Anyone Know of a Bus 13 Feet or More in Height ??

[enchantedgypsy]

We have cut our bus and today will begin the roof raise of 3 1/2 feet for a toatl of 1 feet in height. Last minute here and am getting cold feet on the height. Anyone know of a bus this tall and if so any problems ?? Anyone want to talk me out of it ??

[Feather]

oops..sorry that should have been " a total of 13 feet in height" ...

[Doug]

Hi guys ... just measured my bus height ... 9'-10" to highest physical point on roof ... 10'-2" to top of chimney ... but I took a different approach than most ... I purposely stayed low ... one level. I did raise my roof by 1' for interior space of 6'-5' finished height ... even tall friends can walk without taking off their cowboy hats ...

http://www.goodclueproductions.com/1946 ... olet%20bus

... a link to my bus page on my website ...

http://www.goodclueproductions.com

My reasoning ... short bus, meant for back country roads ... logging and ranch access ... some off road ... and out here in Colorado there are the occasional low RR bridges ... 11' high ... have seen a semi ignore the posted height and rip the trailer roof badly ...

Also wind is an issue in the US west ... has not bothered my bus. Have no idea what you may expect in NZ ... have seen some beautiful pics of conversions on Shakey's, now Stuart's site.

Shoud have a bunch more pics on this site if you search my user name from back when ...

Good luck no matter how you proceed ... love these vehicles ...
GoodClue

[Stealth Camper]

There are a few short bridges in the country, especially in out of the way places where you might want to go. Mine is right at 10' tall, and am going to raise the roof about 1 foot. Most of the RV's I "emulate" or am inspired by seem to keep it to 12' or under. I just need a little more headroom, but won't go more than what I really need.

I hear talk about higher center of gravity - that is real, so another reason I want to keep it as low as possible. 60mph side wind puts about 19 pounds per square foot pressure on side wall. One foot higher by 34 foot long = 34 * 19 = 646 pounds more pressure on side. If it is 10 feet above ground, that is 6,000 lbs. of extra side force - called "moment" - the force that causes roll over. That is added to the force of the already 9 foot high wall. Lots of force.

Just had a thought....if bus is 9 foot high, minus the approx 2 foot clearance under the body, you get 7 X 34 = 238 square feet of side. 60 mph wind - 19 lbs per square foot. 238 X 19 = 4522 lbs force on the 9 foot high bus side. Moment would be applied on average about 5.5 feet above ground level for 5.5 X 4522 = 24,000 lbs of force on the side of the bus. My bus weighs about 22,000 lbs. Guess I don't wanna be in a 60mph wind. That is too close for comfort (if I haven't messed up the calculations somewhere.)

Extra foot may be too much for mine - will have to look at this some more. Outriggers could help....

[Mark R. Obtinario]

13' 6" is the highest legal height you can go.

There are not supposed to be any low overheads lower than 13' 6" anywhere on the Interstate system. But that isn't to say there aren't any.

I think you will find overheads less than 13'6" to be the norm rather than the exception once you get off of the Interstate system.

Trust me, you really don't want to have to back up for miles because you have found the way blocked by a low overhead and no place to turn around. Low overheads and no turn arounds seem to go hand-in-hand.

MCI-E/J coaches are considerably taller than their older siblings like the MCI-A/B/C or MCI-5/7/8/9/12. The -E/J coaches do a lot more leaning when the wind gets to blowing sideways than their older siblings.

The addition of a lot of top hamper can change the driving characteristics in a major fashion.

If the addition is made of heavy material it will adversely affect handling characteristics as well.

You need to figure how much more weight the roof raise will add to the dry weight of your bus. You may discover the additional weight will put you at or over the GVWR of your bus.

If like Sharkey you start with a bus with a lot of extra weight carrying capacity the addition of more top hamper and weight won't be very noticeable.

If you start with a bus without a big difference bewteen the empty weight and the GVWR then you might find yourself in trouble.

Good luck.

[Dennis The Bus Dweller]

My blue hound is 12'6" to the top of the ac