From Freightliner ambulance to RV - we hope!

[patoz]

Ross, take a look at this...

How about an "Access Freightliner" tutorial?

http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=116995

 

[rossvtaylor]

Ross, take a look at this...

How about an "Access Freightliner" tutorial?

http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=116995

Thanks, Patoz. I signed up online, as the dealer didn't have a clue. Reading the thread you linked, that seems like a common issue.

Now, I just wait for up to three weeks for them to process it. No worries or hurry here...

 

[Ozrockrat]

Oh bugger! I forgot to let you know to talk to the warranty people not parts/service. And I stuck you with the wrong axle decoder diagram. See it doesn't pay to rub in the cruise control

 

[shortbus4x4]

Cruise control envy rears its ugly face on expo.

 

[rossvtaylor]

Oh bugger! I forgot to let you know to talk to the warranty people not parts/service. And I stuck you with the wrong axle decoder diagram. See it doesn't pay to rub in the cruise control

Don't forget the lumbar support!

No worries, though! You are, indeed, correct and I'll go back to the warranty folks at some point. I just got this from Freightliner/Daimler:

 

[rlrenz]

Unfortunately, AccessFreightliner doesn't do a lot for anything built before 2001 - but it does result in service bulletins from your engine manufacturer. More may be available in the future.

The easiest way to find out just what your chassis has is to bring the last six digits from your VIN (Letter followed by 5 numbers) to the parts department, and then they can pull up a printout of what was part of the original vehicle chassis.

Also, most Freightliner dealers have pretty good deals on cab radios. My local dealer told me that dump trucks and similar rough riding trucks destroy their AM/FM/etc cab radios within 6 months to a year. I was able to buy a new Panasonic AM/FM/CD/Weather/Sirius radio from them for $97.00. It came with the adapter cable so everything just plugged in.

 

[rossvtaylor]

The easiest way to find out just what your chassis has is to bring the last six digits from your VIN (Letter followed by 5 numbers) to the parts department, and then they can pull up a printout of what was part of the original vehicle chassis.

That's easy for you to say! I had my title in hand, but the part's guy was useless. No joy there... It would have been nice not to crawl and scrape to get the number. But I got it! I'll go back, though, and talk to the warranty people.

Thanks for the heads-up on the radios. We've got two in this rig (one in the cab and one in the box) and don't know if we'll use the one in the cab... it's a bit loud up there. We don't currently have an antenna on that one, so we don't know how it sounds. Is it usable with the road and engine noise?

 

[bobrenz]

The cab radio can be heard parked, and in town, but not worth a hoot on the highway. I've thought about installing a set of speakers on the rear of the cab so I can actually hear them. Headphones would work, but I don't think they'd be legal

 

[patoz]

This should do it...

Actually, you can get headrest speaker kits. Most of these are for use in convertibles, but I'm sure they could be adapted to your seats, as long as you have some kind of headrest.

Just Google 'Headrest Speaker Kits', and start following the links.

 

[guidolyons]

Well, damn. Another cool used ambulance conversion to follow. Nice job so far.

 

[rossvtaylor]

Well, damn. Another cool used ambulance conversion to follow. Nice job so far.

Well, thanks! We haven't done any real work on it, yet, but we're making progress with the prep. We received our Eastwood "rat rod" satin black paint and our striping removal tools. Kara and I did take a wander through an RV salvage yard in Phoenix, this weekend, but it was more like some post-apocalyptic movie scene than anything useful. Well, it was useful in reminding us how poorly built typical RVs are. That's why we're starting this project.



The RV salvage yard did have some of the better bits pulled out, for sale inside their building. But they wanted darn-near new prices for some pretty rough stuff. No finds here...

But, we did pick up some of the CraigsList purchases we'd made the previous week... six 22.5x9 inch rims. The bolt pattern is right, but the offset won't be perfect. For the price, though, it is worth having these for testing and preliminary fit.



As you see in the pic, we also grabbed a Warn M12000 winch on a mounting plate. With a snatch block and some good bumper (frame) anchors, we'll get 20,000+ of pull if we need it. I thought the $750 asking price for the winch was fair... not a stellar write-home-to-your-winch-appreciating-mother deal, but fair if it worked. That was without knowing it was mounted on a heavy-duty mounting plate, which will save us having to fabricate or buy one (they're $250 or more, it seems). We tested the winch (no load, granted) and everything works smoothly, so we felt good about the final $700 purchase. I'm not a good haggler...

We also got a microwave, for countertop mounting - all of $60.



And, finally, FedEx is supposed to be delivering our tires today. An import brand, Dyna Cargo Y601 on/off road tires. Our local truck tire advisor said they've had good experiences with these. We ordered 315/80-R22.5 sizes. Not as wide as some of the monsters I've seen others use (ahem, Ozrockrat and others...). But, for our intended use, we think they're a good first trial.



These tires are rated for 8800 pounds and have a speed rating of 81mph. The section width is 12.2 inches, but I'll need to measure to get the tread width when they arrive.

 

[patoz]

If that winch works OK under load, that was indeed a good find!

As soon as you get a chance to test out that Microwave, please post your findings. I will be looking for one for my camper also, and for that price I may just get one for the house since my built in Maytag is on it's last leg.

 

[rossvtaylor]

If that winch works OK under load, that was indeed a good find!

As soon as you get a chance to test out that Microwave, please post your findings. I will be looking for one for my camper also, and for that price I may just get one for the house since my built in Maytag is on it's last leg.

I do plan to disassemble the gearbox and check/lube the winch before I install it, but I have high hopes there. And, yes, I'll let you know how the microwave works out. It's small, but should run fine on the inverter for quick heating needs.

 

[patoz]

:26_7_2:

 

[rossvtaylor]

Winner, winner, microwave dinner...

Well, the new $60 microwave is pretty impressive. Kara and I looked at others which were significantly more expensive, but which looked cheaper. Many had stick-on imitation stainless labels or other junk. This little Magic Chef looks quite nice, in person. And it works off our Xantrex 1000W ProSine inverter. We do have plans to add a second, larger-capacity inverter, so this is good news. But, the best part is what happens to the flashing clock when you power it up... NOTHING!



It sounds silly, but Kara and I did a bit of online searching to see if anyone made a microwave without a clock. Or, one with a back-up battery. We'll be running this thing on inverter or shore power, so it will be disconnected from AC most of the time. This little oven just shows the static 0:00 timer, and that's all. Nice.