in place before anything else goes in. My shower is a one piece unit. It might be easier to put in a four piece but you'll have to determine that by where you want to set the unit. The cuts at the top of the unit that go around the curved ceiling required a lot of time to get right. I then went back and made cardboard templates and from those templates cut out aluminum flashing metal like you would use on the outside of a house around vinyl siding and windows. This is waterproof and the paint is a baked on finish. This allows you to cover the rough edges and it's flexible enough to mold into the corners. In my case the shower install was a very time consuming process in the build. another caution would be to think about where the drain for the shower will come out. Make sure that the drain hole does not land over top of the steel frame of your bus or any heavy duty structural element. This will create an unsolvable problem. Note that underneath our bus there is an extra hole cut for the shower that we could not use. Make sure that you have your layout for the gray water tank already solved before you pick the location for the shower. My first choice for location was forward of the wheels but it soaked up too much of my storage space and I ended up moving it to the back. Our gray water tank is 80 gallons and I was trying to offset some of the weight from the opposite side. By moving it to the back it worked out better. Thinking about all those things make sure you have the full plan in place before you set the shower. I've been a plumber and electrician for many years and do stuff like this for a living. And would give this a high difficulty rating. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.
Deborah Dean We used an Aquatic brand from a local vendor. I think Delta sells a very similar model at Lowes. One caution I would give you the shower is very tight to get through the back door. It needs to be set in place before anything else goes in. My shower is a one piece unit. It might be easier to put in a four piece but you'll have to determine that by where you want to set the unit. The cuts at the top of the unit that go around the curved ceiling required a lot of time to get right. I then went back and made cardboard templates and from those templates cut out aluminum flashing metal like you would use on the outside of a house around vinyl siding and windows. This is waterproof and the paint is a baked on finish. This allows you to cover the rough edges and it's flexible enough to mold into the corners. In my case the shower install was a very time consuming process in the build. another caution would be to think about where the drain for the shower will come out. Make sure that the drain hole does not land over top of the steel frame of your bus or any heavy duty structural element. This will create an unsolvable problem. Note that underneath our bus there is an extra hole cut for the shower that we could not use. Make sure that you have your layout for the gray water tank already solved before you pick the location for the shower. My first choice for location was forward of the wheels but it soaked up too much of my storage space and I ended up moving it to the back. Our gray water tank is 80 gallons and I was trying to offset some of the weight from the opposite side. By moving it to the back it worked out better. Thinking about all those things make sure you have the full plan in place before you set the shower. I've been a plumber and electrician for many years and do stuff like this for a living. And would give this a high difficulty rating. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.
Thumbs up, beautiful.
Robert Thanks!
The stove is neat, but I would think some sort of electric heat would take less room and be more convenient.
Rich A I am in agreement with your comment. We have a small 1500 watt electric space heater we keep in the bus. For us we built the skoolie as a bug out vehicle (prepper type) with the mindset from the beginning that it had to function in most climates completely off grid. Therefore the need for a wood stove, large water tank, and redundant ways to live, cook, and maintain normal sanitation. I'm not sure I would call it completely off grid but it was as close as we could get it. The wood stove is certainly not the best use of space but let me set a scene for you. Last year it was about 20 degrees outside. I had the wood stove fired up, looking out the window at the snow, laid back in a soft easy chair, wood crackling and the sleet and rain tapping gently on the bus roof. Absolute comfort. Electric heat is convenient but I don't much that takes the place of a wood stove. The only thing that could make that better is a big pot of chili beans cooking on top of it. Thanks for the comment!
Nice
Try backing off on the zoom a bit.
Great job, very nice. Could I ask where you purchased your wood burning stove" I love it!!!
Lucy L. It is a Century wood stove purchased at Northern Tool. I don't think they sell them anymore. But you can look them up online. Make sure you install a stove that has an outside combustion air intake. Ours is on the bottom of the stove. You can't see it in the pictures. It's a separate kit that you can buy to add on most any stove that's rated for a mobile home, which ours is. Most of the mobile home rated stoves also have the doubled up walls on the sides and back. This gives you a little bit of extra protection from burns as a secondary piece of metal doesn't get quite as hot as the original steel wall around the fire. The outside combustion air vent is necessary to prevent a small area building up too much carbon monoxide, and to be able to run something like a Fantastic fan or bathroom vent. When you turn on the fan to draw out cooking odors or bathroom odors it will draw the smoke back through the drafts on a normal wood stove. The exterior combustion air vent prevents this from happening. Thank you for the comments and question.
Thank you for letting me know, I appreciate it! I will have to look that up maybe they have something small like that. With this weird weather I am thinking I would like to have something like that for a back up heat. I live in 200 sq ft.
The rear ac works while driving? Any problems with that? Vibration, etc.
Shane Bradley We've used the rear AC extensively on the road (see video). It actually seems to work better on the road as the wind coming across the bus helps to cool the coil and make it more efficient. It's a standard Frigidaire 5000 btu window AC from the factory. It was equipped with a soft start compressor. It's a manual model with buttons and knobs. It also has a clear plastic vent cover that can be purchased at Lowes, over the return air grille. In a small space this is important as it helps keep the cool air from getting sucked back in the return too quickly. A cheap modification that works beautifully. (See video). We also use a timer on the wall where the unit plugs in so we can run it for 3-5 hours at night off of our batteries and after we're sound asleep it shuts down. Things that you can't see would include a serious metal bracket bolted to the chassis of the AC. Basically an aluminum L shaped bracket that is bolted to the bus and extends past the AC 6" on both sides. The upper bracket on the top of the AC is also an aluminum L shaped bracket and there is a piece of 1x4x 3/4 thick vinyl trim board that creates a small pad similar to a window sill. I foamed in with spray foam around all the steel bus parts to keep water out and strengthen them. There are also some pieces of wood on the side because the hole is oversized just in case we need to put a bigger AC in, or some other change. And there are removable diamond plate covers and surround on the outside. Most everything is sealed with #1 grade clear GE silicone if it is unpainted. The painted parts were sealed with GE ultra paintable silicone. This was also used in other parts of the bus as you can spray normal car paint over it and it will stick well. Note that our bus is very well insulated. 6" of foam in the floor underneath. 2-1/2 in the walls. And 2" in the ceilings. And we stuffed every conceivable air infiltration point with spray foam and/or roxel sound guard commercial insulation. We spent untold hours insulating this bus. This AC combined with a high end Vornado fan pushing the cold air from the floor in the back up to the front through the red door opening. In 98 degree weather, high humidity in NC it kept the front of the bus in the high 70's and fairly dry while traveling. This AC is designed to be portable and has a fairly efficient rubber compressor vibration dampening system. We also tilted it so it would drain. Some of the newer models you might have to drill the pan as they don't have a factory drain. We have had zero problems. The AC is five years old and has had probably about 3000 miles of travel time plus the time it's been used while the bus is parked. It's been run weeks on end while setting with no problems. We live in Virginia hot and very humid. High 90's in the summer. 90% humidity. Fan and AC are able to keep the bus very comfortable. It will run off our inverter and alternator while we are on the road. Straight solar when the sun is out. Batteries at night. Or a generator if necessary. Note we have a 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter and the AC pulls about 720 watts when it starts and runs for about 460 on high. The fan we use pulls about 75. We obtained all this information from the onboard kilowatt at the receptacle. One time we had a little bit of water that came back in the grille because a car pulled out in front and we had to slam on brakes. Normally this does not happen. Thank you for your questions. Hope this helps. Michael
What is your facbook? Would like to follow you there. Great job on your bus. My hubster is converting a short 28 ft Blubird, Keep the content coming plz....Cindi in CA
We have been working on some large projects around our house. We should be getting back on the bus. We have a few videos in mind and hopefully some travel plans. We have posted these same videos on my wife's Facebook page (Cosette Marie Conaway). We don't have a page just for Trampas at this time. Thank you for your comments. Keep in touch!
Did you have any problems getting insurance?
THE best One il se
Excellent job,would you trow away that bungee cord?
Zoltan Szabatin Not sure what bungee cord you're talking about. The bungee cords shown are only used when in travel mode.
Conversion Company above driver seat ,hold a cabinet doors😂😂😂ugly
Conversion Company magnet maybe ".?
Zoltan Szabatin We agree with your assessment of the bungee cords. Best solution for us after much trial and error.
"Surround sound stereo"
Make you mind up, man. Can have either or, not both. These are mutually exclusive concepts, like a whale fish. =^.^=
Where is the refrigerator? Thanks.
We use a Sundanzer freezer because a freezer is much more efficient. We freeze 8x8 ice blocks and use a yeti style cooler to keep the things that need refrigeration (which are very few for us). This is explained in detail on one of our other videos, when we were camping in NC during the eclipse. Be sure to watch all of our other videos that go into detail about a lot of the systems on our bus and why we use them. Thanks for the question! Let us know if you're interested in a custom bus build!
Fantastic build.An looking for a schoolie. You are not that far away I'm in North Florida. What is the length of you beautiful bus. and what would a build like that cost?
Love your skoolie! Is it for sale? How much would this bus go for? It is beautiful!, great showing also.
The length is 39' with the front box included. Trampas is for sale for $85,000. It is currently licensed in Virginia. It has a current inspection sticker and could be driven across the US in as is condition and lived in permanently. This bus is super maintained and if I sold it I would build another one pretty much identical. If you brought me a bus in good shape mechanically I could build a copy of Trampas for about $60,000 including most of the gadgets and goodies that you see on our bus. A basic white paint job with a few stripes, solar, wood stove, stereo, and appliances. Furnishings would be up to you. There are definitely less costly builds as well as more expensive ones. An example of less costly would be off the shelf quality cabinetry from Lowes. A more expensive addition would have a raised ceiling. We have a used bus provider about five miles from my house (Sonny Merriman) that sells about 350 busses/year. Parts are readily available. I have a good relationship with the staff there and also have a good working relationship with the International dealership here in town, and also a family owned diesel mechanic business called Garbee truck and trailer. I am a licensed electrician, plumber, HVAC, and gas fitter. The best way to price a bus would be to get the exact bus that you want to start with in hand and go from there. There are so many different situations when dealing with small spaces it is hard to price unseen work. You can contact us at MasterBuildPro@aol.com. Thanks Michael
I want this or one just like it. How much!
Do you have a bus already?
There were no pictures to show the entire space all at once, so watching this doesn't show the overall look.
what toilet is that? I tried looking about what you said and can't seem to find it anywhere
Zach Greaser It's a Nature's Head.
I would like to have one
*Carframo boat fan
How do I get a hold of you or the company? Is there a site I can go and see what for sale?
Watch for the stickers on the outside of the bus. May be on another video
I want one how do get one
What is the spelling of the name of the rubber fan ?
Caframo
Nice build not like my school bus
Thank
Why do you have such a big woodstove?
A couple of reasons for the size of the wood stove. We definitely wanted a mobile home-approved stove that had outside combustion air. This stove at one time could be purchased at Northern Tool off the shelf for about $339. As far as we know it's the smallest commercially available stove that meets the above mentioned criteria. Note that the stove is highly modified but it gave us a good starting platform. Secondly, we heat our house with a wood stove that was built in the 70's by Englander. We have found that a larger stove helps maintain a fire overnight. Note that small wood equals short burn time. Also our bus is designed for use in Alaska or northern tier states. The larger capacity gives you the ability to heat when it is very cold outside. The design of the dampener can be shut air tight. Note that the bus even well insulated, 2" of HD foam on most places, and 6" under the floor, still gets chilly because the bus is made out of metal. The sides of the stove are covered with sheet metal panels to help keep someone from getting burned if they touch it by accident. Also the rear of the stove has a 25' copper coil outside of the fire box, attached to the back of the stove. This coil is piped through a small pump that will heat the water in our tanks directly under the foot of our bed at the back. The sheet metal panels and copper coil box are an inch and a half thick, adding 3" to the width and an 1-1/2 to the depth. I am currently working on a rocket stove design with a good friend of mine that should be much more efficient.
That huge ass bus and you put a wet bath on it smh...why not a dry bath
Gerald Bennett We decided on the wet bath idea based on the time spent using each area. If you break a 24 hour day up in the areas you spend the most time then the shower and the toilet fall short by a long ways from every other area. If you notice the sink is on the outside which gives us a little bit of flexibility in that someone could use the toilet or shower while the other is using the sink. In most wet bath setups the sink is also included in the enclosure. From my experience a sink and mirror are the things that are used for an extended time in the bathroom. Now I know all of this is based on people's preference. Having a spa in our bus wasn't in the cards. We really thought about having a home on wheels and keeping all the components of the bus within the conditioned spaces or under lock and key. 200 gallons of onboard water tanks and a large storage space underneath the bed forced us to steal space from somewhere and "tag, bathroom, you're it"!
Nice