F 450 4x4 Ambulance Build

[Last Frontier Wrangler]

Hey all, Ive been a lurker here on the forum for a long time. I just recently purchased a 2001 F450 Ambulance, with factory 4X4, 7.3 Diesel, and low ish miles. In August, I will be going full time in my new ambulance, but it will be mostly in the city. Therefor the beginnings of this build will be mostly focused on baselining the truck, and outfitting the interior to make it comfortable for full time dwelling. In the past, I have laid out a design and built out a rig all at once. This has its pros, and allows you to have a completed rig in a short period of time. But in my experience, I have regretted small details of my build, and was forced to tear down and re do alot of my previous work.
So on this new ambulance, my first van/ambulance/dedicated camper build out, I have decided to take the build one step at a time, deciding where and how I want to build things as I spend time in the rig. I hope this will end up with a set up that is a lot more organic and functional from the get go. Unfortunately, I realize that this will make this build thread a rather boring read for the foreseeable future.

With all that being said, having factory 4x4 was a huge selling point for me. I am a mountain guide by trade, and spend a lot of my time in remote areas of Alaska, Canada, the PNW, and California. Having a capable vehicle is essential for me, both for work and personal enjoyment. My primary vehicle for the last year has been a 1993 FZJ80 Land Cruiser, lifted on 35s, triple locked, with a hard shell Maggiolina RTT.

The 80 will remain my vehicle for any hard core trails and trips, which I feel the ambulance will not be able to handle or will be too large on. In the long run, the 80 will be slowly relieved of its camping duties, and the ambulance will be built up further to take its place. But that day is a long way off, and beyond the reach of my limited budget for the time being.

Enough about me and my plans, heres what you all want to see:

These pictures are all from the seller. I am flying out next week, to pick the truck up and drive it across the country back to where I will be spending the Summer. I look forward to sharing this with you guys, and thanks for all the help youve provided so far.

 

[Bikersmurf]

I'd recommend looking into the check valves for the rear bags before the trip. Depending on what's happening with the bags, the compressor could be running full time to keep it up.

 

[Last Frontier Wrangler]

I'd recommend looking into the check valves for the rear bags before the trip. Depending on what's happening with the bags, the compressor could be running full time to keep it up.

Im bringing it into a commercial Ford dealer as soon as I pick it up in Michigan. Going to asses how bad the leak is, and decide on replacing them there.

 

[Last Frontier Wrangler]

UPDATE: In the middle of my drive back from Michigan and I am now stuck in Rock Springs Wyoming.
Last night, in the dark in a Walmart parking lot, I decided I would top off my power steering fluid with some stop leak as a temporary measure until I could get it to the house and diagnose the tired power steering. I was over tired from the drive, and put 6 oz of power steering fluid into my brake reservoir, by accident. I drove on it today before I realized what I had done.
I flew to get the truck, so have no tools with me, and no mechanic in town will be able to get me in until next week. I don't want to drive the truck and have the wheels lock up on the highway, or not function when I need them to.

I'm sitting in a tire shop now, waiting for a tech to "diagnose" the damage. But I fully expect to have to at least replace the master cylinder. Not sure how that's going to happen if I'm in limbo for half a week in the middle of Wyoming....
I don't mind when things go wrong with my vehicles, but when it's my own dumb fault it makes it a thousand times worse.

Going to at least buy some tools and bleed my brakes myself (shop won't power bleed them because the system is contaminated).

UPDATE #2: got a hold of the Ford dealership and they were able and willing to bleed the system asap. They said the master is shot. Whether or not that's totally true, I'm not sure, I tend not to trust dealerships. But for peace of mind on the rest of my trip, I'm going to let them put one in. Only stuck in Wyoming a day longer than expected. Costly stupid mistake though. Note to self: don't work on cars in the dark after driving all day.

 

[Coachgeo]

.... Note to self: don't work on cars in the dark after driving all day.

Been there done that (few times). Fubared tranny (few times) in new to me rigs too...... many many $1,000 cost on those.

 

[gtbensley]

That's never any fun....how's it drive besides that? Sound like you are jumping right in with both feet to get a feel for the rig.

 

[Bikersmurf]

UPDATE: In the middle of my drive back from Michigan and I am now stuck in Rock Springs Wyoming.
Last night, in the dark in a Walmart parking lot, I decided I would top off my power steering fluid with some stop leak as a temporary measure until I could get it to the house and diagnose the tired power steering. I was over tired from the drive, and put 6 oz of power steering fluid into my brake reservoir, by accident. I drove on it today before I realized what I had done.
I flew to get the truck, so have no tools with me, and no mechanic in town will be able to get me in until next week. I don't want to drive the truck and have the wheels lock up on the highway, or not function when I need them to.

I'm sitting in a tire shop now, waiting for a tech to "diagnose" the damage. But I fully expect to have to at least replace the master cylinder. Not sure how that's going to happen if I'm in limbo for half a week in the middle of Wyoming....
I don't mind when things go wrong with my vehicles, but when it's my own dumb fault it makes it a thousand times worse.

Going to at least buy some tools and bleed my brakes myself (shop won't power bleed them because the system is contaminated).

UPDATE #2: got a hold of the Ford dealership and they were able and willing to bleed the system asap. They said the master is shot. Whether or not that's totally true, I'm not sure, I tend not to trust dealerships. But for peace of mind on the rest of my trip, I'm going to let them put one in. Only stuck in Wyoming a day longer than expected. Costly stupid mistake though. Note to self: don't work on cars in the dark after driving all day.

If it makes you feel any better, something was likely off with your master cylinder if it took 6 oz of fluid. That would seem awfully low for brake fluid. Brakes are are not something good to screw around with.

Hopefully the rest of the trip goes/went well.

 

[Last Frontier Wrangler]

Just finished up my drive. The truck did fantastic. Has some wobble at highway speeds, and needs an alignment. But other than that, it's a blast to drive and really surprised me with how much power it has. The 7.3 really lives up to it's reputation.
Don't know if anyone else has experienced this, But I got pulled over in Nevada by a state trooper. I had to talk my way out of a "federal DOT inspection" and a long list of violations. Took like fifteen minutes to convince him that it wasn't a commercial vehicle and it's just registered to me. Thankfully I talked my way out of it. First order of business is definitely to remove the vinyls and the DOT numbers from the previous owners business.

I'll post pictures here soon. We're on our way to Bishop to do some camping and climbing for the weekend. The new rig is earning it's place in the household fast.

 

[Bikersmurf]

I've had to do one commercial vehicle inspection... luckily I found someone who'd come see me rather than towing it to a shop. I'm hoping I won't have to do it annually now.

'Wobble' could be alignment or could be wheel alignment or trueness of wheels. My highway shakes cleared up after a good tire shop trued and balanced the wheels. Every dually wheel has some runout... so does every tire. By putting these opposite of each other the wheels run truer and balance better. First time I'd seen a shop take the time to measure the rim runout and do this.

 

[Last Frontier Wrangler]

Some people were asking about the hitch installed on the back of the ambulance. For some reason, I cant get the pictures to come through in the private messenger, so I will post them here as well.

Havent done too much work to the ambulance yet. Started by stripping down all the decals, and removing the front bumper for paint. Got distracted by helping a friend gut the inside of his e150 conversion van, painted in a 90s-tastic neon teal.

Also found the build sheet on the F 450. It was made in New Jersey, by PL Custom Emergency Vehicles. With an original curb weight of just shy of 12k lbs, it definitely was never a light rig.

 

[Coachgeo]

Mines PL body also. They may have a tiny bit of info on that unit. Least you can call and ask. My 2004 they had the Schematics still but nothing else.

 

[Last Frontier Wrangler]

First pictures of it sitting in the parking lot. Its a bit longer than I expected, and it hangs out into the parking lot of the apartment complex. Hoping the land lady doesnt say it has to go. The complex has a fenced in storage area, that someone has an LMTV in, so if all else fails I guess it can stay in there.

I got all the vinyl off, and am now just removing the glue residue and prepping it for a wash. I laid down some cheap indoor/outdoor carpet from home depot as a temporary measure. The diamond plate gets pretty cold on your feet. Still brainstorming how I want to set the bed up. I had some ideas in my head, but once I got the bench in front of me, I am back to square one. I want to keep the existing paramedic bench as the base of my bed, and still be able to utilize the underseat storage area. The thing that through me off, is that backrest of the medic bench is also hinged and latched, folding down on top of the bench. The quality of the hinges are latches are too good to just ditch, so I am trying to incorporate them somehow.

Everything on all the switch panels works, including O2 and suction. Cruise control still works, which was a life saver on the drive back from Michigan.

Now I am starting my full deep clean of the interior, and baselining the fluids and driveline.

 

[Last Frontier Wrangler]

Initial bed construction is complete!
I was able to re-purpose the back hinges section of the original medic bench, moving it to the front of the bottom hinged section. Now when folded, it retains its padded seat, and when extended it comes to just shy of 45 inches wide. I was hoping for a touch wider, but reusing the parts off the original bench meant I was able to build the bed frame by spending zero dollars. I still have to add fold down leg support, and order the mattress. After that is done, I will consider whether I can use the remaining back section for anything, or if it will be better to just remove it. Im glad this worked out as well as it did, as I sort of just winged it. If I spend time in the back, and come to dislike the set up, it can be completely reversed at the moment. Im debating whether I should paint the wood sections, or cover them with something, as Im not a fan of the two different colors. But cosmetics arent a priority at the moment.

Original

Folded

Extended. Will be adding fold down leg supports soon.

 

[Ozrockrat]

With your leg supports consider having 3 pipes sliding through holes into the storage area under the bench. With a frame on the front of them which has the legs on it. Just slide them in and out as required. I used that preformed scaffolding type pipe (about 1 1/4) and then just used 1 1/4 conduit bushes as the guides through the facia. I will try to find some photos of what I did with plan C ambo.

Also consider removing the laminate and varnishing the ply underneath. It comes off easily with a heat gun but it does take a bit of elbow grease to remove the glue/gum that it is stuck on with.

 

[Last Frontier Wrangler]

With your leg supports consider having 3 pipes sliding through holes into the storage area under the bench. With a frame on the front of them which has the legs on it. Just slide them in and out as required. I used that preformed scaffolding type pipe (about 1 1/4) and then just used 1 1/4 conduit bushes as the guides through the facia. I will try to find some photos of what I did with plan C ambo.

Also consider removing the laminate and varnishing the ply underneath. It comes off easily with a heat gun but it does take a bit of elbow grease to remove the glue/gum that it is stuck on with.

I like that idea, Ill consider converting to that. In the mean time, I have to have the bed usable by Friday, and have just ordered a set of the bracket to make drop down legs. The gap in between the seat pad and the back of the board means that folded up support legs dont interfere with your ability to sit there at all. Its not as clean as your set up though, so I might switch in the long run.

Thanks for the tips on the heat gun, Ill have to give that a shot.
Ps. Your FL60 was a big factor in my decision to go with an ambulance. Hope the new ride is working out well for you.