Recent content by 19Spec3

The front-end refresh helped somewhat with handling but the sag was still there. On to the rear. I installed new heavy duty rear springs (purchased from Beattie Spring, Part No.: 43-1339HD, rated at 7200lbs, up from 5100lbs), new U-Bolts, new shackles, and matching Bilstein dampers. Though...

Long time no update. The interior is basically unchanged and the A/C continues to function beautifully with the vent fans. In recent months I've turned my attention to the suspension, which was sagging to the driver's side. First I installed new heavy duty front springs (CargoMax 351-880HD)...

Curious if your ERV came with a catalytic converter? After crawling around under mine, it looks like mine is straight piped with a muffler. I ask because I was also considering a Diamond Eye exhaust but it didn't seem worthwhile if I'm already catless.

A minor but very necessary upgrade. We got a puppy so the screen door needs some reinforcement. I paid about $40 for a 36" x 36" sheet of Lincane Aluminum from Home Depot. It cuts easily with tin snips and the holes are exactly 1/8th inch -- perfect for rivets. The puppy did not help but she...

Installed a swivel passenger seat from BlingMyRig.com. Install is super simple and involves all of 8 nuts/bolts. It'll be nice to have a real seat to use while we're parked.

Cool, another ERV build. Welcome and great work so far!

Bros in North Carolina would say that ERV sits perfectly as it is.

My slides looked clean, albeit pretty dry. Almost zero brake fluid came out of the front left brake hose when I detached it from the caliper so I suspect the hose failed internally. I'll certainly add some Ambo maintenance to my annual pre-racing season checklist.

Happy to report that the A/C unit has been working flawlessly with the addition of the fans. I think I'm done monkeying with that for now. Then we had a reminder that this rig is indeed 20 years old. On the tow home from PittRace, the ambo started pulling left under braking, and then started...

I declare A/C victory! I installed two 400CFM fans on either side of the air deflector. Each fan sits atop a 6" diameter hole and they're IP68 rated so they're essentially dustproof / waterproof. The fan on the driver side sucks ambient air in, and the fan on the passenger side (right next to...

An interesting solution but that deflector is bolted through the top of the cab in about 8 places. Amazingly, nothing leaks at the moment. I'd be afraid that those holes would start leaking if I dismounted and remounted the air deflector.

I ordered two 400 CFM fans and will probably install them one at a time for testing. The fans should arrive in the next week or so and I'll report back. Not sure how useful it is in this application, but I found this handy calculator to determine the CFM's required to cool the heat generated...

That's the basic plan. Fabricating the ducting will be a PITA so I figure I'll throw some fan(s) at it first. I certainly considered a 12v DC fan intended for automotive radiators and the like but, because I'm on shore power all the time with the A/C unit, I intend to use 115v AC fan(s)...

The A/C experiment failed. The weather was about 80F and sunny, fairly low humidity. I turned on the A/C and it started with nice cool air. Then I left for a race and returned in about an hour. When I got back, the interior of the box was warmer than outside air and the A/C unit was blowing...

Yea, I suspect this is just phase 1. I'd prefer not to add a fan if at all possible but we'll see how it does. I'm always plugged into shore power so I'm not worried about power draw so long as the A/C unit is functional. For now it just drips on top of the cab. Rain gets in there through a...