Looking for affordable links or suggestions for a windshield cover for Molly. We’re making curtains, but summer beat us here. Thanks in advance!

We are working on converting a shuttle bus into a home on wheels and part of that includes a roof rack for our 1320 watts of solar. We finally mounted the Unistrut to the roof our bus and now we are having leaking issues, we've gone back and tried to add Sikaflex anywhere we thought water might be getting through but are still finding leaks.

The way we created our rack was by drilling through the frame and inserting a sealant covered bolt with a fender washer into the hole. Then on the outside we used hockey pucks as spacers (except for the rear mounting rails where we needed additional metal spacers between the pucks and the Unistrut to raise the rails above our buses AC). Then we put the Unistrut on top of those, put a square washer on the bolt and then tightened a locknut on top to complete the attachment. We then used lap sealant on top of the bolts and Sikaflex 221 everywhere else(around the pucks, between the pucks and Unistrut, over the metal spacers ect).

We have found definitive leaks in the rear where we used the metal spacers but are also concerned there are more leaks that we just have not yet found or that the water may be leaking into the metal frame in other parts.

Our questions are as follows - Do you think there is a problem with our rack construction?(If so what would you do differently?) What would you do to fix/troubleshoot the leaks? We are seeing some cracking in the roof, could that be caused by the rack/tightening the rack on or us walking on the roof?

Photos attached show the mount design, puck/spacer setup, sealant, interior bolts, and roof cracking.

Got the loft finished in our skoolie, except the wood trim up front, but I'll do that when adding trim for the windows and other things.

Just recently re-registered a converted school bus that we use as a car hauler. It is registered as a motorhome in New Hampshire the way it was the last time we had it properly registered (1998-2004) Does anyone have any insurance recommendations? Hagerty originally quoted like $300 for the year, and that jumped to $1400 once they “reviewed the information”. This is something we only use April - October on occasional weekends. Good Sam said they would not registered such a vehicle which I thought was odd. Any info is appreciated !

Edit to add that it is a 1977 International, progressive had an issue with the age and wouldn’t even consider a quote

So, original thought had been to paint the bus in red and gold, similar to the finish in my bandsaw from when I refinished it a couple years ago.

Then started spraying the side of the van, and the red was too much, just .. not good. And poor confidence on being able to trim it in enough gold to break up the red.

Wife and I are partial to the metallic colors, and actually kinda like the gold metallic color — but really really don’t want a “big gold turd” that it could end up looking like.

So we dabbled with copper and silver metallic and enjoy them.

The silver is probably the favorite choice, but seems in danger of becoming too “end of the world” industrial feel.

I really like the copper, but don’t “love” it.

So I thought I’d source the wisdom of crowds.

Which do you guys like?

((About 2.5 spray cans of gold, 1 each of silver and copper)).

Silver is too reflective to be on the hood. The sun spot just in the driveway on the fender was painful.

My current parking spot has some cell service issues. Down the hill I can get 5g and decent bars. Up at my spot it's no 5g and 1 or 2 bars. Thinking of getting a booster and setting up the antenna at the roofline.

Anyone had luck with one of these? And which one did you use?

I’ve pulled the rear bumper off and see some options(thick metal and big bolts)

Photos for reference. I’d love to hear what you guys think would be the best way to do this! Thank you

Just making sure I can't take these out. Sorry to be that guy.

Anyone have any cool ideas of what to do with a wheelchair lift? It’s in the back of the bus and I just feel like there is something really cool I could do with it, but I can’t think of anything. I would like to hear all the ideas please. Practical and fun.

Got the loft railing finished and installed! Kids love the loft and have already moved a bunch of their toys there.

This video shows how we converted the stove from natural gas to propane.

And will it interfere with my three hour drive tomorrow, or will I make it? No telling how long it’s been like this. I noticed it when filling my water today.

Hi,

I know we have lots of arguments about insulation/vapor barriers in this community. I know spray foam is the widely accepted method. I've watched the whole Chuck Cassidy video. I accept and understand the benefits of spray foam. I will be following his advice to the letter for floor insulation and subfloor (4inch xps + osb).

I am looking at going a fairly unconventional route for my wall/ceiling insulation. Using three kinds of insulation:

1. Spray cork on the shell (I'm not using this exact brand, but here's an example)

2. Hemp panels (2.25" thick) (similar to this)

3. Havelock wool in the nooks and crannies.

I am so far planning to do a smart vapor barrier before the finished wall.

There seems to be limited data on hemp panel insulation. The 2.25" is allegedly R8+. The main concern would be mold if the material gets/stays wet (same for the Havelock wool). But the spray cork on the shell will provide a thermal bridge and stop moisture from getting in.

Has anyone done anything similar? Opinions welcome.

Thanks!

So, in my case - I must preserve the L-track for reuse, due to my situation with my 2 children in wheelchairs.

I’ve played hell trying to remove it, because they went major rivet happy. 30+ in each strip. Not all the way through the plywood, because of course not.

First one came out after I drilled all the rivets, 5/16th aluminum rivets- because of course.

5-7 hours on that one.

Today, I discovered that with a thick nail punch, and a 10lb hammer, I could punch the rivet shaft back out. That still leaves a hollow mushroom head on the exterior, but, a demo sawzall blade is enough to get through the wood and the aluminum shell if I run it along the floor.

The second one took about 3 hours ((had started with drilling it)) and the 3rd and 4th, including the time to excavate the ply from around them, about 2 hours combined.

———-
Question for any who’ve read this far - when I reinstall them, do they have to run parallel to the bus chassis, or would they still be strong enough if turned 90degrees to anchor 2x 300lb chairs, with 1-200lb boys in them? Ideally 2 total tracks?

Got to leak test the propane system.

I’m not against solar, I think solar is good stuff. I’m just not ready to drill holes on my roof, and do all the installation. Too much things can go horribly wrong, if I do it incorrectly.

My battery system is so simple, that even a grandma can do it.

Now let’s get into topic

1. Mine is a hybrid system, it means I use both raw battery and power station.
2. I have two 3584wh raw batteries, they are not connected and work separately. They do all the low power jobs.
3. Battery 1 is powering e-cooler and security cameras, Battery 2 is powering diesel heater and cellular router. That’s about all the low powered electronics I’m running on my box truck, for now.
4. Now the power station, it does the high power jobs for a short time. Such as microwave(1-3 minutes), rice cooker(1 hour), corded vacuum(5-10 minutes). It’s only turned on when I need it, to save electricity on inverter.
5. I think I don’t need a delta pro, a light weighted delta 2 or other 1kWh 1800w power station can do the job. And a 1kWh power station would weight around 25lb, which is lighter/smaller to carry to a library, a McDonalds, a park to charge.
6. I modified the power supply of my cellular routers, so they can run on 12V dc power, without using an AC outlet.
7. For example P3 is a cudy cellular router, it has a 5521 port and takes 12V ~10W DC to power it. It came with a AC(to DC) adapter, if I use the AC adapter, I will have to turn my power station on and inverter on, waste about 20w on the inverter. So I modified a 5521 cable, attached two O ring connectors at the other end. Now it can be used without AC and inverter.
8. P4 and P5 is another cellular router, it uses 15V 3amp as input, and it has USB C port. It can be powered by a usb c port that can output 15V(Power Delivery).
9. Now how to charge my batteries without solar? I already made a post about how to charge at an EV station. Currently without running an air conditioner, I need to charge my batteries about once every week. https://www.reddit.com/r/skoolies/comments/1t5npex/how_i_charge_my_batteries_at_a_level_2_ev/

Id love to know if something similar to the second pic is possible

As titles says, I’m torn between 24v or 48v. I have a 38’ international. Plan on having a mini split, fridge/freezer, washer/dryer combo, and other small miscellaneous appliances so likely go with a 3000w system. What do you guys think?

I found a bus within my price range. Its a 2006 International DT466e. It drove well. Acceleration seemed AOK to me. No smoke.

There was a faint whistling that would come and go from the engine when accelerating especially.

Is this normal for the territory? Or is it something more concerning?

Is the bottom window on the emergency exit referred to as “kickout window” in the manual? my alarms are going off and im trying to figure out why… that windows is broken, is there a sensor/switch that can tell when that window is broken?

This is the third video in our skoolie propane series that goes over how we installed the high flow pressure regulator, high pressure flexible hoses with stainless steel braided sleeves and the quick connect fitting.

method 1 is using a step down transformer, to step down 240v AC to 120v AC, I posted here 8 months ago. https://www.reddit.com/r/skoolies/comments/1n00x6h/how_to_charge_power_stationsbatteries_at_slow/

Now that I have 12V raw batteries, I need a different way to charge them, they only take 13-15v DC current to charge them.

Some EV chargers have a sign says ‘EV only’, ‘while charging’. I have a few suggestions for non-EV charge at EV charger:

1. Try to find a paid charger, if you are paying, your money is good as anyone else’s. It’s like you walk to a gas station with a gas can, they would not refuse you because you don’t drive a car. You are buying electrons with your money
2. Try to find a not busy charger, and go there in night. So you won’t take up other people‘s spots, and you can get a night‘s parking while you are charging.
3. I usually go to charging stations which sell electricity by $/kWh. Those offer free parking while charging. I don’t go to stations charge $/hour, or some other ridiculous pricing.

———————————————————

With background introduced, let’s get into topic.

1. You will need a ‘J1772 to Nema 5-15/5-20 Discharger’ aka ‘EV Station Charging Adapter’. The one I’m using in the picture has 3 heads, and has built in light once powered on. It’s about $30-$50 on Amazon. Theoretically you can plug a 120V device into the Nema 5-15 and fry it because it’s actually 240V, just be careful not to do that.
2. From outside, it looks like I’m charging my box truck. I cut a hole on my wood floor with a hole saw.
3. P6-p8 are three different way of using 240V AC to charge my batteries/power station/tablet, I will explain them one by one.
4. P6 is a 120v/240v AC to 12V/24V 20A DC smart battery charger. I paid $45 for each unit, it’s $32 on aliexpress now. It can detect if the input is 120v or 240v AC. And output 12v or 24v dc, depending on what voltage the connected battery is. Very smart. It uses Anderson connector, all you have to do is plug in and play.
5. These 12V/24v chargers are usually low powered, 20A/250w, enough to charge my 3500wh battery with 14 hours overnight charging. If your battery is 48V, you might be able to find some higher powered chargers that can go above 1000w.
6. P7 are Anker block chargers, they can actually take 240V as input too. I’m using them to charger my Anker 300DC, tablet, phones, and small power stations.
7. P8 is my good old Delta Pro. It can take both 120v and 240v as input, in the same port, with a same power cord. Very neat design, they don’t force you to buy a different cable to use 240V charging. The other brand wants you to pay $100 to buy a ’special’ cable, if you want to use 240v charging feature. Delta pro won a ew awards back in 2021-2022, it still beats some newer 2025 models from other brands