scooter421
Adventurer
Hello all,
After much consideration over the last two years, I too purchased an ambulance to convert into an RV. It's going to be a slow process and I will try to keep information coming on my findings and provide pictures to support those who would like to take on a project such as this in the future.
My thoughts on "why" an ambulance:
I went back and forth between a used/new RV with everything already in place (toilet, stove, etc.) box truck and bus. I knew I wanted diesel; of those mentioned above, they either have a gigantic price tag (diesel RV), excessive mileage and a lot of time/money to make useable (bus, box truck). I am not much into toys; such as, Razor's, quads and the like so I had no need for the open space a bus or box truck offers. I am more of an everything needs a place type guy, so I needed storage. Ambulances come with a lot of storage which saves a lot of time and money.
Like most folks, I found "affordable" RV's to be rather cheaply made and very few diesel options unless your spending serious money. My "affordable" was less that 13K to start. RV's tend to have a lot of space which is awesome but can be rather limited on storage. I don't head to the woods with intention of spending a lot of time inside. I wanted a vehicle that would do many things and an ambulance fit the bill for us. Lots of storage both inside and out, somewhat well insulated from temperatures and built very solid.
That being said, I found this in Tucson
The wife and I drove down over a weekend and took it for a drive. Right away we knew it would work but it needed some TLC and in particular the brakes! How we made it home was a miracle. I did not find out just how much of a miracle until I took it to emissions and on the way back the brakes locked up tight and we were not moving! The right rear brake caliper was smoking hot and the brake pad was gone leaving metal on metal. It was like "welding" in motion! Anyhow, we managed to limp it home and the project truly began.
After much consideration over the last two years, I too purchased an ambulance to convert into an RV. It's going to be a slow process and I will try to keep information coming on my findings and provide pictures to support those who would like to take on a project such as this in the future.
My thoughts on "why" an ambulance:
I went back and forth between a used/new RV with everything already in place (toilet, stove, etc.) box truck and bus. I knew I wanted diesel; of those mentioned above, they either have a gigantic price tag (diesel RV), excessive mileage and a lot of time/money to make useable (bus, box truck). I am not much into toys; such as, Razor's, quads and the like so I had no need for the open space a bus or box truck offers. I am more of an everything needs a place type guy, so I needed storage. Ambulances come with a lot of storage which saves a lot of time and money.
Like most folks, I found "affordable" RV's to be rather cheaply made and very few diesel options unless your spending serious money. My "affordable" was less that 13K to start. RV's tend to have a lot of space which is awesome but can be rather limited on storage. I don't head to the woods with intention of spending a lot of time inside. I wanted a vehicle that would do many things and an ambulance fit the bill for us. Lots of storage both inside and out, somewhat well insulated from temperatures and built very solid.
That being said, I found this in Tucson
The wife and I drove down over a weekend and took it for a drive. Right away we knew it would work but it needed some TLC and in particular the brakes! How we made it home was a miracle. I did not find out just how much of a miracle until I took it to emissions and on the way back the brakes locked up tight and we were not moving! The right rear brake caliper was smoking hot and the brake pad was gone leaving metal on metal. It was like "welding" in motion! Anyhow, we managed to limp it home and the project truly began.
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