Point Five Ambo Build

[cjken]

Awesome!!
You actually have me considering doing the same to my 2nd mini-mod ambo.
It pretty much just sits and is not driven. If I turn it into a trailer I can drive them both!!
I would empty it out strip as much weight as possible and make it basically make it into a utility trailer.

 

[patoz]

Ken, I bought mine at a County Surplus Sale and got it pretty cheap. The cab, engine, and drivetrain were in pretty much shot with almost 300,000 miles on it, so they weren't worth trying to save in my opinion. The rear module is all aluminum and stainless, so it's in very good condition. Plus, I didn't want the hassle and expense of a tag and insurance for another vehicle, so this will give me the best of both worlds.

However, with only 68" of head room and no place for a shower inside, it does have it's limitations. One of my really long range plans is to see how well this works out with just basic amenities and then buy a larger road worthy, pretty much ready to go used ambulance as my primary camper, and tow this one as a secondary for longer trips.

 

[rlrenz]

Ken, the notion of "stripping as much weight.." runs into a problem - an ambulance is built like a brick phone booth. Pat, what does your ambulance-trailer weigh right now?

 

[patoz]

5,200 lbs. with nothing in it.

 

[cjken]

True. I guess that is both good and bad.
If I go that route it will still a ways off time wise.
Mine being a mini mod will probably be a bit lighter.

It would be cool to have a matching trailer.
There are definitely times when it could be useful.

 

[patoz]

Ken, that weight is with all of my cabinets and wiring still intact, and with dual wheels on a 10,000 lb. Rockwell trailer axle with electric brakes. If I remember correctly, the Mini-Mod is a little more narrow and uses a single wheel rear axle right, so if you gutted it and just used it as a cargo trailer you would probably get rid of another thousand pounds.

Just FYI, getting rid of the Ford axle and going to the Rockwell trailer axle made all the difference in the world as far as rolling resistance is concerned. So far, I've only pulled it about 130 miles, but it was no problem at all and tracked very well.

 

[cjken]

Damn it Pat!!
You really have me thinking of chopping the back off this!


The only hold up is that it runs really good.
It does have some rust issues starting to show and recently I blew a front brake line due to rust.
I wonder if there is any market for a relatively low mile idi 7.3 and trans.

Did you sell off any parts of yours or just scrap them? I'd hate to scrap such a good running motor if I eventually go the trailer route.

 

[DzlToy]

^^ You will not have any trouble dumping the low mileage 7.3. They are the most desirable of the Ford diesels to the diehards.

 

[patoz]

Ken, I would have a hard time cutting a perfectly good vehicle in half also. Mine needed so much labor, parts, and expense that I deemed it just not worth rebuilding it all, plus I didn't really want another 'vehicle' to deal with since I already had two at the time. I went more into this somewhere near the beginning of this thread. I plan to do as much 'off-road' camping as possible, but most of it is probably going to be in pay campgrounds, so being able to unhook once camp is set up and still have a vehicle to drive around in is nice.

I gave everything that was removed to the guy who did the welding for me. He said he ran a couple of ads on Craig's List but got no takers, but I don't think he waited long enough. The next thing I heard was, he took it all to the junkyard and sold it for scrap. I looked on eBay and found those engines selling for as much as $3000.00, so somebody buys them.

Once I cut mine and replaced the rear axle, the only Ford part left was the rear half of the frame and the rear springs. So in your case, I think I would look for just another frame in a junkyard somewhere, and transfer the Ambulance Module (rear patient compartment) to it, if you have the resources to do so. Then you would be left with a working truck, which is called a 'cutaway chassis', that could be built into something else. Look at what Chris at UJoint built out of his, the Sherpa. This would have much more resale value than a bunch of parts too, I would think.

Another option would to be to sit the Module on a trailer frame, but it would have to be build up in the center to match the Module's frame, and probably more expensive in the long run.

Also, when I replaced my rear axle with the Rockwell I went big for safety sake. My axle is rated at 10,000 lbs, and has 5/8" studs on the hubs vs. the 9/16" studs on the Ford rear axle. The ford rims still fit, but we had to cut the alignment pins off of them because the Rockwell hub does not have the hole for them to fit in. I'm sure you would like to be able to use the same spare tires for either one, so these are just a couple of things to keep in mind.

I don't know who's rig this is, but I always thought these looked good together. Would look even better if they had matching paint jobs.

 

[eporter]

Ken, is your black ambo a Horton? Looks just like my 1997 minimod. If so, I've got a bunch of build info, wiring diagram and System 2000 programming info I can share if you need it.

 

[cjken]

Yes a Horton.
1994 though. Thanks for the offer. I'll definitely reach out should the need arise. It's good to know that that info exists!

 

[patoz]

I finally have a little actual progress to show. This past weekend, my neighbor and I managed to get the aluminum Diamond Deck measured, cut and temporarily mounted. I say temporarily because each sheet only has four sheet metal screws holding it in place right now. This coming week I’ll pick up the square tubing I need for the bracing behind the panels, get the rest of the rivnuts, gasket material, and maybe a counter bore ordered that I need to install the permanent countersunk stainless screws.

Once I get the rest of the parts the panels will come down again, and I’ll cut out the excess aluminum around the oval shaped opening in the body itself, which will give it straight vertical sides next to a vertical brace, so that I can attach the new cross braces. Also, once the panels are down again, I’ll clean up the cut edges, deburr any holes, lay out the grid for my screw pattern, and drill the pilot holes from the back side.

Our work table consisted of the 5’x 8’ trailer I hauled the metal home in, with four 2”x 4”x 8’s laying across it for supports.




We had a 5/16” x 3” x 5’ flat aluminum bar to use as a guide for the 48” cuts, but come Sunday morning, the only thing we could find to make the longer 87” cuts was an extension ladder. It was a little harder to jockey around, but it worked just fine. The cuts were made using a Freud D0756N Diablo 7-1/4 56 Tooth TCG Non-Ferrous Metal and Plastic Cutting Saw Blade mounted on a DeWalt 8 1/2" Circular Saw. We used an air hose and nozzle to keep the burrs moved out of the path of the cut, but still got just a little bit of drag while cutting.




And this is what it looks like with shiny new metal on the front! I left enough room around the frame when I cut out the notched area, for plenty of flexing and the gap will get covered with a rubber flap mounted from behind. The corners have a 1” radius also to prevent cracking of the metal originating from stress. The vertical rows in the metal lined up perfectly, but the horizontal ones at the seam are slightly off (too close together). In order to make them match properly, I would have had to cut approximately an inch off of the bottom plate, which I elected not to do. The generator and aux fuel tank box will be at least 4' long and sit in front on the tongue, so it will cover most of that seam anyway.








Slowly, but surely...

 

[k9lestat]

Love it

Sent from my QMV7A using Tapatalk

 

[cjken]

Looks great!!

 

[patoz]

Thanks guys!