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

[patoz]

Ive still got it. The one it's meant to replace is just about history, but I have to cut and splice to swap them and at this point I'm focused on the getting the Raptor done and out of my hair. After that I'll address the lights, which I believe includes my rear floods. I'm pretty sure those were wired to come on when I hit reverse, but now they don't for some reason.

Those are called the 'Rear Load Lights' and unless someone wired them to the reverse lights, I doubt it came that way from Wheeled Coach, but it's possible. Normally, they are activated by a switch labeled 'Rear Load' on the front console.

 

[Bikersmurf]

Ive still got it. The one it's meant to replace is just about history, but I have to cut and splice to swap them and at this point I'm focused on the getting the Raptor done and out of my hair. After that I'll address the lights, which I believe includes my rear floods. I'm pretty sure those were wired to come on when I hit reverse, but now they don't for some reason.

They should come on in reverse... mine were disabled when I got it, but it was an easy fix. I found that the reverse lights wire was cut and then had a wire nut on the end. I'd guess one of the POs (likely the electrician) wanted manual control.

 

[patoz]

They should come on in reverse... mine were disabled when I got it, but it was an easy fix. I found that the reverse lights wire was cut and then had a wire nut on the end. I'd guess one of the POs (likely the electrician) wanted manual control.

Depending on the manufacturer, and what year it was built (applicable KKK, NFPA, DOT standards) they very well could be. I have the same model as Tom, but one year newer. But like an idiot, I failed to test all of my lights before I removed the cab and front end. Since I knew I would be rewiring everything to a new switch panel, I wasn't worried about it then. Now, I wish I had taken the time to do that and write down my findings, because ultimately it would have helped me in the long run also.

 

[Bikersmurf]

Mine is five years newer... and I don't know if our regs are any different. I know the ambulance service up here has bought rigs originally outfit for south of the border... but don't know if any changes were necessary. I know our crews were surprised to find a gun storrage compartment on a rig that'd come from Cali...

 

[patoz]

Mine is five years newer... and I don't know if our regs are any different. I know the ambulance service up here has bought rigs originally outfit for south of the border... but don't know if any changes were necessary. I know our crews were surprised to find a gun storrage compartment on a rig that'd come from Cali...

No, you don't see that everyday, especially from the land of fruits and nuts (the politicians)!

 

[tgreening]

I'm just about 100% positive those lights came on in reverse. Otherwise I'd never be able to see squat at night, which is pretty much what I see now. When I was doing the Raptor on the back end I let the backup/brake/turn lights just hang, which was probably a mistake. I might have pulled a wire somewhere, but I've yet to crawl under to look. I'll get to it this weekend, and hopefully finish up the exterior Raptor liner as well.

 

[patoz]

I'm just about 100% positive those lights came on in reverse. Otherwise I'd never be able to see squat at night, which is pretty much what I see now. When I was doing the Raptor on the back end I let the backup/brake/turn lights just hang, which was probably a mistake. I might have pulled a wire somewhere, but I've yet to crawl under to look. I'll get to it this weekend, and hopefully finish up the exterior Raptor liner as well.

I've looked under mine at the wiring and it's a nightmare from a tracing point of view. It's all in that plastic convoluted tubing, taped, mounted with metal clamps about every foot or so, and then covered in diesel soot and dirt.

Now that I think about it, those Rear Load Lights probably were wired into the reverse lights via a relay. I don't have that type of rear load light because mine is all built into the light bar. I do have two big Wheldon Backup/Brake lights assemblies just above the rear bumper. The turn signal lights are the two busted up amber Whelen 700 series directional lights.




All of these have been removed and will be replaced by Bargman LED clusters. They will be mounted where the amber turn signals are now, which will get them up away from the bumper and any deep water. The screwy looking incandescent backup lights have been replaced with clear LED elements that match the red and amber ones. They aren't as bright as I'd like them to be, but they look good on there. The rest of that wiring is for the trailer tongue.

 

[gouldjam]

patoz,
where did you get those bargman lights? are they flush mount to the body or recessed and need a new hole cut for them to fit?
thanks

 

[patoz]

patoz,
where did you get those bargman lights? are they flush mount to the body or recessed and need a new hole cut for them to fit?
thanks

They are recessed mounted and require a cutout of: 12 11/16" X 5 1/2" behind them, which is why I haven't mounted them yet. I want to be 100% sure before I start cutting. Amazon sells them as does just about any trailer supply place. I found a two-for-one deal on Drawtite.com when I bought mine last year, but you don't want to pay their regular price.

http://www.drawtite.com/dt47-85-004.html

http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Lights/Bargman/47-85-004.html

http://led4rv.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=11

https://www.amazon.com/Bragman-Tail...0&keywords=Bargman+Trailer+Lights+-+47-85-004


This wasn't available when I bought mine, and I may rethink my plan. It's a dual light unit, but is surface mounted and includes the required rear facing reflector. All of these lights can be purchased with black bezel also.

https://www.amazon.com/Bargman-47-8..._17?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=SA59G0JHR5XK13Q6MDHJ

 

[tgreening]

All taped for the final (I think) shoot of Raptor. Rockers, the front module corners, and in back the sides I'm going to give it that phony beaver tail look without actually chopping all the sheet metal. Can't do that, nope nope. Can't bring myself to lose the compartment space, and besides, when you do that you're not "really" gaining clearance because the frame hangs down lower than the point everyone chops to. If you chop it about bottom frame level you don't end up cutting much. IOW, the frame is pretty much the lowest point, not the body, so what's the point?

Anyway, I'll get some pics up in a Mexico Minute, but it's just plastic and paper taped to the van. Probably won't get shot till Monday because tomorrow is family day at the annual Hillbilly Speed Dating Festival, otherwise known as the local fair.

Kids like the food.

 

[tgreening]

Super Awesome Amazing Photos...Good Job.

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[FDM2012]

I can't wait. Gonna be badazz!!

 

[tgreening]

I can't wait. Gonna be badazz!!

Thanks. And I forgot to mention something I noticed awhile back. Do you realize the link to the build thread in your sig actually goes to a 10 yr old thread by someone called dieselcruiserhead?

 

[FDM2012]

Hmmm... for some reason, part of the url was being chopped off. I edited it, and it appears to be working now.
Thanks for the heads up.

 

[tgreening]

Well it's done. I didnt realize how absolutely crap-tastic the pics were till it was too late to take more. Try again tomorrow. You can get the basic idea so I'm open to opinions. At the moment, I'm kind of undecided. It looked ok in my head, but now that it's done, not so sure.

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Pulled the headliner down to recover because the cloth was starting to separate from the foam, and started scraping all that nastiness off. The last vehicle I did was my Wagoneer which was a whole lot bigger, but the overhead was like a really dense cardboard and was fairly easy to clean up. The stuff in the van is like some kind of thin foam core board with one side shot with a thin coat of long fiber fiberglass. That was a pain to scrape because my scraper kept catching and ripping into the fibers. After awhile I got the hang of it. I managed to finish it up and get it covered but didn't get a picture of that tonight. Get that up tomorrow. Looks a whole bunch better.

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