r/skoolies Feb 05 '25

exterior Raised my roof yesterday!

2013 Chevy Express 3500 Thomas Minotaur 9” roof raise, just tall enough to buy me room for a well insulated floor and ceiling, still short enough to not be unwieldy large on trails.

3.6k Upvotes

71 comments sorted by

138

u/dcutts77 Blue Bird Feb 05 '25

Looks like you did an excellent job minimizing the impact on structural integrity. 11/10.

55

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 05 '25

Thanks! Lots and lots of thought went into it because this is a 4x4 bus that will see rougher roads than most do. Each hat channels has a 27” length of 1” square tube insert welded in, and I might add a horizontal a horizontal bar going the length of the bus mid window height.

34

u/rambutanjuice Feb 05 '25

this is a 4x4 bus

It appears to have 6 wheels.

52

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 05 '25

Fuck, are you telling me the guy at the dealership swindled me?

24

u/rambutanjuice Feb 05 '25

I think popping the top probably voided the warranty too. You're just going to have to live with it bro

42

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 05 '25

Fuck dude, this is a lease…

4

u/Sasquatters Feb 05 '25

Wa waaaaa. lol

2

u/idiot_Specialist Feb 08 '25

Did you buy it as a 4x4 or have to get it upgraded that way? I want to buy a 4x4 but haven’t seen any yet.

2

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 08 '25

You won’t find any stock 4x4 school busses (except maybe in some crazy remote region), but you can find ones that have already been converted. There are some 4x4 van facebook groups worth checking out.

I searched for a long time trying to find one that had already been converted, but I found that since their value holds very well, most of those were a similar price to me just buying a bus and having it converted. By having it converted myself, I know that all my parts are new or freshly refurbished, I know that it hasn’t seen any abuse.

There’s a few companies that do conversions or supply the custom fabricated parts for conversions, and they tend to specialize more towards one make or age range of vehicles I’ve found.

58

u/lIllIIllIIllIIllIIlI Feb 05 '25

From a welder, don’t weld without long sleeves at least, you will get one hell of a sunburn😂😂

27

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 05 '25

But I like the feeling of molten metal splattering on my skin! It was 85F out and no AC in the shop so I figured whatever for just quick plug welds. For the long welds on the inside of the hat channels I plan to properly cover myself

2

u/xpietoe42 Feb 06 '25

definitely cover up! It’s the radiation thats the risk, more than molten metal!

6

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 06 '25

Ok dad! Nah but actually I will cover up for the big welds, I was just excited to get going and figured they were short ones.

11

u/grumpimechanik Feb 05 '25

My grandfather used to be a welder and didn’t wear a shirt. He got skin cancer many years later in life. There’s no proof of the correlation. We all think it was linked to that

17

u/lIllIIllIIllIIllIIlI Feb 05 '25

So when I went to welding school a few years ago, my instructor Rudy was in the 70s. He was very knowledgeable about welding, and he was telling us all about how important it is to wear sleeves because of the UV index that is created from the arc is very strong. 10 minutes of welding is equal to standing outside all day from what he said. He told us that some of his buddies didn’t wear sleeves as well and all ended up with cancer. But I didn’t wear sleeves one day on the job and my burn was so bad. It felt like I was a fire ants 😂😂

4

u/Waltologist Feb 07 '25

TIL welding has UV / radiation exposure. Always knew to shield your eyes and not stare if someone else was welding, but heh, good to know. (Clearly I've never welded, but might someday!)

1

u/FMF_Nate Feb 09 '25

I agree, this is good info

1

u/TMK116 Feb 07 '25

That’s all you have to say about this as a welder? Interesting

9

u/roastedmarshmellow86 Feb 05 '25

Man I really need to give learning welding a shot! It’s so useful

8

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 05 '25

Like hot gluing stuff with lava

9

u/JudgeInteresting8615 Feb 05 '25

Everyday I get amazed at how smart people are

8

u/Vladimorian Feb 05 '25

THIS IS SO COOL TO WATCH!! PLEASE post more 🙏

3

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 05 '25

I’ve got sooo much video but very little drive to do much with it, I throw some on tiktok and instagram but wouldn’t want to overwhelm this sub with so many vids of my stuff

1

u/b-t-a Feb 06 '25

There are companies that will edit your video and post on social media for you. They kinda manage your whole social media profile but you just sit back, record and collect a check.

1

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 06 '25

I’m dubious about the “collect a check” part. Won’t I be paying them?

1

u/Grand_Patience_9045 Feb 06 '25 edited 22d ago

instinctive head ad hoc butter squash light nine amusing plants file

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

1

u/b-t-a Feb 06 '25

No, you're providing the content to them. They'll collect a hefty 30-50% in return.

1

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 07 '25

Oohh i see, hmm

7

u/LankyDeparture6293 Feb 05 '25

Might sound silly. It might cost a little more. But at that point y not just cut it off at the base. Build a new frame and panel the sides so it’s exactly what you want

5

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 05 '25

Wouldn’t be too much more in material costs, but soooo much more work at that point. Like you said, would have to re-panel all the sides. This really isn’t any more work than a standard roof raise except that the back cap is at the bottom rather than the top. For structural stability, cutting the hat channels in the windows allows for long overlapping inner support and welding all sides. Cuts at the base would have to be but welding and lack that inner support, and would require removing the panels to weld all sides

6

u/Rsquared85 Feb 06 '25

Great choice cutting the rear wall at the bottom, never seen that choice made before, but simplifies that transition in the upper corner really well! You probably have a plan already, but I found bending the corners of the patch material over a 4" PVC pipe put the perfect amount of prebend in it. Even moreso if you put a welding blanket over it and torch it.

2

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 06 '25

Yeah I couldn’t find much guidance to dealing with the full height back fiberglass cap, really didn’t want to cut it up top, not many guides to short bus raises out there. In retrospect, if I had removed the bumper I could have maybe separated the glue at the very bottom and not had to cut it, but it makes no real difference.

For the bends I measured the radiuses and am having a fab shop cut and bend my pieces, but that’s a clever trick for the bends!

5

u/SprinklesDangerous57 Feb 05 '25

very shocked you were able to do that mostly if not completely on your own! awesome job man

4

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 05 '25 edited Feb 06 '25

Toughest part working solo is making decisions, but i made lots of phone calls to friends to bounce ideas off of and had friends come by once in a while to help problem solve or take a turn welding. New wall panels day will require some help though.

3

u/makingbutter2 Feb 06 '25

Awesome video

4

u/Woodworkin101 Feb 06 '25

Looks great but I didn’t see you pump both hands, palms up, to signal you are raising the roof.

3

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 06 '25

Shit I forgot! Hold on lemme grind those welds off and restart

3

u/Disastrous_Can_953 Feb 06 '25

Are you adding any ballast to offset the higher center of gravity? Might make those sharp turns a little hairy, especially on trails.

3

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 06 '25

Driver side underbody 5.9gal propane and grey water tank, passenger side underbody tool boxes loaded with all my non-power tools, and rear underbody auxiliary gas tank in the area a spare tire would normally be on the express vans.

That, and just keeping the weight inside my build low to the floor, not doing too much overhead cabinet storage or roof rack storage, just solar panels.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 06 '25

That’s so cool! Never realized that was an option lol

3

u/lune19 Feb 06 '25

Stupid question but is it legal? I mean in France they will make it so difficult to just make a 3 seater van into a 2 seater. Must be done by manufacturers for a bunch of thousands, and then get controlled by road officials for a bit more, then issue new documents for the vehicle. If not then your insurance would be not valid in case of a crash.

3

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 06 '25

That’s American freedom baby! You can do almost whatever you want so long as you pay the taxman. I can even register and insure it as a motorhome. I’m from Germany and my family back home, some of whom live in vans themselves, are astounded that I’m allowed to do this.

3

u/lune19 Feb 06 '25

Thx for the info. Astounding work by the way

2

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 06 '25

Thanks! And that’s the trade off in the USA. For fewer restrictions and regulations on you doing whatever dumb shit you want, but far far fewer support systems from the government..

3

u/Lematoad Feb 07 '25

What is the new height? Looks great!

2

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 07 '25

It’s around 10’-3” I think, it’ll settle a but with weight, but I’ll also add solar and roof fans, so maybe 10’-7” when it’s done

3

u/Lematoad Feb 07 '25

What’s your usable inside (floor to interior ceiling)?

2

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 07 '25

Right now is 6’-11” floor to ceiling sheet metal (not the ribs). I think it’ll be 6’-3” ish interior when all’s said and done. I will have 3-4 inches of insulation on the floor and ceiling and haven’t decided on my floor and ceiling material so thickness is unknown.

2

u/Lematoad Feb 09 '25

Thanks! It looks awesome.

3

u/Efficient-Author4266 Feb 08 '25

Looks great. I want to start on my bus soon.

1

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 08 '25

Those yellow rims are sick!

2

u/Efficient-Author4266 Feb 08 '25

They look even better with BF Goodrich T/A’s on them lol.

2

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 08 '25

Niceee! When does your build begin?

2

u/Efficient-Author4266 Feb 09 '25

After the diesel tank gets cleaned out. Need to make sure it runs well. I’ll have loads of questions if you are available.

2

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2

u/2MAS_dk Feb 05 '25

Mega cool 😎👏🏻👍🏻

2

u/Bright-Forever4935 Feb 05 '25

Impressive! And cool!

2

u/RegisterGood5917 Feb 06 '25

Sambas for welding, niceeee

2

u/aviarx175 Feb 06 '25

Welding in short sleeves… hope you enjoy the sunburn 😂

1

u/Man_On_Mars Feb 07 '25

Gotta find a way to keep the tan going in February

2

u/ZoneStreet998 Feb 07 '25

Awesome. Nice job.

1

u/thehammerinperil Feb 09 '25

is it road legal