shuttle bus conversion | Wheelchair Lift Removal | Ep. 2

Whooooweeee this wheelchair lift was no joke to remove! It feels good to have the shuttle bus now empty and ready for the real renovations to begin :) As much as I love doing things by myself, I’m super grateful to have help from friends for heavy lifting like this. Stay tuned for the renovations to come!
@suzycashbuilds
Music: Tequila Sunrise

[@mariemiller926]

Suzy, I'm about to get a shuttle bus too, so I really appreciate you sharing! I think you're brave and awesome!!

[@suzycashbuilds4297]

Aww thank you! You are brave as well to be getting a shuttle bus 💪🏼 Wishing you success on your journey :)

[@riseuplights9120]

I just bought a shuttle bus and am taking the seats out this weekend! You're the perfect amount ahead of me to just discover your videos :) Keep em coming. They're helpful, entertaining, and you're an absolute babe!

[@suzycashbuilds4297]

How far along are you now??

[@patrickpatterson182]

Nice......im getting ready to remove the exact same lift...

[@suzycashbuilds4297]

Good luck!

[@perfectpeacetaichi1232]

OMG! My next project! 😳 Thank You for this video. I just want to believe I can use it in some other way like for a rear rack for my scooter

[@suzycashbuilds4297]

Yesss good luck!! It was more challenging than I expected, but you got this! That would be awesome if you could find a way to repurpose it. Looking forward to seeing what you do 🦋

[@gracecallowayable]

Awesome!!!👠🚌👠

[@mom4508]

Hi,, I removed the wheelchair lift as well from my shuttle,, But I have a question,, I cannot find an insurance company to cover me because they said ,, the previous owner added the wheelchair lift and when they pull up the vin number they see it was added,, so they are refusing to give me insurance,,, was it hard for you to find an insurance company to cover insurance for your shuttle?

[@jumonjii]

What make/model is your bus? Most shuttles are all fiberglass only. Yours looks like it has a frame. That's a bonus.

[@suzycashbuilds4297]

Mine is a Ford E450, it is all fiberglass, but then around the wheels the finish is metal

[@hals1fineday]

I didn't have a wheelchair lift to deal with..thank goodness. Hey my heat and air still work great ..so I'm thinking I may leave those mounted up on the back part of my ceiling and working around all that. I realize I cannot use them with the truck not running though. What do you think on this ?

[@suzycashbuilds4297]

Yes they will definitely help keep the place conditioned while your bus is running! If you can afford the space they take up, I would say leaving them is a good idea. Mine didn’t work, so I took them out. I’m planning on a roof AC unit and a tiny wood stove to heat and cool while I am parked :)

[@hals1fineday]

@@suzycashbuilds4297 yeah I haven't yet looked at the options for air and heat parked. I have room on the roof for a fan and a.c. I have been looking at the Chinese diesel heater off and on. I have not looked at any wood stoves..ill check those out before committing.

[@SFoureman]

Okay, I've done this. I would like to convert the wiring to a 120 volt outlet plug. Do you or anyone know how to do that?

[@suzycashbuilds4297]

This wiring is connected to the vehicle battery, so I would be hesitant to wire anything to it that you would use while the vehicle is off, bc then you would drain your battery and not be able to start the vehicle :/ But if you do want a 120 volt outlet in your build, you’ll need an inverter which can convert 12v to 120v. I’m posting a link below to an example; with something like this you could cut off the cigarette lighter part and wire it directly to the old wheelchair lift wiring. But this is only a 140w inverter, so you’d be able to plug in a computer charger, etc, but nothing too powerful. If you want a more robust system, or if you’d like to use the outlet while the vehicle is off, then I would recommend building an electrical system completely separate from the vehicle which would include battery, some sort of power source (i.e. solar panel) and an inverter. I used Far Out Ride to help me with my whole electrical system. Good luck with your build! www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DXAEPI140-Power-Inverter-Converter/dp/B06Y549WB9/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=120v+car+adapter&qid=1642080891&sr=8-3

[@janetlee2136]

So I put my wheelchair lift out on the ground removed the plate covering all the wires that went across the bottom from one side of the lift to the other after disconnecting the power with those two wires that go into the power box, we cut all the wires in the middle and one of them was hydraulic fluid and it went spraying everywhere oh my goodness. But after we cut that and removed the power box from the wheelchair lift I was able to just fold it on top of itself outside the bus. And now I'm just waiting for someone to take it to the scrapper. How did you take care of the wire that came up from the floor to power the box that was connected to the wheelchair lift? That's at the point I'm at now and I don't know what to do

[@suzycashbuilds4297]

Oh my goodness!! Sorry about the hydraulic fluid extravaganza! As far as the wire... Ideally you would trace it back to the source and remove it, but for now on my bus I just pulled it back out through the floor, taped the ends up really well with electrical tape, and zip tied it to the underbody of the bus. Good luck!

[@tinatillotson9706]

How many wires were actually connected underneath. Mine looks like 3 and I was thinking of putting in kill switch as well as inverter@@suzycashbuilds4297

[@AndersandAndersen]

SUZY!!!! Did you cut the power to the battery before disconnecting the wires to lift? If so, how did you do that? I can't seem to find the breaker and I'm scared to disconnect the wires without doing this.

[@suzycashbuilds4297]

You know I actually didn’t, and I did create some sparks at some point when my wrench inadvertently touched one of the wires 😬 So from now on I definitely disconnect the battery when I’m working on the electrical! Here’s a good video on how to disconnect the battery 👌 kzbin.info/www/bejne/rquqY6espZtro7M

[@AndersandAndersen]

@@suzycashbuilds4297 Thank you so much!!!

[@samdaleyhillary]

@@suzycashbuilds4297 Glad i'm not the only one who made some sparks haha. Trying to remove that cable the correct way now. Thanks for the video. Any other tips on how to safely remove the wiring?

[@zoharflax6363]

@@suzycashbuilds4297 My bus had a switch at the battery that cut off the power to everything in the bus- or so I thought, but was wrong as the power to the lift was straight from the battery not in line with the cut off switch and I also had some spark action after taking the hot wire off of the lift.

[@suzycashbuilds4297]

@@zoharflax6363 Yes true! and I discovered that my lift was actually connected to an auxiliary battery that is underneath the bus just behind the entry stairs. We’re learning a lot here