Belafonte Reboot....Ambulance to 4x4 Camper Conversion

[tgreening]

Its not the rear, it sits nose down. Fairly standard issue of pickup trucks. It just needs the front end picked up a bit to level it out. Still doing my home work there because IFS like this is totally new to me. Been a solid axle guy pretty much forever and those are generaly dead simple to lift. These Tacos it seems there are a bazillion types of lifts just depending on which trim level of truck you have, and I havent got all that sorted out yet.

Mine is the TRD Offroad model which I'm understanding has a bit different suspension under it than other models. Looks to me I could get my 33s under there just by leveling the front to the rear, but not positive. It has 31.5 x 10.5 on it now, with as far as I know no lift, but I dont know how to figger out the lift question for sure.

 

[flightcancled]

No it's really not bad at all. There are two lug patterns, what comes on the base, and everything else (6?). So any SR5/sport/off-road model regardless of engine takes the same lift for any 05+. Above 2.5" you need new control arms and to start installing spacers to drop the diff and rear drive shaft. If you want to go beyond 3 then things start getting more involved.

You get what you pay for, more is more. I wasted time and money doing the cheap route, I would get the 3" OME kit with the 885 springs and be done with it. You'll fit 33" tires with lots of room to stuff them, which you'll find yourself doing, because these trucks are FUN!

 

[flightcancled]

Here's a look at what's needed to get the superduty mirrors to work.

For starters just cut that bottom stud off in the 4 bolt pattern. The door flares out so you won't even be able to tighten it anyway.

Looks like the top 2 bolts work and then you will need to drill out the third, but I can't be certain.


Here's what I found when I pulled it all apart. Once again whoever worked on my rig during what I think was a refit did sloppy work.

Not that I would have ever known, but only the top two bolts were actually tight. I now am using 3.

 

[tgreening]

I've been working off n on the front spring hangers for 3 days now, and I've got a whopping 3 holes completed. I'm either the worlds worst hole driller, the frame is made out of tool steel up there, or dewault makes the crappiest steel drilling bits on the planet. Probably should have just welded the damn things on.

If I had it to do again, I am sooo frackin frustrated at the moment, I'd have just driven down to UJor and paid them to drill the stupid things. I think probably the first mistake was opting to source bits local, instead of just buying what Chris uses. Shouldnt have messed with success.

Anyway, whiney ***** mode over. I just need to find someplace around here that has 1/2 & 3/4 bits that are worth a crap. The 3/16 & 3/8 seem to be gettin it done for some reason, but the 1/2s suck great big goats. The first 3/4 lasted 1 hole I think. The last one was doing ok, till it fetched up in the hole and bent the shank. How I managed to do that without breaking a wrist is beyond me, but bend she did. Like a banana.

Anyway, to finish making a short story long, dont buy your bits from Lowes or the like. Suck it up and buy the package from Chris, or find someplace that supplies machine shops and go that route. Otherwise these holes can beat you to death.


That bit up ^^^^^ there is from a few days ago when I posted it i the Ujor thread.

I got around to going at it again, armed with the highest quality bits Harbor Freight has to offer, and they aren't doing too bad. I managed to finish up the drivers side and moved on to the passenger side....which has been a complete freaking comedy of (un)funny errors from the get go. My favorite-ist Milwaukee drill fetched up in a hole and in the process of almost breaking my wrist managed to rip it's cord out On the spot repair wasn't happening.

My El Cheapo big honkin 1/2" harbor freight special was actually doing a decent job on it's maiden voyage till it's forward/reverse rocker style switch gave up the forward ghost and only wished to work in reverse. My little 3/8' harbor freight special was/is a real trooper so far and doing everything it can, but it can't hold the bigger bits. Busted out the cordless Dewault 1/2" and discovered that one of it's two batteries gave up the ghost at some point this winter. Oh, did I mention that while using it while stuffed up in the fender well area I had lapse in concentration and hit the trigger while the bit was buried in the hole instead of getting up to speed and then feeding into the hole. Naturally it instantly fetched up, did it's best to break that same poor wrist, and failing that decided to continue on around and bust me in the bottom of the jaw hard enough to make me see god for a moment. Thankfully I was in an unusual mouth closed state instead of my normal slack-jawed mouth open tongue out mouth breather mode. I'd have probably lost my tongue.

So, to recap. One side all drilled. The other side is mostly drilled except for the outside 3/4 holes. At this point I'm just hoping to get through this portion without losing any limbs....

 

[tgreening]

On a lighter note! My girls are girl scouts and one of them had an event where her and I had to bake a cake. So here it is. I designed and baked, she made the little deocrations.

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She named it "Minion Party". If you know the Despicable Me movies it'll make sense. The Minions are twinkies. Their goggles and the little floaties are fondant. The hot tub is made out of kit-kats. Of course the inside is cake and the frosting is the water. She won first prize in her category (movie characters) and Best Overall. She was pretty proud.

 

[patoz]

Man the cake looks good, and congratulations to the little one...well, both of you!

I saw your post on Chris' thread, so I know you're a welder. Why couldn't you use a cutting torch on the larger 3/4" holes by using the holes in the brackets as a guide, and running the tip around the inside to burn out the frame metal? Then use a step bit to bring the diameter to the correct specification. No point in using all that energy to drill out the center of the hole when all you need is the circumference removed.

I had to drill several 5/16" holes in my frame to relocate some of the ground cables, so I know how hard that stuff is. I have a 'Drill Doctor' bit sharpener, but it won't sharpen center point bits, however I'm going to break it out the next time I drill any more holes and just use regular bits.

 

[tgreening]

None of the hangers have 3/4" holes in them. They're all 1/2" holes. You use those to center punch the frame, and then drill all that out to 1/2", matching the hangers, and then you drill the outside holes of the hangers and the frame to 3/4".

You have to watch the bits you use. Most of the stuff you find in home depot/lowes/etc is really only meant for light duty use. Thin steel, sheet metal, and what-not. Generally they're 118 deg bits and what you want for heavier duty use / harder steel is 135 deg bits. These frames are actually pretty thick. I think I've still got two holes to bring up to 1/2", and then I'll pull the hanger off and use the step bit to finish up the 3/4s. You have to pull the hanger to use the step bits because the combined thickness of the frame/hanger is deeper than the individual steps of the bit. IOW, if the hanger hole is 3/4" the frame hole under it will be whatever step bit size is just under 3/4. Make sense?


The cake itself was good, but good god those twinkies. I hadnt eaten one of those things in decades and popped one of the leftover bits in the ol' pie hole because I didn't want to waste it. Blech!!! Those things are horrible! It tasted like every chemical in my Junior Mad Scientist Chemistry Set, in sponge form. The wife and I hate wasting food but we had a big discussion about these and finally decided that they weren't really food, in the bin they went. Good riddance!

 

[patoz]

Yep, that makes sense. I guess it's like any job, it's all about having the right tools.

I haven't eaten a Twinkie in probably 20 years, so thanks for the warning.

 

[flightcancled]

Did you pull the bumper when you drilled the hangers?

I was thinking of doing the jeep bumper retrofit and drilling the hangers in one (agonizing, drill destroying,) shot.

 

[tgreening]

Did you pull the bumper when you drilled the hangers?

I was thinking of doing the jeep bumper retrofit and drilling the hangers in one (agonizing, drill destroying,) shot.

Pulled the bumper yes, but it was because of the frame stiffener that goes behind it that's part of the Ujor kit. I didnt really pay attention but I'm guessing you'd want to pull it regardless, just to make sure you have plenty of room.


If I were starting over I'd head to the local tool rental and rent a mag base drill. Those things are generally drilling monsters and I've never had one fetch up and try to twist my arm off, or burn up. I had one and let it go when the mag base started to get weak. As much dinky around as I do with metal I really should pick up another one.

Make sure you take a disgusting amount of pictures when you do that bumper. You know, the kind with parts layouts, dimesnions, material lists and what-not. . I saw that other thread as well, but since lost it, and it sounds like a MUCH more attractive propostion than shelling out $1,500 + for an aluminess or other aftermarket.

I can't bring myself to drop the coin for that. To me some things dont have the return value, and 4 figures plus just aint gitten it on a bumper. Of course there are guys over on Taco World that cant wait to drop $2,000 PLUS, just for some fancy brighter headlights. Headlights for crying out loud! I just cant wrap my head around that one no way.

 

[flightcancled]

Tacoma world has its share of nuts, but there is relatively little you can do to them compared to the platforms.we.have chosen. Plus, let's be honest, we are talking about rigs they are going to try and pick up chicks with.

Then again if I land a chick because of the ambo I'm probably putting a ring on it...

 

[cjken]

That's a great cake!!
So creative!!

 

[tgreening]

Finally got all those frackin holes drilled. The HF step bit worked pretty good, I just had to pull the hangers off the frame and drill the hanger and frame seperately. Otherwise the combined thickness was too much.

I've got pictures to prove it and I'll post them later. I still need to pull the old shocks off and the frame mounts for the old suspension. Got carried away with the hangers and skipped those steps. Anyway, pull those and I can plasma cut the holes in the frame for the rear shackle bushing. Woo hoo! Once thats done I'm going to send all that stuff to the powder coater and then I can get it mounted. Speaking of...


The rear bolts of the drivers side spring hanger are pretty close to the radiator, as in the bottom bolt is right up against it. The radiator flares out a bit at the bottom, and for some reason its closer to the frame on the drivers side than it is on the passenger side. The two combined are causing the no clearance issue. Has anybody messed with the radiator enough to know if there is any wiggle room as far as mounting? Can it be loosened and fudged to the passenger side a bit?

Also bought a couple of goodies for the ambo, but I'm not sure how I'm going to make them work. More info and questions when I post their pictures later along with the others.

Motivation came to a screaching halt this afternoon after the last of the holes. It's 2 deg here at the moment and dropping. Kind of temp that just laughs at my torpedo heater. Towards the end I thought the flame coming out was going to freeze solid so I said screw it. Supposed to hit -15 - -20 later tonight. Yee haw.

 

[tgreening]

Proof in the pudding and all that...

Passenger side.

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This side went fairly easy as far as the hole drilling went. Not "too" bad. This pic shows the jig for cutting the rear shackle bushing hole. Not the best picture, but I was getting cold and fast losing interest.

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And the absolute rat-bastard drivers side. I swear this side was hardened steel.

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My goodies! These came off a 80's era E-series ambo, but I don't think my A-pillar has enough meat around the windshield to cut these in. The only spot even close is way down at the bottom of the windshield I don't think the shaft would clear the top of the dash. I'm going to see if I can find the makers website and see what it has for info. Maybe if worst case I can convert them to overhear units and mount them through the top of the roof. I had one of those on an old Jeep Scrambler I had and it was pretty cool.

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And a bit of OT nonsense just to keep it from getting too stale in here...

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My great great grandmother. Yeah? Yeah? Pretty much defines GGGMILF doesn't it?

 

[patoz]

The lift kit install is looking good and can't wait to see the end result!

Those spotlights look like Unity Manufacturing Co. units. Man, I have installed a few dozen of those in my career.

http://www.unityusa.com/Spotlight-Catalog-By-Spotlight_c_137.html

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/unity-spotlight

I will tell you from experience, the 'A' post is the worse possible place on a vehicle to mount them from an operational standpoint, even though those mounts were designed for that. You will find there are dead spots, and no matter how much you turn and twist the handle, the light will not point in that direction. Mounting on the roof is probably the best location as far as coverage range goes. The light only moves in two planes, and that's what causes the problem. Also, the driver can only operate the one on the driver's side, so that leaves a huge blind spot on the passenger side if he is alone. The large truck mirrors also get in the way. With one on the roof, in the center and slightly forward, the driver can hit anything the rear module (patient compartment) doesn't block. Of course the 'cool factor' is not as good with one mounted on the roof.

The old style sealed beam or halogen lights provided a fairly tight spot which added to the problem. However, the newer LED ($$$) bulbs provide a wider beam so aim is not as critical and will cover some of the small blind spots.

In the old days (1975) my roommate was a Deputy Sheriff and I use to ride with him, mostly at night. We would always keep the post mounted spotlights turned down to protect the bulbs, and during the day the chrome provided a 'mirror' so we could see the emergency lights on top of the car. On more than one occasion a LEO has responded in emergency mode (or so he thought), only to find out after the fact, that his lights were not working. Lawyers have a field-day in court when that situation causes an accident.