Looking for insight on doing a Roof Raise on an Ambulance

[TheNomadicArchitect]

Hello Everyone!

So I'm in the process of designing my dream off grid home on wheels. Given I'm planning on living out of it I'm wanting a minimum of 72"clearance to be able to stand freely. I'm looking at a 1999 Ford F450 4x4 with a 7.3 Diesel.

The problem with this is that basically all Type 1 Ambulances I find with a 4x4 package only have 5' - 6" interior heights. Instead of getting a Type 3 with RWD and going through the trouble and time/money of installing a Quigley 4x4 Conversion, I'm considering the potential option of raising the roof 8-12" instead. Or even putting in the extra work and create a pop top system to really open up the ceiling space. I've seen countless guides on how to raise a Skoolie roof, or a Box truck roof, but can't find much out there in terms of the level of difficulty in raising an Ambulance roof.

If anyone has any insight, I'd love to hear your take.

 

[Genetic Maker]

You have quite a few options:

• a large skylight where you would stand most often.
• cut the entire roof and raise it. Cut about 3-6" below the corner of the roof and fill in with 2x2 aluminum studs, weld them in, then cover with aluminum skins.
• make a fiberglass or aluminum shape that looks like a truck shell and bolt that to the top.

The construction of ambulance roofs are strong and square. So it's whatever you want to do. There's and AmboRV facebook group where a few members have done them.

 

[86scotty]

There is an in depth thread on here on this but it's a few years old. You'd just have to dig in the van section. I'm pretty sure that's where it was posted. It was a lot of work but done well. You could also look up Abitibi, who has had a few ambo conversions and added headroom with pop tops from other rigs.