Converting a heavy-duty bus/coach/truck into a motorhome (page 13 of 161)

Hi!

Could you send us photos of your B110 4x4? And would you be okay with me putting them in the gallery on my father's website, along with a short text about your project?

Sébastien.

Hey there!! I was actually thinking about buying a van to head to Africa. We were just wondering whether it would be better to convert a camper van ourselves or buy one that's already outfitted. Given the price difference in insurance between a registered camper van and an unregistered one, we wanted to get ours homologated. Do you know how to go about getting homologation and what paperwork you need?

Hey Patrick26, do you have any layout plans you could post online or email? Also, could you give me your buddy's number—the one who runs the driving school? Thanks!

Safe travels and have a great vacation everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For the driving school, it's:

Auto-École Chazot 55 av Marc Urtin 26500 Bourg lès Valence .04 75 43 50 86

Email: auto-ecole@ffrchazot.com

Specialized since 1967 in heavy-duty vehicle and bus licenses. C - EC - D

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and would like to know what the limitations are (besides budget) for traveling around the world with a converted coach?

What problems might you encounter with: ferries and intercontinental cargo ships, road conditions in Africa and Asia, and entry permits in certain countries with such a large vehicle???

I'm planning to do a 2-3 year trip with my partner in a few years, and I'm exploring all the possibilities.

Thanks in advance for any responses! 😎

If anyone is passing through the MONTBELIARD BELFORT area, please let me know! I'd really like to see what a motorhome conversion looks like and get 2 or 3 tips. Have a great trip!

Hi Patrick,

I've been reading about your project for an hour and I'm getting back the energy I'd lost about converting a bus to travel or just live in while doing missions.

That's cool, I'm continuing to read—I still need quite a bit of information about the mines, places to buy it, insurance...

By the way, if you have a moment...

Otherwise, thanks already for the re-motivation, hope it sticks.

benjamin

Hi, thanks for all the great info you share with everyone! I have a question to ask: for those of you who are into converting (not me yet), here's the problem:

Mr. Dupont bought a bus (S53 from 1985, for example). This Mr. would like to convert it into a camper van (4 seats + 1 driver in the cab and 0 in the living area), and from the cab you can access the living area.

QUESTION #1: Does Mr. Dupont need to install seat belts in the cab (according to current laws) since he'll need to have the registration document updated?

QUESTION #2: If you can't access the living area (van) from the cab, do you need seat belts in the cab?

Thanks, see you soon!

So from what I know, you don't need to make modifications on that (a buddy converted an S45 into a VASP last year, no installation needed, drive 66, he kept 4 benches, 8 places + a stopcharge as a divider, you can even put a net on it, it works), but maybe standards have evolved, anyway good luck to you!!!, Mr. Dupont can therefore start his conversion without overthinking it because summer's already here ;😉 bye

From what I recall, all heavy vehicles from before 1995 are exempt from seatbelt requirements if they weren't originally equipped with them (see the red striped marking on the vehicle) when updating vehicle registration through RTI.

but given my advanced age and my memory which can play tricks on me, I advise validating this point with the DRIRE.

good evening everyone,

PATRICK26

I just left the DRIRE, my project's not approved yet—or I should say it just got rejected🙁. Reason: an incorrect distance of 40cm on a storage compartment relative to the front axle, 10 seating positions present that could potentially be used while driving!? Actually, you could go up to 14 if you count the bench bed???. And especially missing seatbelts on the seats facing the road (the vehicle is from 1986, approved in 1985 as a bus). The engineer in charge of the inspection is looking into it... and I'm not going on vacation anymore😕

Hey, if you've read my post from yesterday with my Mr. Dupont story, I had a feeling that sooner or later someone would run into this problem. Once again we can see that laws are also designed to discourage people who mostly put their whole heart into these kinds of projects,

A CALL IS BEING MADE — IF YOU HAVE OR CAN HAVE A SOLUTION TO FIX THESE PROBLEMS, PLEASE SPEAK UP! EVEN IF YOU JUST BROWSE THE SITE FOR READING, SIGN UP SO WE CAN MOVE FORWARD AND FIND SOLUTIONS

Okay! So while taking a shower and thinking about all these obstacles the regulations keep throwing at us, there must be solutions:

1) I remember that on some of the buses I used to take to school, the seatbelts were anchored to the seats rather than to the bus frame itself. By asking permission from the manufacturer or coachbuilder, you could find seats like that in a bus scrapyard and replace them (though you'd still have the problem of the mounting points on the floor for the seats).

2) It's not possible to install anchor points on the frame because you'd need to do a crash test or a pull-test, and in my opinion only the manufacturers do that.

3) For those who don't want too much hassle with this kind of problem, the best option is to forget about old decommissioned buses without seatbelts and without a driver's door (some actually got approved without a driver's door... anyway...) and plan for a bigger budget (the investment will be more worthwhile in the long run).

DON'T GET DISCOURAGED, WE'LL GET THERE!

Hi everyone,

I spend loads of time here reading all the great advice from everyone, and especially from Patrick and Sputnik. Thanks to you all.

But I have a small question since I'm about to jump into this adventure soon.

How do you find nice little spots without getting kicked out when you park for a bit on the edge of a big city, or even a capital?????

If anyone has experience with that.

I'm not sure if I like supermarket parking lots or if I'm going to have trouble getting accepted on Traveler sites?

Anyway, I'm not sure what?

Hey, for travelers there's no problem because most of them are just as civilized as we are—it's just people's prejudices that make everyone see a difference.....( for me it's a form of racism). I have cousins who live year-round in caravans and they've never had problems. They have their own little piece of land, live there year-round, and move whenever they want. It's the same for other communities (Roma, travelers......). You just need to show that you're not coming to cause trouble, and other than that you won't have any problems.

There are bad apples in every community, and anyway if there's a place where you don't feel totally safe, nothing stops you from moving on to another town further away (because according to new laws, every town has to have a designated parking area with water for travelers). If there's a spot not too far from you, you can go check it out and ask them some questions.

You explain to them that you want to set up a vehicle and would like to know if you need permits from the town hall to park on spots like that. It's pretty straightforward but it gets the conversation going—why not make some friends? Either way, it's a personal enrichment.....

I hope I've convinced you and everyone else who was wondering about this.

We travel not just for ourselves but also to meet other people (that's what I think).

See you later and safe travels

Thanks for your encouragement and for the icebreaker idea 😛 I'm with you on nomadic camping grounds. Rest assured, no prejudice, fear, or resentment toward Romani, Travellers, or other communities. It was just about whether I'd be accepted (okay, I admit I have some preconceived ideas about that, but that's exactly why I'm asking!!!)

Thanks anyway.

Catch you later

😎 no worries, that's kind of my advisor side showing through (check my profile and you'll understand) — even though advisers don't pay the bills, I'll try to be good but probably not perfect lol!!! for a change of environment, even if you've got a customized rig you'll see people you don't know asking you questions. Happened to me with my old Dyane and 2CV (back when it actually ran) and it can definitely spark some real passions.............

being really open to people doesn't always pay off but it definitely enriches us!!!!!!!!!

bye, safe travels

Hey GX47, do you have any more info about your seatbelt situation? You were talking about the ones at the front, right? Not the ones in the living area? As for the rest, we're still waiting for the photos, thanks!

No, interior seating for road-facing benches—I don't understand. The engineer from DRIRE is supposedly aware of the pre-2000 motorhome regulations (actually, she told me it's 1995, not 2000; mine's from 1985). She's supposed to call me back tomorrow morning, but I'd be surprised if I get an answer right away🤪. There's also the issue with the number of seats. And I'm worried about being limited on the road by the number of sleeping places (6)🏴‍☠️ Anyway, anyway, if I have any news, I'll let you know.

Parking is definitely a recurring headache. Personally, I park on the outskirts of big cities when I'm staying long-term. I've only had issues recently—threat of towing. I'm pretty sure there's a law that prevents towing if you actually live in it—worth checking (maybe contact a housing rights group). Go for towns with communist mayors! ;) Things go easier there. For a night, no problem—I've parked right in central Paris on loading zones and never got fined in my bus, though cars are different... By the way, I had a theft attempt in my bus yesterday and actually caught the guy red-handed trying to walk off with my stuff. There was a chase and all that... got my gear back... crazy stuff... the guy was homeless though, so I let it go... It's rare though—since '98 I've never been robbed in the Paris area, just had some Romanian kids squat in another bus where I'd left some mattresses! (My fault—it wasn't fitted out, just had windows that open on the sides.) When I park long-term, I pull out all the equipment (fridge, cooktop, converter, etc.) because the bus stays on the street...

Anyway, if anyone knows a good guarded parking spot in the Paris region, I'm interested.