Converting a heavy-duty bus/coach/truck into a motorhome (page 60 of 161)

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've been around!

So here's the news—our S53 went to Monsieur Veritas on Tuesday and it's all good, the standard got approved and it's in the bag. Now we're going full steam ahead on the project and go to the mine!

kalifamily

For the compiled photos, all the photos in one are 60k... man, it's way too compressed. When I got Patrick on the phone, he said he'd handle it over the weekend, .... four weeks ago. Since I'm naturally impatient and I know Patrick is swamped, I don't like to push too hard, so I figured I'd follow up with the participants instead.

Warm regards and see you soon.

Patrick's not from the 26, hey... he's from the 30.

..............et go to the mine

kalifamily

😮 You're already thinking about the explosion 😏 Destruction might not be happening yet 😕

But no, I'm joking, Véritas, that's already a first step 🤪

There's a really nice person who sent me 2 or 3 photos if that might interest you. Fabrice 😉 fatipic@cegetel.net

Hey, I've got some exclusive news!

Early next week, my buddy Sebastien (sorry, sjunior!) and I are cooking up a surprise for you!

So, a little patience please...

I think the regulars on this thread will be thrilled!

As for the weekend pics, photos of my bus, the plans, etc... you'll all get to see everything, and so much more....., and then....

but shhhhh, it's a surprise for next week!😉

so starting Monday evening, keep an eye on this thread!

PATRICK26

Hi everyone,

I'm brand new to the forum (I've been following along for a while now and I've read and printed all 51 pages!). I'm about to embark on this adventure and I'm leaning toward either a Setra S309HD or a Renault Carrier JN1E124 – buses that are 8–10m long max (and yes, I want to use it very frequently for weekends and vacations, both summer and winter).

For the Renault Carrier, apparently there's no issue getting manufacturer authorization for deregistration, but what about the Setra?

As for the rear door – can you move them further forward or block them and open another door somewhere in the middle of the bus instead?

Those are my first questions, because depending on your answers my whole interior layout will change completely.

Thanks everyone.

Fred91

Hello and welcome. At Setra, no problem for 85 euros ex. VAT, you have the authorization. In my case, they authorized the removal of the rear door and even a lowering of the floor in the cargo holds. Contact Arnaud DEBAIR at EVOBUS in the homologation department, 01 39 92 62 00.

Hi patrick26, in a response you posted (page 46 or 47 I think) you mentioned that you don't need the manufacturer's authorization to convert a bus into a motorhome. But actually, you absolutely must request authorization from the manufacturer—it's MANDATORY. The guy from the DRIRE specified in the letter he sent me that for 'bus' bases it's often very difficult to obtain. I just wanted other people who read that response to know the real situation, at least according to the Mayenne DRIRE.

Let's be clear!

How can a manufacturer give you permission to convert your bus into a motorhome without knowing what conversions you're going to make?

They don't give permission blindly!

What a manufacturer can give you is permission to carry out specific bodywork modifications, or changes to a door or staircase, or glazing work, or roof hatches. Full stop. That's where it stops!

No reputable certification service will send you a letter saying it authorizes you to convert one of their coaches into a motorhome while leaving the door wide open for anything and everything in terms of fitouts!

The mines engineer can ask you for manufacturer authorization for all bodywork modifications. If the manufacturer has chosen not to issue one, no problem—you go see an industrial coach-builder who is registered in the trades register as a coach-builder-constructor, you have them do the work, they put a nameplate next to the original manufacturer's, and you go to the mines office with the coach-building certificate they'll give you.

If the manufacturer gives you authorization, the additional nameplate will be in your name! That's the only difference.

Don't forget we put our vehicles through RTI (single-vehicle type approval). We're not Gruau or Durrisotti transforming vehicles in production!

And as the law states (an excerpt!):

For a vehicle that has not been bodied by the manufacturer or a coach-builder-constructor registered under no. 3115 of the principal activity code (APE) or 34.2 of the NAF code, and for which the following points are modified, a special authorization from its manufacturer must be attached to the coach-building certificate: the laden weights on the axles do not comply with the minimum or maximum ground loads provided by the manufacturer; the width of the bodied vehicle exceeds that provided in the descriptive notice of the chassis-cabin type; the bodied vehicle is a specialized vehicle not intended for the transport of goods other than household waste containers; the vehicle is registered under a dual category and/or dual body type; the coach-builder-constructor or the manufacturer has modified the chassis or chassis-cabin during the vehicle bodying.

However, the provisions provided for in the first paragraph of article 9 are only applied in cases where the modifications made to the chassis do not allow the vehicle's identity to be preserved.

Unless you bought a bare chassis and you're building the bodywork yourself, the guy at the mines office doesn't need to ask you for manufacturer authorization for glazing work as long as the vehicle keeps its original width! (At most for drilling a large rear door, if your vehicle is on a lattice frame). That's it!

STOP LISTENING TO THEM! Soon they'll have you doing crash tests!

I thus confirm that in the Mayenne, the DRIRE guy is giving bad advice, unless you both misunderstood each other....

PATRICK26 who stands by this😉

SO I'M SAYING IT AGAIN!

You only bother the manufacturer's homologation service if you're planning major modifications!

If you're not touching the vehicle structure, you go to Veritas and the mines office.

If you have a chassis-cab bus, you can proceed and make small modifications to the bodywork (without touching the roll cages) and go to Veritas and the mines office without bothering the manufacturer.

If you have a lattice-frame bus and you want to do bodywork modifications, you contact the brand or a body shop. (If you're having the sheet metal work done by a body shop, don't bother the manufacturer—the body shop's stamp on the bottom of their body certificate will be enough for the mines office).

So you only bother the manufacturer if you have a chassis-cab bus and need to touch the roll cages while doing the work yourself, or if you have a lattice-frame bus and want to do the sheet metal work yourself.

Assess your skills before bothering the manufacturers, who will get fed up and stop answering anyone. Only submit applications when you're sure! (Once the bus is bought, the plans are finalized, and you're certain you'll be doing the work!)

So know that getting this authorization will never prevent you from wanting a camper in a bus! Stop stressing about it!

For my bus, the DRIRE asked me for the manufacturer's authorization! It was for the rear opening: 1.82m X 1.78m! 🤪 They wanted to make sure Heuliez's design office hadn't used the rear face to reinforce the structure (which makes sense...)

PATRICK26

And for FRED91, the 3rd post on this same topic 🤪

The manufacturer doesn't handle vehicle reclassification!

What gasmobil is saying is that for 85 euros, the manufacturer looked into whether they could seal (weld, plate over) the rear door and cut out part of the steel bars that form the staircase steps on that door so he can install his shower there instead (for more headroom).

The day he takes his vehicle to the mines authority (after going through Veritas) it'll still be registered as a bus! Setra won't reclassify it!

The mines engineer, with Setra's authorization for the modifications, won't give him any trouble about the shower installation—and it's the mines engineer who will reclassify the bus as a camper truck!

If your bus doesn't need any structural changes, don't bother them for no reason!

You can certainly ask them about moving or sealing a door, and I think they'll respond. But that's not the same as reclassifying a vehicle!

Vehicle reclassification (changing it from bus to camper)—only the mines authority can do that! And the original manufacturer doesn't get involved! (unless.... read the post above!)

PATRICK26 There we go, I hope I've explained everything to everyone.... I'm off to bed. Good night kisses to you all....

Thanks for the information. I misspoke about the reclassification—I was thinking about the TCP to PL classification where I thought you'd need manufacturer's authorization, but with a motorhome I now understand it happens during the DRIRE inspection. Thanks also to Gasmobil for the Setra contact!

FRED91

Hi Patrick,

Sorry to stir things up, but you don't have it all right:

In Mayenne, it's the same as in Sarthe and plenty of other departments, and it's becoming more common - the DRIREs cover themselves by asking for manufacturer authorization in certificate form to allow downclassification of the commercial vehicle (PL - just to be clear) to VASP.

BUT - and you're absolutely right about this - the manufacturer won't authorize a "home-car" downclassification, only a type/category change to "VASP". Heuliez makes this clear (I can't post the certificate online - it has the manager's name and signature on it): "furthermore, we specify that this vehicle must undergo supplementary type approval by the relevant Mines department, which will determine its new CLASS and BODY TYPE."

I can't attach (it's too large and won't display properly) the CRR14-01 form p4/4 from the DRIRE file with the manufacturer's reclassification authorization request handwritten at the bottom.

If you don't have that in Sarthe and Mayenne and other departments - according to Heuliez, which handles these regularly - well, maybe you could get away with it anyway by arguing with the engineer, but I wouldn't recommend it, even though we both know for a fact it's just red tape, especially since Heuliez provides the certificate for free.

Personally, I went with the simplest option.

GX47

😉Hey everyone, So I'm finally doing the paperwork for the bus this weekend, but I can only pick it up on November 10th. It's a vehicle that hasn't been driven for less than a year except for moving it around at the company. It'll be put on a lift for lubrication points and an inspection. Quick question: I'm not doing any paperwork for the inspection or mining registry even though my tachograph plate expired a year ago???🤪

Nice beast gasmobil😎.

So we agree then!

It's all the zeal of those engineers!

This document is useless!

Some manufacturers go along with it out of courtesy, others refuse, and they're right!

These bad habits picked up by engineers spread, and over time become standard practice!

Let's go back to what the law actually says and stop pestering the manufacturers' certification departments for no reason. One day soon, none of them will be willing to waste time on trivial details, and we'll lose access to this magic key in cases where it's really valuable (for major mods like slide-outs or rear doors for loading cars).

PATRICK26

😏Hi everyone, I showed up back in September but I wasn't able to log back in🙁!

I just bought the Mercedes 303 I had my eye on, and I removed the seats (which I'm not sure what to do with) yesterday. I still need to deal with the rust, but then I don't know where to start (I've already done the plans, very important!!). It seems to me I need to do the electrical first, can you confirm that for me?

PATRICK26: I read that you advise against the 303 because of the curved windows, but why not remake them in fiberglass instead? (It works for all buses) It's lighter and I think it can look clean.

I'm lost in the AFNOR guides, is the one I need to order really "fitting out a vehicle as a motorhome"?

I didn't think there were so many crazy people buying a bus, that's amazing. Around me lots of people are being discouraging, yet they're not afraid to build or renovate a house!!! Maybe they're the crazy ones!!

AFNOR guide, mine's called: Motorhome Conversion Guide. so what you found should be good?

for the crazy ones: people are scared of what they don't know! for now we don't submit houses to DRIRE either, although normally you'd need electrical work validated by a qualified professional, and you absolutely must go through an architect for anything over 170m² of living space for me, I've been doing renovation for 16 years... takes me a while for a motorhome (it's smaller too 😉)

fiber, from having done it, there's a lot of work 🤪 unless all the windows are the same.

As promised, great news!

seb (sorry, sjunior) did a fantastic job and really helped me out!

We've got a blog!

It's not meant to replace this discussion forum;

however, comments have been disabled.

But on this blog, you'll find: organized by categories, a real treasure trove of information (standards, plans, diagrams, photos from meetups)

themes (electricity, water, heating)

I also took the chance to put together a history of my bus work (not finished, far from it!)

To access this database, just head to this address:

http://motorhome.blogs-de-voyage.fr/

ATTENTION! We haven't had time to get everything online! FOR NOW IT'S JUST A NICE PREVIEW!

If you have documents to share, don't hesitate to send them to me or let me know.

As you browse through this blog, you'll notice it has a real advantage over many others. Let me explain:

When I write an entry in my bus history and that entry involves electricity, I can link it to the "electricity" theme so it shows up there too. Magic!

We're thinking with seb (sorry, sjunior) about the possibility of other members who have buses under renovation or completed joining us to enrich this database.

Anyway, come visit and contact me. I welcome all feedback!

But I operate on the principle that if you critique negatively, you should offer a better solution than what's proposed!

PATRICK26

Hey!! No complaints patrick26—it's really well done and nicely pulls together all the scattered info from the forum. Great job, and it's awesome of you two to take the time to make this blog!

Yeah yeah, I like the idea a lot! Just needs to fill up, which I don’t doubt for a second. It’s gonna work out!

You did good maître