gilliganphantom
New member
Hey friends,
I've been lurking for a while, in fact I've replaced our full time home on wheels (now for sale) recently with our new weekend camper, a 2000 Bigfoot 9.6 on a 2001 Dodge Ram 4x4 2500.
But for the past 3 years the rig below has been our home. We traveled 25,000 miles, both entire coasts, and had an incredible adventure. We stopped only so that our daughter could go to her local public school, a really nice Montessori school that we didn't want to miss out on taking advantage of. ANYWAYS here's the rig:
THE BUS
THE BUILD
THE INTERIOR
HVAC, SOLAR, AND OFF-GRID CAPABILITIES
Check out the full tour on Youtube here:
And if you want to see a timelapse of the entire build check it out here:
I've been lurking for a while, in fact I've replaced our full time home on wheels (now for sale) recently with our new weekend camper, a 2000 Bigfoot 9.6 on a 2001 Dodge Ram 4x4 2500.
But for the past 3 years the rig below has been our home. We traveled 25,000 miles, both entire coasts, and had an incredible adventure. We stopped only so that our daughter could go to her local public school, a really nice Montessori school that we didn't want to miss out on taking advantage of. ANYWAYS here's the rig:
THE BUS
- 1987 Gillig Phantom School Bus
- 40 Foot Rear Engine Pusher
- All mechanical Detroit Diesel 6v92 Turbo
- 225,000 miles
- Air Suspension, Air Ride Seat, Air Brakes
- Built on a Transit Chassis, Monocoque welded steel construction, Aluminum Skins and Roof, Giant Windows
- Passthrough Undercarriage Storage
- 100 Gallon Fuel Tank
- California Bus, no Rust
- Seatbelts for driver and 4 passengers
- 100 Gallon Fresh Water Storage
- 100 Gallon Grey/Black Water Storage with 3 inch standard RV dump
- Emergency exit access through original rear door, large rear window, or roof hatches.
THE BUILD
- 40 Foot Long, 8 Foot Wide, 285 Sq Ft interior
- Approximately 10 and a half feet tall exterior
- 75" Interior Ceiling Height, 78" at entry
- 2 to 3.5 Inches of professionally installed Closed Cell Spray Foam in Walls and Ceiling
- 1/2 Inch 25 PSI XPS Insulation under 3/4" Subfloor
- Interior built entirely with Birch Plywood
- Marine Grade Wire and Connectors For all Electrical Connections
- Interior Finished with Zero VOC Paint and Zero VOC Water Based Polyurethane
- Built for 3 Season use (not comfortable in sub-zero climates without modification)
THE INTERIOR
- Two 8 Foot Couches/Guest Beds with RV twin size mattresses and wedge bolsters
- 2 Matching Flip Down Dinettes that seat 3 each with a stool.
- 5 Feet Galley Kitchen With Deep sink and 2 Burner Induction Cooktop for 10 Feet of Counter space and Cabinet Storage
- Apartment Sized AC Refrigerator
- Large Electrical Cabinet/Pantry
- Large Full Bathroom With 30x30 Tile Shower
- Airhead Composting Toilet Routed to Grey Tank, Nebia Low Flow Showerhead and Wand (uses 1.4 to 1.7 GPM)
- Bunk Room for Child or Guest
- Hidden storage throughout the bus in the built in furniture.
- Two 3 Foot closets
- King Size Bed with wall mounted articulating 30 inch Amazon Fire TV
HVAC, SOLAR, AND OFF-GRID CAPABILITIES
- 22 Seer 15K BTU Mini Split/Heat Pump AC in the Bedroom
- 6 Gallon 120V Electric Water Heater
- 12V Fan in the Bedroom
- 5KW Diesel Heater in Kitchen
- 2 Marine Hatch/Skylights for Passive Ventilation
- 2,430 Watts of Solar (Could be expanded to 3,800 watts with new panels)
- Midnite 150V/70A Solar Charge Controller, Victron 24V 3000VA Multiplus Hybrid Boosting Inverter/Charger, Shunt for Battery Monitoring, Bluetooth Connector for Inverter to monitor from phone.
- 315AH @ 24V of Lion Energy Lifepo4 Battery Bank With Lifetime transferable warranty.
- AC and DC Distribution With Room to Expand
Check out the full tour on Youtube here:
And if you want to see a timelapse of the entire build check it out here:
Attachments
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