Point Five Ambo Build
- Thread starter patoz
- Start date
flightcancled
Explorer
Now if I just had a laundry monkey and a sandwich monkey, and a welding monkey.....
You've gotta run that thing over a scale! Or at least find out what the scrap yard scales said.
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You've gotta run that thing over a scale! Or at least find out what the scrap yard scales said.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
patoz
Expedition Leader
It's going by the Cat Scales on the way home, because I have to have a weight to determine if I need a title or not. Anything 3,000 lbs. or over requires one, and I feel I'm way over that weight limit.
Now about that trunk monkey, If you find one that will do all of that, see if he has a friend!
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Patoz - Very cool build, it's nice to see it getting off the ground! It's interesting to see that you've also removed the one thing I hated the most about my ambo, the fact that it was on a VAN platform! I might have even considered doing the same, if I had a truck ballsy enough to tow it around. I'm curious to hear your impressions on how it tows on your trip home, that's a HUGE wall to be pushing through the air. Any thoughts on adding something that would be more aerodynamic to the front?
patoz
Expedition Leader
Thanks Carl!
Back in the 80's, I was about 225 lbs. and 6'1", and even then I hated driving the van platform as an ambulance, because there is just no room in them. Once we switched to the PU truck cabs, the difference was like day and night. However, the vans do look cool lifted with big tires and converted to 4 x 4, I guess because it gives them the military truck look.
Yes, I've thought about that flat front end, but a lot of the Well Cargo, etc. enclosed trailers are the same way, just not quite as wide. We measured it last weekend, and the overall length, from the front of the coupler to the rear edge of the back step, is right at 20'. The extended tongue, which will carry a large tool box, makes up about 1/3 of the overall length.
This is the truck I'm going to tow it with. It has an A.R.E. camper shell on it, so I'm hoping it will help get the air stared over and around the ambo/camper. It's squatting a little in the rear because I was headed to a big cookout and it was loaded with supplies. That is a huge trailer mounted smoker/grill behind it.
I'm going to paint the ambo/camper Oxford White to match the truck, and I already have the eight hole stainless wheel covers to match the truck's wheels. I think they are going to look good together, at least I hope so.
Most of my trips are going to be local and probably within a 100 miles or so, unless it's a bugout situation. And in most cases, it probably won't be going over 60 mph either. That truck only gets 9 mph without a load behind it, so I hate to think what it's going to be pulling a camper. Although, it does have 310 horsepower and 425 foot-pounds of torque. Other people I've talked to with this engine say they can pull a 5,000 lb. boat and don't even know it's back there.
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patoz
Expedition Leader
Well, this is what an ambulance looks like when you cut it in half and make a trailer out of the back half. The trailer tongue looks heavy in these pictures, but it's not. My truck is loaded down with tools, supplies, and the leftover steel, plus the rear wheels are sitting in a low area, as are the camper wheels. That parking lot has them for drainage.
We finished up about 1:30 pm Sunday afternoon and I drove it about ten miles with my buddy following me to make sure it was tracking straight, and it was. I then jumped on the Interstate and headed home, another 60 miles. It was no problem towing it at all, but I could tell it was back there, especially when I started up a hill. I kept an eye on the fuel gage and basically it used the same amount to get home with the trailer, as it did to get to my buddy's house without it. And that was running 65 mph both ways.
Here are some pictures of the tongue construction.
We installed another tongue jack mounting plate further back so that the truck tailgate will clear the jack, and it can be opened with the trailer hooked up, even with the truck and trailer at a 45* degree angle. The plate and coupler both look crooked but they're not. I'm holding the camera a little off center and it's an optical illusion.
We cut the angled metal at a 45* angle and welded a plate to it to add strength and to make a little skid plate for the coupler should it end up in the dirt while crossing uneven terrain.
Here you can see the 2" x 4" channel cross bracing and the Barker 3,500 lb. VIP Power Jack. The safety chains are 4,700 lb. test 5/16" cadmium plated chain and hooks, attached with 12,000 lb. Crosby A336 3/8 Lok-A-Loy Links. The coupler is welded completely around it's perimeter, as are most of the components of the tongue.
A lot of the components and techniques I used building this may appear to be overkill, but not knowing the exact weight of the finished trailer at the time, I wanted to make sure I was way over the minimum requirements needed to be safe. And it's a good thing I did, because I stopped by the Cat Scales on the way home and had it weighed. It weighs 5,100 lbs.!
And finally a little bling! The stainless steel wheel covers were the first thing I bought for it almost a year ago. I know it was like putting the horse before the cart, but I caught them on sale for a little over half price, so I couldn't turn that down.
We finished up about 1:30 pm Sunday afternoon and I drove it about ten miles with my buddy following me to make sure it was tracking straight, and it was. I then jumped on the Interstate and headed home, another 60 miles. It was no problem towing it at all, but I could tell it was back there, especially when I started up a hill. I kept an eye on the fuel gage and basically it used the same amount to get home with the trailer, as it did to get to my buddy's house without it. And that was running 65 mph both ways.
Here are some pictures of the tongue construction.
We installed another tongue jack mounting plate further back so that the truck tailgate will clear the jack, and it can be opened with the trailer hooked up, even with the truck and trailer at a 45* degree angle. The plate and coupler both look crooked but they're not. I'm holding the camera a little off center and it's an optical illusion.
We cut the angled metal at a 45* angle and welded a plate to it to add strength and to make a little skid plate for the coupler should it end up in the dirt while crossing uneven terrain.
Here you can see the 2" x 4" channel cross bracing and the Barker 3,500 lb. VIP Power Jack. The safety chains are 4,700 lb. test 5/16" cadmium plated chain and hooks, attached with 12,000 lb. Crosby A336 3/8 Lok-A-Loy Links. The coupler is welded completely around it's perimeter, as are most of the components of the tongue.
A lot of the components and techniques I used building this may appear to be overkill, but not knowing the exact weight of the finished trailer at the time, I wanted to make sure I was way over the minimum requirements needed to be safe. And it's a good thing I did, because I stopped by the Cat Scales on the way home and had it weighed. It weighs 5,100 lbs.!
And finally a little bling! The stainless steel wheel covers were the first thing I bought for it almost a year ago. I know it was like putting the horse before the cart, but I caught them on sale for a little over half price, so I couldn't turn that down.
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patoz
Expedition Leader
Yep, that's empty except for a 65 lb. spare tire and wheel, but without any batteries, water or waste tanks, propane cylinders, or the Honda generator. I'm guessing it will end up in the 6,000 lb range when I'm done. However, I think I'll save about 100 lbs. when the Dana 60 rear axle with carrier, pinion gear, and axels are swapped for the 10,000 Rockwell trailer axle with electric brakes I have on order for it.
I knew it was going to be heavy, but I'm not building it to drag all over the country. Most of my stuff will be within about 100 mile range. Plus, I wanted something that will not flip over when the winds get to 30-40 mph during hurricanes, like most light weight 12 footers. That's also why I stayed with the dual wheels, which are more stable and add more unsprung weight. Not to mention the redundancy in a flat tire situation. Remember, this is a bug-out trailer in addition to being a camper trailer.
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It might be on the heavy side but something people need to remember. This isn't your run of the mill box trailer or rv camper shell. This can do one thing neither of those could ever hope, and that's roll its way down the highway and survive. The average camper will turn into confetti since they are constructed like paper mache to begin with, and the structure of the average box trailer is just there to hold the skin on to keep everything dry. They aren't built anything like that ambo shell. Mega-Zombie himself could be clawing at the skin and you could sleep easy. 