Skoolie Editorial: The Wheels on the Bus
The perfect short bus for my conversion project had to meet a few marks.
- It needed to be made in the 90’s to early 2000’s
- Have a title
- Located within a reasonable distance
- And, most importantly, already running.
Last February, I decided to ride my luck upon finding a former Colts tailgating bus in Indianapolis that met all my requirements, listed at $3,000. Immediately after showing interest with bartender cash in hand, he agreed to sell it for $2,000. Of course, I went for it.
Instead of hiring a pro to check it out, I depended on the on-site-mechanic of the golf course it was parked at for an honest opinion. Right away he warned me about the tires, and I am pretty sure my response was, “But, will it make it to Michigan?”
It almost did. There were only 30 miles to go from the skoolie’s point of purchase to it’s temporary home at Hophead Farms in Berrien Springs, Michigan. You can read the whole story here.
I’ve been dealing with the wheels on the bus for a solid 11 months now. Even if I wanted to replace the lone tire that flew off, I couldn’t.
My 1991 Ford B500 is equipped with good old- fashioned, two piece, split ring rims on 9X20R tires. I say “good old-fashioned” with tongue in cheek; only because these rims are out of style and fairly dangerous. Two or three piece rims are held together by the pressure of the tire. Nowadays, most shops won’t change them anymore. If the vehicle happens to get a flat on the side of the road, pray to God for help because AAA won’t help either.
I spent hours searching on forums and asking questions. I concluded that the best solution would be to find open dish, Dayton rims. Dayton rims are only slightly less outdated style, yet much safer to change.
Once deciding on the style, I had to choose between steel or aluminum. Steel rims seem to be more bountiful but, some forums claimed aluminum would help the bus move faster due to less weight.
To make things more complicated, as split ring rims became more outdated, so did the 9X20R tire size. I found out through a mechanic, after purchase, that some of the rear tires aren’t even built to support a bus. The tires are more likely to be found on a trailer.
Luckily my dad’s dear friend from college, Mr. Craig as we grew up calling him, happens to be a superintendent for a school district in Oklahoma. Schools are required to take tires off the buses after however-many-miles, even though the tires tend to still be in good condition.
Due to the size of these tires being 11X22.5, on the larger end of truck tires, I have to also make sure the radius of the rim is 8.25 rather than 7.50.
On the weekend of January 18, my knight in shining armor, Jimmy, and I decided to take a mini-vacation to Michigan to pick up the rims. We left Saturday evening to spend the night in the craft beer capital, Grand Rapids. For those not terribly familiar with Midwest geography: Chicago is located on the West coast of Lake Michigan and Grand Rapids on the Eastside, slightly more North. This means we basically drove a giant “U” around the southern part of the lake. The Weather Channel had predicted 50 mph winds which we actively ignored. Honestly, we were going to pick up those rims either way. What should have been a three-ish hour drive became four and a half. A thin layer of snow danced across the un-plowed roads, making the lines hard to depict. We trudged on fairly slow, following the tracks of cars before us in our 2006 Chevrolet Avalanche rental truck.
Backtrack 26 years, my first word was “Charlie” or more like, “Chaw-lee.” It was the name of my fathers’ dog when I was born. As an adult, I always consider it a good omen when someone is named Charlie or linked to the world. That being said, the search for rims ended with Charlie’s A-Z Auto parts in Perrinton, Michigan. Charlie had six steel, Dayton rims with the 8.25R at $35 apiece. He happens to specialize in parts for trucks made in the 2000’s and later. I found him online.
Charlie was located another hour East of Grand Rapids, the final leg of our trip. Charlie had been insanely patient with my multiple calls and texts. He even offered to meet me at the yard during non-business hours since I was commuting from Chicago to pick up the rims. A couple turns down some country roads and we pulled up to Charlie’s A-Z Auto Parts. He had the rims in the shop and again, was insanely patient as we figured out how to open a frozen shut truck bed with a shell over it.
We stopped back in Grand Rapids for lunch on the way home and decided to stay another night to catch Sublime with Rome. A celebration of the “wheels on the bus” that will soon go-’round and ‘round.
After picking up the rims, I expected to feel more at ease about, well, everything. In reality, it’s only the first step to getting the bus mobile. February 14, 2020 will be my one year anniversary with the bus. Over the next few weeks, the goal is to sandblast the rims and paint them. Then, to get the tires shipped up from Oklahoma and bring all the pieces to the nearby mechanic to install.
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