My 2007 gmc topkick project.

[Farrah’s_dad]

So this seems to be a great place to post about my build. I started this build quite a few years ago (2018) but I still thought that it might help some others building similar trucks. I’ll try to start from the beginning and work my way up to current time, as I have the time to make posts. I originally bought a 16’ Braun ambulance body for scrap price to install on a 1978 4x4 international loadstar I had at the time. I quickly realized that this wasn’t going to be the best chassis for my intended usage. It had a gas engine and 7.17 gears. Top speed was only about 40 miles per hour. It was big and bad, but also rude and crude and nearly impossible to find parts for. For a brief moment I actually considered swapping a Cummins and an Allison along with more modern axles to make it more streetable, but that seemed like a huge project so I started looking for a truck that was already properly equipped for my intended usage. After a bit I found the Kodiak/topkick trucks. After looking for a bit I found my truck in Dallas, Texas just as Covid started. It was a lucky break.

 

[Farrah’s_dad]

Once the truck was home, the project began. The frame was the correct length, but the wheelbase was 4” too long for the box. Removed the old flatbed and sold it. Shortened the wheelbase and had the driveshaft professionally shortened and balanced. Bought new bushings, installed the mounts and installed the box. Easy peasy.

 

[Farrah’s_dad]

Here are some more after the box was installed.

 

[Farrah’s_dad]

Once the box was on there was another fairly long break in the action, then I modified the hitch to fit the truck around the box, and I ordered new wheels and tires from 1st attack. I also found some more of the spotlights like were installed on my body and installed them where the strobe lights were. Best part is that I was able to convert them with 12 volt led bulbs from Home Depot. They were a direct bolt in. Easy peasy. The new spotlights were the same mounting pattern at the old lights so I didn’t have to make any covers for the old mounting holes. Saved a ton of work and now I have really bright spotlights all the way around and they use minimal power. Also reused the wiring from the strobes for the spotlights. This was all around 2021

 

[Farrah’s_dad]

A busy work and home life created a few more long breaks in the action. I between all the life I bought some more big parts, got the bed frame built. It has a foam queen mattress I bought from Walmart, along with an electric carving knife to cut the foam to fit around the tall passenger side compartment. During this time I started buying parts for the electrical system also. Battle born batteries, lots of Victron equipment, and also a diesel fired marine water boiler system made by a Canadian company called internal thermal research. More on all this to come.

 

[Farrah’s_dad]

Spring ahead to 2023-2024. Started installing a lot of the electrical equipment. I’ve tried to make everything as redundant and modular as I could. Secondary dual alternator with a Wakespeed smart regulator; 350 amp. 1085 amp hours of battle born batteries, 3000 watt Victron inverter charger, cerbo gx, dual lynx distributor’s and shunt. SPOD touch screens and switches. I tried to reuse as much of the existing wiring as possible. Purchased 365 watt solar panels, but those still haven’t been installed yet. Also started installing all of the 120 volt ac box and outlets. The entire interior of my box was spray foamed at the factory. I added some more insulation and installed tongue in groove knotty cedar along with led pucklights that are wired to the spod and programmed to be dimmable.

 

[Farrah’s_dad]

It’s been a huge project. At times if feels to be never ending. I’m adhd so I tend to bounce around a lot. But I’m still making regular progress. Slow but regular. I had a chance to purchase an army surplus spare tire carrier a few years into my project and just saved it until the beginning of this summer and finally got it installed. It’s a pretty neat piece of gear, it’s designed so a small person can handle a big spare tire by themselves without much risk of causing themselves any sort of injury. It’s basically a ratcheting screw like a chain binder. It raises and lowers the tire with low effort. I made a heavy steel bumper to mount it to, and also that ties in with the hitch to give it more strength. I added d rings and also added 3 hit receivers in preparation for adding a motorcycle carrier sometime in the future. I will also add another spare tire carrier on the other side to mount the mini split a/c unit. I moved the license plate up high and out of the way. I tried to over build the entire setup for any eventual use I may meet it for. Hauling a bike, pulling a trailer, winch points for self recovery of helping recover others.

 

[Farrah’s_dad]

Some more pics of the tire carrier and bumper. There is still quite a bit of current progress. I’ll post some more as I have time.

 

[mog]

AWESOME. It is always great to see another TopKick/Kodiak project.