FINAL Skoolie Conversion Walk Through Tour - caution headphone users at
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- Опубліковано 2 тра 2022
- We're doing a skoolie conversion to travel the US with our 2 year old daughter! This is our final update video for our 2004 Thomas bus conversion that we named William. In this video we give you a look into our progress!
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* Instagram: bluewhaleadventurer
Music in this video from freemusicarchive.org
* Song Credit: The Riptones - Out All Night - Навчання та стиль
This is the best build I've ever seen. Simply Genius! Congratulations!
Awesome job guys! Very creative and unique. Love all the details.
Love your bus!" You seem to have thought of everything. It to me seems great.I bet after everything else is added it will be astonishing!" Please share finished decorated bus. Can not wait.😊
Wow, genius thought and design put into this build.
Such a unique bus build. Built to last and withstand just about anything. I really respect the amount of thought and work that you put into it. Excellent! 😊
i love the handrail/solar panel idea. I'm totally doing that to mine now. I wanted a lot a solar but also a large upper deck, this is the perfect solution. Thank you!
Thanks for your video. It was great. Your passage seat is the best. I'm from Australia and my wife and I are in week 4 of our build
Thank you!
Stay the course. It took us a year and a half. We both had full time jobs but did little else other than work on the bus during that time. Well, Katie had our only daughter but that’s another story…
Cheers!
I so really love your design and taking the time to show and explain everything it’s so beautiful job you did on the quality and design
Thank you so much for your comment. We love it!
Besides the sofa being too much to make into a bed every night after long hikes. Opposite the roof deck is perfect. It’s absolutely nothing but amazing. Thanks for the tour.
Yup, we feel the same way about the bed. A few night just crashing on the sofas without setting it up. That’s a really thoughtful observation. Thanks for the comments on the roof deck. It has the added benefit of providing shade for the bus wherever we go. Thanks for watching!
You don't mind the open free peek -a-boo I see you bathroom.
I don't understand, it took 2 seconds to put the middle piece in and pull 2 cushions to the middle. He took everything apart to show that it could be taken apart, that's not what needs to be done to put the bed out. Putting the bed down was literally one piece of wood laid down and slide 2 cushions to the middle.
Very nicely done many extras that a lot of bus conversion don't have. You are very detailed oriented. If I had to guess at what you do for a living, I would guess engineer. Thats because of your attention to details.... Nice bus love it...
Thank you. Much of what I do involves working closely with many engineers and I’m happy to count several as my friends but I’m completely self taught (Zach).
We are attempting to share the relatively wide variety of projects we undertake as an inspiration to others. We hope that the greatest takeaway from our videos is that you can do most things with a little research and hard work.
For such a minimalistic appearance it sure has some maximal design features. You definitely put plenty of forethought into your design. The roof top deck design in its entirety is my favorite, followed closely by the head that will no doubt keep guests away. What an excellent build. The flight attendant exit locations demonstration had me laughing.
Thank you for all the kind words.
The roof deck is our favorite too!
Z&K
This looks amazing! Def a blueprint for many :)
Thank you for your comment!
Very neat and clean. Love it very much.
Thanks so much! 😊
Love it... ❤️... 🏆 🏆...its perfect 😃 thank you for sharing and wish you the best ....( we are hoping to start soon and finding necessary but simple functions is in this build...can't imagine the planning around this and it is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING 👍... we love it 😀..thanks friend
Hello how are you doing ?
Go! Love hearing someone else is joining the Skoolie community. Before we started our build, we did what your doing, we watched every UA-cam video we could find. That’s our favorite thing about skoolie’s, is that everyone builds for their vision and function.
Awesome job, different from any I've seen. ❤❤❤
You have a very cool bus! I can tell that a lot of thought was put into aspects that typically get skimmed over in bus conversions. The trash chute, spare tire + crank, multipurpose ladder, and handrail/solar panel combo are quite brilliant.
I'm confused about the loud music during the segment where you were talking about the kitchen trash chute though. Unfortunately, couldn't hear what you were saying there. 😕
Thanks for all the kind words! We took a lot of time and care to do things the right way. So sorry about the video glitch! I'll see if I can make the adjustment... we are not very skilled video makers. That could use some work :)
@@bluewhaleadventures152 The filming was great , I would have never known you were new at it if you hadn't mentioned it, awesome job all around!
Perfect build 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Thanks so much. ✌️✌️✌️
Your interior design is astonishing in its functionality and layout. It should be featured in a design publication. It is that good. Minimalist, functional and well executed. Bravo. If I ever design a mobile dwelling it will mimic your exercise closely with one caveat. I will forego the driver seat 💺 extension arm. Other than that you are a genius.
Thank you for the very kind words. I (Zach) have a long background in fabrication and Katie has a commercial interior design degree. We work well together.
Cheers!
Just beautiful ❤️
Thank you so much!
Wow , really good work
Thank you! Cheers!
Great build and very simplistic with lots of finish detail. You and I have almost the same deck rail/solar panel setup. I am in the process of doing the passenger seat swing arm as well. My question is, what are you using for your spare tire lift? I was trying to think of an under body storage for the spare tire, but you nailed it. Thanks.
Thank you for the kind comments.
The tire storage lift can from Tuf-Tug products. They primarily make high quality winch pullers but they also offer this heavy duty lift. I highly recommend it.
Zach
Nice build! 🌀💚🌀
Thank you so much!
Good job 👍
What do you do for sleeping arrangements? Extremely detailed and well thought out except for sleeping.
To go from the banquette to bed, you pull out the back and two upper side drawers underneath the banquette and lay the table on top. Then the side cushions slide down into a king sized bed. In the morning we reverse these steps. It took a few minutes the first time we did it. Now we can set it up in less than a minute.
Thanks for the kind words.
Cheers!
Well thought out . This build has some very unique features, simple, easy to service and maintain. one of the most straight forward clean builds I have watched. Magnets are my friends I use them every where for every thing in my bus and few people point out the advantage of this in bus conversions. I am intrigued by the conversion from water heaters to diesel. I do have diesel auxiliary heater in my bus but it draws a lot of power from my batteries and takes up a lot of space in the compartments and hoses + heater cores. What are your heater manufacturer brand and source? Did you place a camera at the fueling port so you can align with the station pumps. My fuel door is near the back of my bus so that was a priority for me. Good and safe travels to you and the family.
It’s a fair point about the diesel heaters. They do use a fair amount of power but we have a fairly large battery bank (1.2 kw) and use little power for anything else so it works for us. I also doubt it would work for anyone using their bus in harsh climates but it works well for our fair season use.
The camera bear the fuel port is a great idea. However, we are lucky that our fuel door is just behind the entry door on the passenger side so we can just look out the door to align with the pump.
Thanks for watching carefully and your kind comments!
You have done an excellent job on your bus. Will you be building a separate area for your child’s bed? The stereo system is wonderful., that shower is amazing, especially the skylight., and most of all I love the hinged cover for the stairs and the swivel mechanism for the navigator’s seat. You know, your little girl is going to want her own seat right up front with Mom and Dad. Let us know when you design that one. Everything in your bus is really so well done. Congratulations and happy journeys to you and your family.
0:20
So beautiful car~!!
Thank you very much!
Amazing build! Your door lock and passenger seat are brilliant! Can you share where you got your door lock/latch? And OMG that passenger seat, did you fabricate that yourself? I want one...
Thank you for the kind words. The door locks front and back were based around a surface mounted deadbolt lock. The front door mixed in some parts from a garage door (the handle and circular latch).
There are more detailed views of both of these locks in our earlier videos of the bus build. This was one of the first things we did.
Pretty good. Only thing I would never have is individual locks on everything, ones that need a key. Couldn't do it, I'd lose my mind.
Hey thanks for watching! Totally understand that there are a lot of different approaches on this one. To be clear,other than the ignition there is one key for all the locks Outside the bus and there is one key for all the locks inside the bus. Generally, we lock all the cabinets before we hit the road and unlock them once we park. However, we’ve found them to be very useful even parked with our 2 year old daughter.
Yeah that’s insane work for no extra pop-a latch will do it.
Incredible build. Could you share links for the bus replacement lights,interior led lights, gray tank, bus door lock system , video controller, and toolbox? Apologies for big ask!
Did you fabricate the passenger seat arm or is it an off the shelf item?
Thanks for your comment… we are happy to help! Superbrightleds.Com for interior lighting, exterior replacement lights were from eBay, tank depot.Com provided all the tanks, security camera system came from eBay as a full package, including the touchscreen display.
The passenger seat and door locks are custom fabrications assembled from common hardware store items. We will be featuring both on an upcoming episode due to popular demand.
This build is quite lovely with lots of attention to the littlest detail. You never showed any curtains though you did mention the magnets made hanging curtains easy The bathroom has absolutely no privacy. Are there curtains for the bathroom? And curtains for the windows?
Yes! There are full custom curtains for all the windows and the bath. The intent is the frost the tempered glass bathroom wall but it hasn’t gotten done yet.
Great question. Thanks for your interest.
nice style good job 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you! Cheers!
Very well thought out bus. I love all the windows and roof deck. I love to just watch nature, not people so much. My dog would love it also.
Sounds like we have much in common.
Our dog loves sitting on the banquette, next to our daughter in her seat, bouncing down the road looking out the windows.
❤awesome ❤❤
This build review was fascinating. I am especially captivated by your passenger seat and wonder if you have the information on how to build one or where to purchase the parts?
Everything was custom fabricated steel except for two 1-1/2” pillow block bearings which support the entire mechanism.
We will be doing an upcoming video showing the passenger seat in detail as we have had several comments and questions about it. Keep your eyes open for this in the next few days.
Thanks for your interest!
@@bluewhaleadventures152 oh wow, fantastic!!! It won't be a while until I get to that phase of the build. I'm super excited your taking the time to do this. If you have time when you do your video, could you also provide a diagram with measurements and a supply list as it applies to YOUR example, of course. That way, I will have a many different methods to see the final project from. I'm loopie like that!!!! Are you an inventor? You should patent your ideas and sell them to the big RV companies before they pinch them from your videos! 😜
Love the double bar door lock....trying to figure out a lock system for our bus...would you remember what type of of latch this is called?..hard to find one without knowing what its called...any help would be greatly appreciated ...thank you...beautiful job on your bus
It’s a combination of commodity parts. The outside handle is odor a truck cap back window from eBay. The interior latch is a residential surface mount deadbolt from any home center. The latch wheel is from an overhead door latch mechanism. The rods and guides were fabricated from common 5/16” (8mm) solid stainless rod and heim joints.
Hope this helps!
Thanks for watching.
Got it done...thank you very much
el mejor que he visto, y he visto muchos
These are the kind of comments that keep Zach posting - in any language.
Thank you mi amigo.
Awesome rig
Thanks for watching!
Thank you!
I'm not so sure that metal fastener right on top of the solar panel is a good idea. With a hard bump would that not possibly crack a panel?
Ear phone user beware at 33:40 for the music. We’re building our own skoolie could you tell us we’re you guys got the arm for the passenger seat and the name of that thanks great build up by the way thanks for sharing
That’s all custom built. It is essentially two pillow block bearings and a rotating seat base from EBay. Everything else came from Zach’s head.
Look for this to be featured on an upcoming episode.
Thanks!
This guy must be an engineer! Very unique build, I am curious where do you store your clothes? I like his analytical mind in covering all important details that that are lost in other bus builds! The only thing about the bus is it looks so minimal & not inviting. Which is fine if that is their style, but I wouldn't enjoy travelling around in a sparse bus! Just the same it is a incredible build & stands out in perfection to details!
Thanks for the kind words.
No engineer here. At times I’ve been a construction manager, race team manager/mechanic, and even tried my hand at fixing old carnival rides for a while. An inch deep and a mile wide as they say. I’m so jealous of my engineer friends. They can design a part that I’d have to break at least 10 of to get to the same point. 😊
Katie will love to hear your words about the minimal design. She’s a commercial designer by training and minimal would be a great word to describe our ethic. This is one of the things we love about the skoolie community, each bus is an extension of the user. Some of the busses that we’ve seen and love the most are generally the most different from ours.
Safe travels,
Zach
Oops, the clothes go in the drawers underneath the banquette. If we have a bunch for longer trips we pack a tote that goes in the back behind the banquette.
I wouldn't hit a cow with it !!! 🤣
Clean bus setup guys
Asking again...what is your door rotary/rrod latch called...thank you
Sorry for the delayed response.
The outside handle (and inside) is a replacement for a fiberglass truck cap rear window that I purchased on eBay.
The inside latch is made up of a latch wheel from an overhead door latch and a residential surface mount latch. The lock cylinder itself, like all the rest on the bus was leftover from my commercial construction days. They are all keyed alike.
The latch rods are 5/16” solid stainless that I threaded to receive the heim joints at the latch.
I made the latch rod guides from flat stainless stock and bought the nylon bushings (and the heim joints) from my friends at McMaster Carr.
I believe everything above are basic commodity parts that can be purchased on eBay, Amazon or the like.
Happy Camping,
Zach
Where do you get passenger seat swivel?awesome job on bus
I made it. The basis of the swivel is two 1-1/2” pillow block bearings. I made the arm assembly that attaches to it and mounted an eBay seat swivel below the seat.
Thanks for the kind words.
Zach
I would do a bed that lets up and down over the banquet. I forget what they are called. I wouldn't do a tear down everyday to sleep. That or a Murphy.
Hey, thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. We have experience with lifting beds in vans, Murphy beds, as well as several other sleeping solutions. It probably doesn’t come across in the video very well, but we are actually able to set up for sleep in less time than any of the above.
Enough already…I want to see inside. In this life!
Fast forward to 22:00
Thanks for watching!
Another question, ( yeah... I'm high maintenance...) Where do you find a swivel seat? Or did you fabricate that too?
The seat swivels are common to fishing boats. They are a separate, commodity item. I will make sure to cover those in detail in our upcoming passenger seat video update.
Thanks!
@@bluewhaleadventures152 you are the greatest!
Greetings from morocco😍♥️🇲🇦
Cheers to our friends in Morocco!
❤❤❤did they say what the cost is?
We have something around $25k invested including the bus.
Of course that doesn’t account for the approximately 3000 man hours of labor…
Thanks for watching!
Excellent !👍👍👍👍 visto do Brasil 👍‼️
Thank you!
Where does the 2 year old ride when traveling?? Seat belts?? Love the bus as a whole. But 2 year old? Seat belts for all three of you?
There are seat belts in the banquette. She rides in the center facing forward and loves every minute with her up high, 360 view. One of us can ride beside her or up front, shotgun. We keep the belts tucked behind the cushions when not in use as they aren’t super pretty.
Thanks for your concern about our little girl! And thanks for watching so carefully!
Cheers!
Did I miss the bedrooms? The sofa maybe turns into a bed?
You nailed it. It folds down into a king sized bed.
Not much room for bedrooms on our little short bus. :-)
Cheers!
Z&K
Into a king size bed. Watch the entire video 🙂🙂🙂. It’s at the very end. It is a perfect design
Most importantly to me is hot shower toilet and a nice place to rest my broken back so I work yet another day your design does all that to the exception I have a tiny bus
Short busses are where it’s at!
I can park anywhere and pass every other bus on the road going through the hills. :-)
Peace.
Wow ..
Luke right?😊
Sorry if i got wrong😮
I love your videos tho
Please, what is the value of the vehicle?
We paid $4,400 for it, haha! Seriously, no idea but we are considering cash offers over 100K.
I thought we weren't allowed to lock the propane door. Just in case of a crash. Im locking the tanks but not the doors.
This is a great point. Not sure about laws but we don’t drive with the propane on. With your tip in mind we won’t be locking the propane cabinet when the propane is on, going forward.
Cheers!
It is hilarious that the editor blocked the license plate at the front, but not at all on the back!
Hahahaha. Great catch!
As you may have noticed with the music interlude we are not good at this :-)
Thanks for watching so closely.
Z & K
@@bluewhaleadventures152 no problem!
Where do you sleep
The table drops in to fill the gap in the banquette. The cushions slide down to make a king sized bed.
33:40 WTF happened?!? ...Sudden LOUD music from the ether! RIP headset users!
RIGHT???
Wifi?
Tv?
No Wi-Fi. Katie and I both have phones and we have a wireless hotspot. But, to be honest, the entire point of building the bus, for us, was to get away from that stuff.
As for the TV, we don’t have one at home.
Of course, we understand that this wouldn’t work for some (many?) but it fits us perfectly.
Happy trails,
Zach
Hot water heater?
Bed?
The on demand water heater is mounted on the outside wall of the bus underneath the sink. It directly vents outside.
The banquette converts into a king sized bed.
Watch the entire video. Up to the last second
Great build, but I don't like the bathroom, no privacy. :(
Little a trouble to live in there day to day
Would not let me comment. But those propane tanks were not 20 gals. Ive lived in RV for over 20 yrs.
Even 7 gal tanks are bigger. I have 5gl, 7gl, 26gal, and 120gal tanks. And i know those are not 20gal tanks they look 5-7gal tanks.
Sorry for the confusion. They are 20 pound tanks. That’s 5 gallons usable each, I believe.
Thanks for watching so closely!
Zach
I loved every bit of the excellent interior design execution and the bathroom was so clean and inviting … I never thought that was a ladder always thought it was a towel rack even thought it was heated. I said… they must be Swedes 😅. I would prefer in the kitchen an induction cooktop instead of that camp stove just for the controlled head and as far as oven maybe a pressure oven that cooks faster and heat stays within??? Maybe ??? But omg so so nice ….
Too austere, feels Unibomber-esque. Kazinski would approve. Appalachian beards scare me.
Well… clean and modern is exactly what Katie and I love. And, as mentioned in previous comments, one of the things we love the most about the skoolie community is that each bus is an expression of the owner. But then, some people feel the same way about how they wear their facial hair.
NICE JOB. YOUR BUS STILL NEEDS A FEW THINGS LIKE A PLACE TO SLEEP. ETC. AND NEEDS TO BE FINISHED AS FAR AS COVERING THE REST OF THE WHEEL WELL. OVERALL IT LOOKS UNFINISHED.
Hey thanks for watching! Yup, the bus is still a work in progress. Kind of silly how some of the simplest things take the longest time.
The sofa's are the bed! I'm sure he knows what still needs to be done, it looks amazing, very clean look,very detailed tour, has all the amenities needed, outstanding work!
You obviously did not watch the entire video. You are daft.
When that music started I almost crapped myself. Volume was so from trying to hear you.
Very sorry about that. That was supposed to be the “outro” music. We are not good video editors :-)
There is a fixed version on our channel without the blaring music and with the final couple minutes of video.
Sorry again, but we hope you enjoyed the rest of the video.
Cheers!
Z&K
By the time you get that bed set up , you might have a massive bed , but where do you put all of those cushions?. Honestly you could of thought of a better layout so you don’t waist so much room with cushions by setting that ridiculous size bed. You could of fitted a kitchen in there as well as a lounge room , put curtains all around for privacy , i just can’t understand why you didn’t fit more stuff in , a fridge , a pantry. I’m going to be honest with you , when you said you finally finished it & you showed the out side & what you had done to upgrade it i couldn’t wait to see what you did in side. When you said come on in & i‘ll show you the inside i thought great , then we went in it looked like you still had so much more to do because of how much spare space you had in there. What a downer , i was like , is that it. Kudos to ya for what you got up to , but dude you could put a whole heap more stuff in there. Get rid of that bed that took you way more time than 5 minutes to make , & the bull**it you went through to put it up. Man you could of got one of those beds that go up & down on special rails , just press a button there’s your bed 🛌 , not to mention a heap of room for other things. Man i’m sorry but that to me was a complete waist of a floor plan for that much room you had to work with , & you put nothing in there , where’s the T.V. , what about an office , s**t dude i’m sooo disappointed in that bus build. With what you did you could of just went out & bought a bloody tent. & for all you people out there in cyberspace thinking bad of me , i’m entitled to my opinion , you know what they say , TRUTH HURTS !!
P.S. YOU HAVE NO HOPE OF GETTING NEAR , ON , OR OVER $100.000 FOR THAT PLANE BUS 🚌 WITH HARDLY ANYTHING IN IT…
Wow, where to start. I guess first off, thanks for watching. And thanks for caring enough to type out what is likely the longest comment on this video. It is curious to note that you felt the need to so vigorously defend your indisputable right to an opinion.
The cushions are all either part of the banquette seating or lay flat and together to make the bed. To set it up you partially pull out three drawers, lay the table on top, and push down the cushions. It usually takes less than a minute. In the morning you reverse those steps and you’re back to the banquette, another minute or less.
As a couple with a passion for minimal design, we were never interested in trying to “get a heap more stuff in there”. Unlike many who live full time in their bus, we need far less storage and “stuff” in general. There is, however, a full kitchen with two burner propane cooktop and oven as well as a compressor refrigerator and large sink. For that matter, if the goal was to pack more stuff in we’d have just gotten a bigger bus. And hey, we did go buy a tent. Check out our glamping video.
And finally, the bus is not and has not been for sale. It was never built to sell. That said, there must be at least a few people that disagree with you. We’ve had two unsolicited offers in excess of the number you quoted.
We sincerely hope that this opportunity to vent has been helpful.
Need more privacy for the bathroom.
34:07 wth was that ?? Lol
The sound of amateur video editing.
Truly sorry. We are slowly getting better. 😎
man this guy is a long winded not saying anything that ppl wants to know.
Ha! Katie feels the same way.
Thanks for suffering thru.
-long winded guy
Casi una hora perdida para ver esa porquería
Looks like we better cancel the meet and greet in Mexico City.
See through toilet, no thanks lol
What about some privacy while taking a shit and shower?
We have since installed frosted film on the glass wall. The other question we’ve often gotten is about the curtains. They weren’t yet installed for this video.
Don't like the bathroom at all. NO
Privacy. And for me that's a big huge plus. No way am I going to use a toilet or take a shower.
It is a beautiful bathroom with tinted windows and he said they can place those hooks anywhere so they probably place a curtain for guests who want privacy. If your out in the middle of nowhere and your better half is in the back of the bus napping I don’t even thing you’d be closing the door.