5 Epic School Bus Toy Hauler Conversions You Have to See to Believe

By Carrie Wilder | Last Updated: March 15, 2024 

I see school bus toy hauler conversions on the road all the time but I never see articles or videos about them, and I find that curious!

Today my curiosity got the better of me. I saw an incredible skoolie toy hauler parked at a gas station in the town that's my current home base, so I ran home and got on YouTube!

I wanted to see the inside of a school bus car hauler conversion and to my surprise, it was hard to find many good videos. It seems like more people are actually building these things than are sharing videos and photos of them.

If you're like me and curiosity is getting the better of you – or if you want to build your own school bus toy hauler, check out these incredible DIY builds!

These School Bus Toy Hauler Conversions Are Blowing My Mind

Honestly, who would have thought you could chop a school bus in half and put a WHOLE CAR on it?! AND have a camper space?!

Not me, not ever. And I've been in the RV and vanlife industry and communities for several years! It just really never crossed my mind until I saw one on the road, and then I became obsessed. How did they do it?!

Today, I quenched that thirst for knowledge. I now bring you 5 Epic School Bus Toy Haulers – they're truly blowing my mind.

1: College Student Converts School Bus Into Epic Toy Hauler Camper for Jeep Adventures

Troy is a creative college student who converted his bus into an epic school bus toy hauler conversion. He likes to use this amazing toy hauler for Jeep rock crawling excursions.

Affectionately called the “Crawler Hauler”, this toy hauler has a camper space and tons of space on the rear for hauling his Jeep Wrangler for trips to the mountains with friends.

The Crawler Hauler has heat, plumbing, a sink, a stove/oven combo, a lounge/futon area, and a bed across the rear.

It's really amazing what he was able to come up with for this homemade skoolie toy hauler. Troy's bus is a 2001 Thomas Freightliner with a 3126 CAT Diesel engine and automatic Allison transmission.

This toy hauler looks seriously professional and it'll have you wondering how a college student was able to pull it off by himself! Check out the video for the full tour.

Related: People can convert anything! Check out these mind-blowing cargo trailer conversions.

2: The NotSoGrand Hauler Skoolie Toy Hauler Walkaround

This skoolie toy hauler is still under construction, but it's so close to being done!

If you check out the NotSoGrand Garage YouTube channel, you'll find additional videos of the build including the test fit of their Jeep, and you can subscribe to follow along as they finish up the build on this epic toy hauler.

This school bus toy hauler is a 1993 International 3800 with an Allison 545 transmission. The bus-turned-hauler formerly served as a church bus.

The toy hauler portion of this bus is meant for a Jeep. It has a 14 foot flatbed, aluminum ramps, and running lights.

This skoolie camper build is complete with electrical, plumbing, a city water fill, an on-demand water heater, a slide-out sofa bed, bunk beds for the kids, extra passenger seating, and so much more. There's even a bolted-in Jeep seat for the carseats, a microwave, and custom cutting boards.

They've really thought of everything the family would need. The skoolie toy hauler also has a wet bath that's complete with a Thetford Curve toilet. This toilet is an excellent option for a fully self-contained residential-style toilet that doesn't require plumbing or a black tank.

Check out the walkthough in the video and be sure to check out their YouTube channel for full build details, test fitting their Jeep, and more!

Related: 7+ Amazing School Bus Conversion Ideas

3: 4×4 School Bus Toy Hauler Conversion with Snowmobile Deck

This is a unique school bus conversion. In most that I've seen, the bus is a long school but that's cut to use the rear of the chassis as the toy hauler bed. But this conversion is a short bus!

This bus conversion is a 4×4 short bus converted into a camper for 6 (that's right, 6) and has a snowmobile deck welded onto the back.

In this video, you see two different snowmobile decks. The first one was damaged and the entire deck had to be rebuilt. The second (and final) deck looks way sturdier anyway. I think this is one of the most unique conversions of any kind that I've ever seen.

To be honest, the craziest thing about this school bus toy hauler conversion is the fact that 6 guys lived in a short bus at the same time. That's a yikes from me! 😂

Like converted vehicles? Check out these 15 best camper van conversion companies for epic professional builds.

4: The Heiser Hauler Skoolie Toy Hauler

This video is a bit lower quality on the production value, but this is a really cool school bus converted into a toy hauler and camper.

The Heiser Hauler is the creation of YouTuber Reggie Heiser. The camper portion of this toy hauler really shines! This skoolie has everything needed for full-time living.

Reggie even built his own removable wood burning stove for heat in the winter and extra space in the summer.

On the front of the bus is additional space for hauling dirtbikes or a motorcycle. At the end of the skoolie toy hauler walk through, you'll see the school bus toy hauler loaded up with a car on the flatbed and towing a boat and trailer./

In a more recent video on the channel, Reggie reveals that the toy hauler flatbed also makes a perfect spot for setting up an inflatable camping hot tub.

Related: Check out these insane Ford Econoline camper van builds!

5: Epic Custom Bus Hauler Conversion: Sled Zeppelin

This last school bus toy hauler on this list actually looks nothing at all like a school bus anymore.

It was totally stripped down to the chassis and totally rebuilt – which is a huge undertaking and I doubt anyone else will take on a project of this magnitude. I'm sure I won't be the first to say that this bus is EXTRA.

This bus is called Sled Zeppelin – it's an epic custom sled hauler. This bus was build out of a metal frame from the chassis up – everything about it is totally custom. And after it was first finished, the owner says it was totally underpowered! Not a surprise.

I don't even know where to begin with describing this bus. You'll have to see it to believe it!

Building a Skoolie? Check Out These Related Posts

Carrie Wilder

Carrie has a passion for location independence and nomadic lifestyles. After traveling full-time in an RV and living the van life, she created Making Money and Traveling to help others make the switch to a remote lifestyle. Learn more about Carrie on the About page or connect on social media below.Â