Buying & Building a Medium Ambulance into an RV – The FAM-BULANCE

[rlrenz]

As some of you know, I belong to a professional emergency vehicle upfitter's group - those are the guys who turn an as-delivered vehicle into a police car, with the appropriate lights, K9 kennels, etc. They also overhaul and remount ambulances. One of the recent postings mentioned CTECH for vehicle cabinets and drawers. Looking at their web site, their products might also work very well in expedition vehicles:

http://www.ctechmanufacturing.com/products/

 

[patoz]

I just went through that website completely, and I see all kinds of things I like! But unfortunately, their price range doesn't fit anywhere in my price range.

I did get some good ideas on things for free though. :agree:

 

[rlrenz]

Oh yeah -- anyone supplying professional racers is always far from cheap, but there are some nice ideas out there!

 

[rlrenz]

Progress is proceeding!

Ever since I bough the ambulance, I've been thinking about a spare tire holder/rack. I considered between the frame rails, except the numbers didn't work; I thought about a swinging tire rack on a new rear bumper, but I didn't like the looks, plus I wanted to be able to easily open the rear doors without fighting with a spare tire. Plan C was going to be it -- an in-the-compartment spare tire holder. Accordingly, I welded up a spare tire holder that would fit into my #3 compartment (rear of driver's side).

My love of overkill surfaced - it has three 3/8" stainless bolts on each end that run through the floor and through some stainless steel angles, plus it has four stainless steel 3/8 Allen head countersunk bolts that run through the 2x2" aluminum box tube support structure for the body. These have some strips of 1 1/2x12x1/4" aluminum to spread the load to prevent deformation of the tubing.

The tire is held tight to the rack with a 7/8" bolt and handwheel nut that run through a piece of 3/4x5" aluminum.

The as-installed rack


The rack with the compartment tile notched


The finished rack, complete with tire (I loaded it the easy way -- I rolled it up a plank, and wiggled it into position with a piece of plywood and a Wonder bar. I may adjust the shelf over the tire a little closer sometime -- or not.

I'm also going to install a piece of 1/10" aluminum deckplate on the back of the cabinet with some 3M 5200 and pop rivets, and I'll add a piece of plywood to the interior framing with the correct Formica - I'll also cut down the sliding door height to match. That will happen down the road, though.

 

[FDM2012]

Looks stout and awesome.

I really dig all of the custom build ideas and visions that everyone has for their rigs.

Fun Stuff!

 

[rlrenz]

As a USCG Auxiliary communicator, I need the ability to connect various 2-way radios to my ambulance's 12 volt system when required. This means a fused tap with a distribution capability. After looking at the while thing, I decided that a tap into the module electrical system would make the most sense. I need something that can be easily connected/disconnected as required.

I finally settled on military connectors - the kind with a threaded clamp ring surrounding various pin configurations. I narrowed the search down to the Amphenol 5015 series of connector, with a 22-2 pin configuration. The combination of 5015 & 22-2 results in a 3-pin connector that's set up for #8 conductors, and is rated at 46 amps. The clamp ring has a fine thread.

Why this connector? This connector has been a standard Army radio power connector for probably more than 50 years, and they are readily available from surplus dealers. I bought mine the easy way -- an EBAY search for "22-2 connector" gave me several pages to choose from, and the prices typically only were about $12-15 for a connector and receptacle pair.

More on this as I gradually collect all the parts I'll need, but here's what the connector looks like:

 

[rlrenz]

Every once in a while, something strikes me as funny - sometimes its only me, though.

Tonight, my wife mentioned that we didn't have any outdoor Christmas decorations up yet like some of our neighbors do. We have several large inflatable Santas and Frostys, but the winds curl around the front of the house, and cause Frosty to wave obscenely at everyone, while Santa looks like he's caught in a November gale on Lake Superior. The long term plan is to add an outdoor receptacle in an area on the house that doesn't get the curling winds, except I don't know if there is such a spot.

In an inspired moment, I mentioned that since we do have my ambulance project in the driveway, and since my ambulance has colored lights that flash, maybe I could just run the lights in the evenings.

She didn't agree with this plan...

 

[FDM2012]

Bummer. It sounded like a great idea to me!

Every once in a while, something strikes me as funny - sometimes its only me, though.

Tonight, my wife mentioned that we didn't have any outdoor Christmas decorations up yet like some of our neighbors do. We have several large inflatable Santas and Frostys, but the winds curl around the front of the house, and cause Frosty to wave obscenely at everyone, while Santa looks like he's caught in a November gale on Lake Superior. The long term plan is to add an outdoor receptacle in an area on the house that doesn't get the curling winds, except I don't know if there is such a spot.

In an inspired moment, I mentioned that since we do have my ambulance project in the driveway, and since my ambulance has colored lights that flash, maybe I could just run the lights in the evenings.

She didn't agree with this plan...

 

[patoz]

Yeah, but we solved that problem real quick didn't we? :victory:

 

[rlrenz]

Still sorting out the garage - it's amazing how much stuff can collect in a garage the second something pulls out. I think that within a day or so after I sold my military 6x6 truck, the garage never looked like there had ever been a truck parked there. Lately, my grandson has been the culprit - as soon as he was born, my wife checked with the neighbors, and found some essential baby-stuff. I still have a crib in the garage that needs a bit of repair before he can use it - but she tells me that I have about a year before he'll need one this size. The plan is for it to leave within the next week, then my favorite ambulance can sneak into the garage - and the real fun will be when the neighbors notice that it's gone! Some of them have openly laughed when I told them that it would be in the garage!

It's been in my driveway long enough that Google has it on their satellite photos:



As soon as it's tucked in (and thawed out), I can get back to my build -- the cooktop, refrigerator, and heater are all that I'll need to complete before I can get an RV registration.

 

[rlrenz]

Like anyone who is both rebuilding and building a project, the end result will also have some leftovers. Like the Johnny Cash song, "One piece at a time", some of the parts you buy are lost forever in the garage, some flat-out don't fit, some ideas died after some of the parts were purchased, and other parts were bought for a totally un-remembered project. That's life.

Somehow, I wound up with enough oxygen masks to outfit a senior citizen's center - I only wanted a couple. Somehow, the one oxygen regulator I was looking for turned into four (maybe they're like rabbits?). Even though when I retired from 3M, I was sure I had plenty of crimp-on terminals, I've found that the copy paper box full of 3M terminals was just a starting point. I also have a fire truck's exterior radio box that I bought for "something". I have friends in the 2-way radio service that have handed me radios that can probably contact Mars if the winds are right. I have a peculiar assortment of emergency warning lights in a variety of colors courtesy of some emergency vehicle electrician friends (and the only color I can use is amber...). The same folks have handed me 3-4 sirens (again, not very usable on an RV).

I've gone from buying LED lights, to considering becoming a dealer.

That's the way of the vehicle collector's world - when the buggy is finished, it will have some spares still sitting on the shelf (spares that aren't quite right, or don't fit, or don't do what I wanted them to do). And that's when I start showing up at flea markets as a seller....

And that's life.

 

[rlrenz]

OK, gents - who's gonna be first in line when this beauty shows up in a surplus sale? A KW medium ambulance, complete with a crew cab. It was on display at the EMS World Expo. For those of you who need to participate for business, it's in October in Las Vegas.



Crestline also had their new design on display - it was developed in cooperation with Allina Health Systems here in MN. Instead of the usual cabinets on the interior, they have provisions to hang supplies from the walls (me? I prefer cabinets!).

 

[patoz]

Big Blue there would make a nice camper/RV. I won't even try to imagine what it cost new.

I don't particularly like the old Type III Ford van cabs, but when the manufacturers start using the Transit and the Mercedes cutaway chassis, I might just have to consider getting one of those. Of course, it might be 5 - 10 years before the used ones become available.

 

[nickgindy]

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[rlrenz]

Big Blue there would make a nice camper/RV. I won't even try to imagine what it cost new.

I don't particularly like the old Type III Ford van cabs, but when the manufacturers start using the Transit and the Mercedes cutaway chassis, I might just have to consider getting one of those. Of course, it might be 5 - 10 years before the used ones become available.

This thing will be hard to guess - the truck is a Kenworth T270 series, except the crew cab version, so I'm guessing $150-200,000 for the truck when you factor in all the ambulance requirements, then maybe another $250,000 for the module? It would all depend on the options -- both on the truck and on the module. I wouldn't be surpriced to see a sticker price of $400,000 or so.