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Plan your school bus conversion in 3D.
Vanometry is a free, browser-based 3D layout planner for skoolie conversions. Pick a body, from a Type A short bus to a 40-foot flat nose, and lay out the floor with real components: bed, kitchen, shower, power. The templates state the buildable floor behind the driver, not the bumper-to-bumper length a bus is sold by.
No account needed. Your design autosaves in this browser.
The 40-foot dog nose in section: the rear wheel wells leave about 49 inches of clear floor between them.
The templates
| MODEL | BARE INTERIOR L × W × H | PAYLOAD |
|---|---|---|
| Shuttle bus (E-350/E-450) | 170 × 93 × 80″ (432 × 236 × 203 cm) | 4,500 lb |
| Short bus (Type A) | 177.25 × 93 × 76″ (450 × 236 × 193 cm) | 4,500 lb |
| 30 ft school bus (Type C) | 281.45 × 90.75 × 77″ (715 × 231 × 196 cm) | 8,000 lb |
| 35 ft school bus (Type C) | 333.55 × 90.75 × 77″ (847 × 231 × 196 cm) | 10,000 lb |
| 40 ft school bus (Type C) | 385.65 × 90.75 × 77″ (980 × 231 × 196 cm) | 11,000 lb |
| 40 ft flat-nose bus (Type D) | 411.7 × 90.75 × 77″ (1046 × 231 × 196 cm) | 12,000 lb |
Length is the buildable floor behind the driver, worked out from the body builders’ published wheelbases and seating capacities: Micro Bird for the Type A, Blue Bird for the Type C and D. The planner accounts for insulation and paneling when it derives the finished interior, and you can replace any number with your own measurements. Payload figures are estimates from published GVWR and typical curb weights.
What to know
Buildable floor, not bus length
A 40-foot bus does not give you 40 feet. On a dog nose, the floor behind the driver runs about 32 feet; a flat nose gives about 34 from the same overall length, because there is no hood. The templates state the floor you can actually build on.
Wheel wells set the floor plan
A full-size bus’s rear wheel wells intrude about 21 inches from each side, leaving about 49 inches of clear floor between them. That number decides what fits in the back of the bus, so the templates model the wells at their real position and size.
Short bus to flat nose
Five bodies cover the segment: a 30-passenger Type A short bus, 30, 35, and 40-foot dog-nose Type C bodies, and a 40-foot flat-nose Type D. On the short bus, narrow-track dual wheels under a wide body make the wells the big constraint, and the template models that too.
Common questions
Which buses are in the planner?+
A Type A short bus (the 30-passenger cutaway on a Ford E-450), 30, 35, and 40-foot dog-nose Type C bodies, and a 40-foot flat-nose Type D. If your bus is different, enter the interior dimensions from your own tape measure.
Why is the floor shorter than the bus length?+
The driver’s area and stepwell sit ahead of the buildable floor, and on a dog nose the hood and engine sit ahead of that. The templates measure from behind the driver to the rear wall. On a rear-engine flat nose, the last few feet also step up over the engine, which the template notes but does not model.
Are the wheel wells modeled?+
Yes, the rear pair, at the position and size the published wheelbases put them. On a Type A short bus they intrude about 27 inches per side, which is the constraint every short-bus layout works around.
Is it free?+
Yes. The editor, the parts list, share links, and the blueprint download are free with no account required. There is a paid tier, Vanometry Pro, for cost tracking, payload math, and exports once a build gets real. See the pricing page for the full split.
Plan it before you build it.
The layout is the cheapest part of the build to change. Get it right before you buy materials.
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