97 E350 Crestline Ambo Build/Mod

[Bikersmurf]

They asked me for the Vin and they are doing some more research to determine if there is some reason why the pack isn't performing as expected.

Keeping my fingers crossed. Such a PITA

 

[Bikersmurf]

I can just hear it now. "your packs must be non-standard and we can't be responsible blah blah." "book calls for this pack and we made it perfect blah blah."

When you going to haul it over?

You must have been dealing directly with my spring supplier... "Crestline mus have done something to the spring pack so that it could carry extra weight. Added leaves or changed materials." Also,"Ford doesn't know what the van is going to be used for, they ship them out all the same." Funny... It does say AMBULANCE PACKAGE on the Ford label on the door jam.

Now the decision, ADD a leaf to the inferior replacement pack, Swap to the HD 10 leaf pack 4000 lb vs the standard 3300 lb pack. or shell out $859 For an OEM Ford pack... which according to the supplier of the saggy pack has likely been modified by CRESTLINE.

 

[tgreening]

Sorry to hear, but I wasn't surprised. That's usually the go-to line when A) someone doesn't know what the problem really is and doesn't want to admit it, or B) they do know what the problem is but don't want to own up to the possibility that they might have screwed the pooch.


How exactly did they determine what pack you needed? I see by some past posts you had some part numbers for E350 Ambo but was it plain E350, or E350 cab & chassis/ cutaway?

I know on trucks an F350 dually pickup won't have the same rear suspension as an F350 C & C. At least not guaranteed.

Its hard to say the correct path at this point. I know down here there are some popular spring shops known nationally among the aftermarket crowd, but I don't know the cost or lead time.

Chris at ujoint has a 1st class op but the springs I got for the rear were way off base. Now he took care of me and right now I'm the one dropping the ball because I've yet to get the replacements in to see how they measure up. Both sets took a long time to get, so no good for you if you're in a hurry.

I'd probably try to get them to eat shoving as many add-a-leaves as it takes to get you level, just to buy you some time on the long term solution.

 

[Bikersmurf]

I'll have to call them again. 3300 lbs is way under the GVWR of 8800 lbs. It's no surprise they didn't measure up. Their supplier told me they never install them because they don't meet peoples expectations. 4000 lbs x 2 would actually be rated to carry the GVWR. The replacement springs are rated under a competitors rating of 3460 lbs which are the same thickness as the original VS the thinner ones that supposedly are built to the same specs.

 

[FDM2012]

Ok, so here is where I am yet again mentally challenged. Wth these weights and whatnot, how does this
correlate to tire load rating?

I want to use BFG KO2 315 x 75 R16, but they are 3860/3525 lbs. I know several of you are running them,
on pretty much the same size/weight of my rig, sooooo..............???? Just pushing the envelope?
Or am I missing something?

I want to be able to also add a little tongue weight (towing up to 5-6k lbs) from time to time, so I just want to make sure I am reasonably safe
about the set up, BEFORE I do it. Studying all of your rigs is helping me to measure twice and cut once, and I REALLY
appreciate this!

I'm guessing the 10 leaf 4000 would be a little shy for the wide box rigs?

 

[tgreening]

Guess what? I was doing some work to get ready for a "paint" job and just for giggles decided to measure my lean. I knew it had some but I don't recall measuring it or thinking it was too bad.

Exactly 2" low on the passenger side. And these were brand new packs installed at the same time. I know where all the weight is and no way this is the heavier side.

I've got 4 batts, two each side so that's a wash. Drivers side is 10# CO2 tank (full), charger/power supply, a few chairs, propane tank, two 5 gal tanks for water, 4 bags of tools from 1/4"-1/2", couple tarps, fluids, inflatable kayak, and misc bits and pieces. Passenger side is a big rubber wheel chock, some misc boards, couple ratchet straps, and one of those tool kits in a plastic case.


Inside drivers side is stove, sink, big fridge, coffee pot and microwave and various kitchen things. Passenger side is two bucket seats, a board and piece of foam on top for a bed.

Go figure

 

[Bikersmurf]

Ok, so here is where I am yet again mentally challenged. Wth these weights and whatnot, how does this
correlate to tire load rating?

I want to use BFG KO2 315 x 75 R16, but they are 3860/3525 lbs. I know several of you are running them,
on pretty much the same size/weight of my rig, sooooo..............???? Just pushing the envelope?
Or am I missing something?

I want to be able to also add a little tongue weight (towing up to 5-6k lbs) from time to time, so I just want to make sure I am reasonably safe
about the set up, BEFORE I do it. Studying all of your rigs is helping me to measure twice and cut once, and I REALLY
appreciate this!

I'm guessing the 10 leaf 4000 would be a little shy for the wide box rigs?

I suspect you're right. Although mine is 88" wide so I don't think they'd be much heavier.

At the rear the drivers side is about 3020 lbs and the passenger side is about 2500 lbs. Single rear wheels would give you about 800 lbs breathing room on the heavy side. Now if you were carrying the maximum 4000 lbs per side you'd be overweight.

Now with duallies you'd be good up to 7050 lbs per side... and you'd have a ton of breathing room. This is why duallies often make sense on these 'lightweights'.

 

[Bikersmurf]

Guess what? I was doing some work to get ready for a "paint" job and just for giggles decided to measure my lean. I knew it had some but I don't recall measuring it or thinking it was too bad.

Exactly 2" low on the passenger side. And these were brand new packs installed at the same time. I know where all the weight is and no way this is the heavier side.

I've got 4 batts, two each side so that's a wash. Drivers side is 10# CO2 tank (full), charger/power supply, a few chairs, propane tank, two 5 gal tanks for water, 4 bags of tools from 1/4"-1/2", couple tarps, fluids, inflatable kayak, and misc bits and pieces. Passenger side is a big rubber wheel chock, some misc boards, couple ratchet straps, and one of those tool kits in a plastic case.


Inside drivers side is stove, sink, big fridge, coffee pot and microwave and various kitchen things. Passenger side is two bucket seats, a board and piece of foam on top for a bed.

Go figure

Crappy, I'd not be happy. On the plus side, I'm told you can add up to a 1" spacer without any problems... 1/2" would level it out the 2" in my case. I'm planning to have a shop install them... that way, it'll be level before they're paid.

 

[tgreening]

I've got 2 new rear packs to install that are supposed to the lift the entire rear end 3". What I intend to do is install those and see where I'm at. If I'm not level, in any direction, I'm going to cannibalize the old packs and add leaves to the new where needed to level it up.

That's the plan anyway.

 

[Bikersmurf]

Stock packs have 2.125" of arch in them... so for 3" they should have 5+ inches of arch. I'd measure axle to bump stop with the current pack, swap in the new one, and jack up the axle before tightening up the U-Blots (or even the other bolts). A measure of axle to bump stop will give you a good idea of lift. With the new pack, I should've gone with my gut... things looked wrong well before it was tightened up, and they didn't get better once on the ground.

Both sides have a reverse arch... and despite what the shops tell me, it doesn't seem right that they're beyond flat when the 'Van' is empty...

 

[tgreening]

I don't think my old packs were negative, and they were 24 yrs old. When I said lift my rear 3" I meant 3 more inches from where it is now, and the springs in there were supposed to be a 6" lift to begin with.

I started stripping all the plasti-dip tonight so I can start scuffing everything. Going to hit the pig with raptor liner. After that I'll get on these springs.

 

[Bikersmurf]

Well, the 8-18v house battery meter went on the fritz today. It was reading low, then waving around, and then it stopped moving. The inverter has a digital Voltage meter so I know the batteries weren't on the fritz.

So, anyone know where I can find a 8-18v 2" gauge to match the Transport Authority one that died? The next option would be an analogue gauge 8-18v with about 270 deg sweep. The original had markings showing cranking voltage, ok, and charging ranges.

Anyone have one they took out of an ambulance?

 

[Bikersmurf]

The new rear springs are in... +/-1.5" higher at the rear wheel wells. The spring shop needed to add a 1" block on the drivers side to get the truck to sit level... hope it stays level as I put on some miles. The front also seems higher on the drivers side... I only had time to give it a quick look over before dropping it off at the A/C shop to have the rear A/C lines fixed and the system charged.

 

[Abitibi]

Well, the 8-18v house battery meter went on the fritz today. It was reading low, then waving around, and then it stopped moving. The inverter has a digital Voltage meter so I know the batteries weren't on the fritz.

So, anyone know where I can find a 8-18v 1.5" gauge to match the Transport Authority one that died? The next option would be an analogue gauge 8-18v with about 270 deg sweep. The original had markings showing cranking voltage, ok, and charging ranges.

Anyone have one they took out of an ambulance?

I'll check on my spare parts, might have one for you!

Sent from my SGP511 using Tapatalk

 

[Bikersmurf]

Thanks.


Anyone know how much refrigerant a 97 E350 Crestline Ambulance needs?