Raising the roof
The decision is made – we will raise the roof of the bus by 18”. We were hesitating between just raising the shower area, doing a 12” raise or an 18” raise. But with the AC Evaporator in the back of the bus, we decided an 18” raise would be best. Might as well do it right from the start. An 18” raise will bring the total height of the bus up to 13’. Which is still within State allowance. It will create much more space for our bunk beds and will give proper height in our bathroom.
Step #1 – Supplies needed
That said, we needed to invest in some supplies first. The list started with a welding machine. Once that came in, we ran some practice welds to make sure we are up to the task. No issue there, we both have welded in the past, it’s just like riding a bike. We will need this to weld the inserts as well as the underbelly storage and tank frames that we will need to add under the bus later.
Step #2 – Enclosed storage
We expect the entire raise and re-skinning to take several weeks, meaning we need a closed in storage unit protected from wind and weather and with a level floor so the roof does not collapse on us during the raise. After some research, we found a location near our current storage facility that can accommodate us. We rented a unit on a budget, but only measured the door opening afterwards… It looked big enough, but after measuring we discovered we need to get one of the larger bays since the unit we picked only allows for a 12’ vehicle and we will turn out with a 13’ bus. Back to the drawing board.
Step #3 – Where on the frame to cut for the raise
We removed the rain guard to reveal all the screws that connect the top plating to the side plating. It seemed fairly easy to raise at that level, but the problem was finding curved inserts to put under the raised roof. Also, if we cut at the top, the windows will be at belly level so we would not be able to look outside. Especially once we start to put kitchen cabinets in. So, it was decided to do an under-the-window cut but leaving the first and last windows in place.
Step #4 – Finding the inserts to be installed for the raise
Next, we had to figure out where to find inserts to make the raise stable and effective. After shopping at quite a few steel vendors and metal fabricator locations we finally found a small workshop in southeast Houston that is willing to produce our design of 24 inserts of 30” length. We chose 30” inserts so we can use 6 inches on top and bottom to mount to the existing framing.
Step #5 – Roof Raising cradles
We built ourselves some roof raising cradles. We are planning to put farm jacks underneath them to execute our raise. Couple of straps on it and we will be good to go. With the basics in place now the real work can start ….
Stay tuned…