Ambulance Conversion - New Modifications.

[yzeevy]

Ambulance Conversion - New Modifications - SOLD ! ! !

.
Hello,
.
I bought two weeks ago a 2002 Ford F450 XLT, 4X4, Type I Ambulance
Bought directly from a fire department in Denver co., 35xxx miles, excellent condition.

Although I,m considered selling it, today I finally start working, and I NEED help and ADVICE.
.

.
.

.
My plan is an efficient comfy camper, nothing fancy.
There are 6 exterior compartments. Two of theme, the narrow and tall ones,
I plan to open the back wall so I'll have access from inside. Today I opened the first one.
Very nice and sturdy job, although they could have be more generous with the insulation stuff.
.
There is a jungle in this truck, an ELECTRICAL one and any help and advise highly appreciated.
.
1. The high beam turns on with the switch. I would like to cancel that.
.
2. I need to bypass the switch so I'll have power in the back without having to turn on the switch.
.
3. There are 2 batteries, both under the hood and the charger is behind the driver seat beneath the paramedic chair. I would like to add 2 more batteries and some volt / current control gadgets. There will be a generator too.
.
Actually, although I have the parts list and the wiring drawings I think I need an electrician.

I live in Van Nuys, CA. If someone know an electrician familiar with this kind of job please let me know.
.
.

 

[patoz]

Welcome to the Ambo Club!

First of all, I'd like to say that is one fine looking rig you have there. Who is the manufacturer? It looks like a Wheeled Coach, but I can't quite be sure.

And second, you are way ahead of the game by getting one that is already 4 Wheel drive. Even though they are a little longer, the Type I (pickup style cab) are much more comfortable to drive, and easier to work on, than the Type III (van style cab). I'm a retired District Fire Chief/EMT and I drove ambulances part time for about 10 years, so I have the experience to know.

There are a lot of people converting ambulances to off-road campers on here, so we finally started a common thread that everyone would see, in order to ask questions and hopefully get an answer in a timely fashion.

Here is the thread: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/135844-Ambulance-Camper-Expedition-Rig-Conversion-FAQ

Good luck with your build, and I'm subscribing to the thread now to see the progress.

 

[yzeevy]

Welcome to the Ambo Club!

First of all, I'd like to say that is one fine looking rig you have there. Who is the manufacturer? It looks like a Wheeled Coach, but I can't quite be sure.

Thanks, you right it is a Wheeled Coach and it is a Type I. The difference is its built for heavy duty, F450.
Bigger tires because of the 4x4 and slower axel ratio.
If it was just a bit less RED . . .

 

[patoz]

Yeah well, we firefighters like our big red trucks! I agree though, a white one is much easier to convert to a camper scheme with just a little modification.

What engine does it have in it?

I have a 1993 Wheeled Coach Type III, that I cut in half and am building an off-road camper trailer out of the rear half. The engine, drivetrain, and suspension was worn out with almost 300,000 miles on it, and three different owners. I already have a 2004 F250 Super Duty PU for a tow vehicle, so hopefully this arrangement will give me the best of both worlds. My build thread is in my signature if you'd like to take a look.

If this works out, and considering I didn't pay much for mine since I got it at a County auction, I may upgrade to a full size vehicle later on. What I would want, is exactly what you have right now.

 

[yzeevy]

7.3L

 

[patoz]

Cool! :smiley_drive:

 

[flightcancled]

You can look into my build tp learn how to add a house battery bank. If you look on ebay they make battery bins that bolt to the frame for the vans that would be perfect rather than wasting space in the compartments.

When you say the high beams come on with a switch do you mean one on the dash or the stock location?

Pat can give you great advice on how to set up your box to run independently from the cab. Personally I haven't gone into that on mine yet. The modular disconnect switch supplies power to those functions, so you'll be looking at how to isolate those functions and have them draw from the house batteries.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[yzeevy]

You can look into my build tp learn how to add a house battery bank. If you look on ebay they make battery bins that bolt to the frame for the vans that would be perfect rather than wasting space in the compartments.

When you say the high beams come on with a switch do you mean one on the dash or the stock location?

Pat can give you great advice on how to set up your box to run independently from the cab. Personally I haven't gone into that on mine yet. The modular disconnect switch supplies power to those functions, so you'll be looking at how to isolate those functions and have them draw from the house batteries.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

.
.
Thanks,

Can you provide a link to your build?

I should have say the STARTER SWITCH

What is modular disconnect?

 

[AMBOT]

Nice Ambo, enjoy the build. I'm also looking to bypass the need to have the ignition on in order to power up the box. Send an email to wheeled coach with your serial number and they will send you an electrical schematic, you need this! Are you considering solar?

 

[Bikersmurf]

Nice rig, and welcome to the madness.

 

[yzeevy]

Nice Ambo, enjoy the build. I'm also looking to bypass the need to have the ignition on in order to power up the box. Send an email to wheeled coach with your serial number and they will send you an electrical schematic, you need this! Are you considering solar?

.
Thanks,
.
At this point I plan to buy a generator, I want to install a small window AC.
I'll add two more batteries, still don't know how to integrate them.
I have the schematics already.
.
BTW, how did you handled the emergency lights? Disconnect them? Changed the plastic to white?

 

[yzeevy]

Nice rig, and welcome to the madness.

.
.

 

[patoz]

Nice Ambo, enjoy the build. I'm also looking to bypass the need to have the ignition on in order to power up the box. Send an email to wheeled coach with your serial number and they will send you an electrical schematic, you need this! Are you considering solar?

I have tried half a dozen times to get one for my ambulance, including talking to them via Facebook, with no luck. Do you still have the actual email address you sent your request to, and can you post it please?

Thanks...

 

[patoz]

Pat can give you great advice on how to set up your box to run independently from the cab. Personally I haven't gone into that on mine yet. The modular disconnect switch supplies power to those functions, so you'll be looking at how to isolate those functions and have them draw from the house batteries.

I can to a certain extent. The difference in what I did and what your wanting to do is two different things. In my case, I completely removed the front half of the vehicle, meaning all electrical controls are getting combined and relocated to a new central panel in the rear, which will be a Blue Sea Systems panel.

In your case, you have three systems. 1) The Ford OEM system, 2) the front (cab) ambulance system, and 3) the rear (module, aka patient compartment or 'box') ambulance system. The 'Modular Disconnect' switch is usually a large red or black rotary battery switch located on the floor or behind the driver's seat, etc. Or it may be a large relay type switch controlled through a switch on the front panel labeled 'Master', or a combination of both.

Your front panel controls functions located inside, outside, in the front and in the rear, so separating this system is a very complex procedure and not something I would recommend for the average person. Since you have the wiring diagrams (in PDF format I hope, so they can be posted or emailed) it may be possible to leave the existing system in place and add a high amp supply circuit, via an additional transfer switch, to supply just the interior of the rear module when you are in camping mode. This can come from your dedicated house battery bank also. Once you set up camp, you would shut down the vehicle completely and remove the key. Then you would turn the added transfer or battery switch to the 'camp mode' which now supplies power to the rear from the house bank.

It's still a little more complicated than it sounds, because you would need to determine exactly where to tie in the new supply circuit to the panel in the rear, so it only supplies the rear items needed. There are so many things tied together that it can be somewhat confusing.

At this point I plan to buy a generator, I want to install a small window AC.
I'll add two more batteries, still don't know how to integrate them.
I have the schematics already.
.
BTW, how did you handled the emergency lights? Disconnect them? Changed the plastic to white?

In order to use a generator, you can 1) just sit it on the ground and plug it into the shore power inlet if it's sized correctly, or you can 2) install one permanently in a compartment and connect it to your 120VAC system via a transfer switch and an electrical panel, which is the better and safest method for either system.

As far as your emergency lights are concerned, you need to check your state vehicle laws to see if they are prohibited for normal vehicles. Most people just convert the lenses to clear, and then rewire them to function as work lights later on. Be aware though, new clear lenses are expensive! Since that is a Wheeled Coach, the brand they use is Whelen Engineering. Ebay and ambulance rebuilders are your best bet to find used lenses. A lot of us want to convert the work or scene lights to LED, and we have a special thread for that also: http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...ing-Whelen-900s-Similar-Scene-lighting-to-LED.

Hopefully, this will help you get started and we are all in this together so help is just a question away. Now, I need to go do a little work on mine before the rain starts this weekend.

Oh and this is just FYI, normally you don't need to add a 'period' as a placeholder to achieve double spacing on this forum, At least I've never had to do it.

 

[mk216v]

Glad to see you kept the WC Type1 yzeevy; a friend and I were seriously debating over grabbing yours off of CL(I had seen it for sale on one of the ambo for sale sites recently too). Looks like a super clean rig, incredibly low mileage, probably well maintained if it was a fire dept rig I assume?

Our big concern was the shorter module height(66" correct?), OAL of the rig(23'?--I've looked at so many ambos online I forget your exact specs), along with the ~8' width. Well that and it's bright red(would rather have white, but white typically gets you a private ambulance company rig which may be ridden much much harder than a low mileage fire dept rig).

But as far as my research as shown me, Wheeled Coach is the module maker to get.

Looking forward to following this build! :coffeedrink: