mike.marcacci
Adventurer
After almost impulsively buying a Javier, my wife and I did our homework, figured out exactly what we needed, and purchased our new project: O'Billy the 2003 7.3 PowerStroke Ford E350, Type-II ambulance by Leader. I got this guy in Las Vegas (I'm in San Diego), had it checked out by a mechanic last week, picked up a 1-trip DMV permit, then flew out to Las Vegas last Sunday to pick it up (thanks to Spirit Air for the $36 plane ticket!) and drive it home. I had quite an ordeal getting it insured – last minute on my laptop in the airport, of course – because it exceeds USAA's underwritten GVWR. They normally can do these "special" situations through a partnership with another agency, just not on Sundays. When I got off the phone with USAA, I gave Geico auto a call, who sent me to Geico RV, who said they don't insure conversions or commercial vehicles... so I spent some time on the free wifi looking up who USAA's partner agency is, and discovered that it was Progressive. 15 minutes later, it was insured by them.
I got it home with no problems at all, and set out to get it re-registered in California: I took it to "my people" – Finest City Registration – who provide absolutely the best service I've ever purchased... on anything... ever. It's passed smog and re-classified as an RV which saves ~$250/year due to weight fees.
In total it cost $5000 plus some pretty hefty registration fees. We've got TONS of plans and more that are still evolving... but enough rambling, here are some pics:
Just got dropped off by my Uber driver in Las Vegas, the owner hadn't arrived yet:
Has what looks to me (and the Las Vegas mechanic who checked it out for me) like a new (factory reconditioned) transmission:
Plenty of tread... like, all of it:
Working lights, invert, vacuum pump... everything except the siren:
Like I said, we've got tons of plans: The build quality inside is so excellent, we're going to try and use as much of it as possible. We're obviously taking out the bench, and we're going to take out the upper shelf by the barn doors to make the small desk more usable. We're debating adding a window on the right side, but we're going to spend a few weekends in it to see for sure.
As far as drivetrain goes, we're looking to get a 4" ujoint kit (does anyone know somebody in Southern California who's done one, or you would trust to give it a go?).
As far as the exterior goes, I'll probably leave the bumpers mostly stock and it looks like we can fit a slightly larger spare tire in its current spot (haven't measured it yet though). We're almost 100% sold on spraying the whole thing with Raptor Liner which is looking cheaper than paint (and so cool).
We're going to add 300 or 400 watts of solar – we already have 3 external deep cycle batteries in the box and top-notch charging components, but I suspect all the wiring is pretty thirsty, so I'd like to take advantage of all that roof space to feed it. I'd love to get any suggestions or tips especially from other ambulance owners - I've reached out to Leader to get a wiring diagram, but any first-hand experience would be awesome!
So that's it for now - thanks for reading!
I got it home with no problems at all, and set out to get it re-registered in California: I took it to "my people" – Finest City Registration – who provide absolutely the best service I've ever purchased... on anything... ever. It's passed smog and re-classified as an RV which saves ~$250/year due to weight fees.
In total it cost $5000 plus some pretty hefty registration fees. We've got TONS of plans and more that are still evolving... but enough rambling, here are some pics:
Just got dropped off by my Uber driver in Las Vegas, the owner hadn't arrived yet:
Has what looks to me (and the Las Vegas mechanic who checked it out for me) like a new (factory reconditioned) transmission:
Plenty of tread... like, all of it:
Working lights, invert, vacuum pump... everything except the siren:
Like I said, we've got tons of plans: The build quality inside is so excellent, we're going to try and use as much of it as possible. We're obviously taking out the bench, and we're going to take out the upper shelf by the barn doors to make the small desk more usable. We're debating adding a window on the right side, but we're going to spend a few weekends in it to see for sure.
As far as drivetrain goes, we're looking to get a 4" ujoint kit (does anyone know somebody in Southern California who's done one, or you would trust to give it a go?).
As far as the exterior goes, I'll probably leave the bumpers mostly stock and it looks like we can fit a slightly larger spare tire in its current spot (haven't measured it yet though). We're almost 100% sold on spraying the whole thing with Raptor Liner which is looking cheaper than paint (and so cool).
We're going to add 300 or 400 watts of solar – we already have 3 external deep cycle batteries in the box and top-notch charging components, but I suspect all the wiring is pretty thirsty, so I'd like to take advantage of all that roof space to feed it. I'd love to get any suggestions or tips especially from other ambulance owners - I've reached out to Leader to get a wiring diagram, but any first-hand experience would be awesome!
So that's it for now - thanks for reading!
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