Belafonte Reboot....Ambulance to 4x4 Camper Conversion
- Thread starter tgreening
- Start date
So I'm crawling around underneath the beast while working on the shocks and I came across a couple of big nuts with big metal tab thingies attached to them. Hmmm, what's this I'm thinking. Oops.
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Only the nuts for the bolts holding the front of my rear springs in place. DOH! I remember leaving them off because I wasn't going to tighten anything until it was on the ground and with all the weight on the suspension. Not only were these nuts not on, none of the rest of the suspension had been tightened, which I had totally forgot about. Forgetting things like that is a hazard of stretching a project out so long.
The USPS stuffed these in a corner of my house I wasn't paying attention to and they sat there for almost a week. I STILL wouldn't have found them except I asked Chris when he'd be getting shocks in and he said "puter says yours were delivered about a week ago". Huh?
Front:
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Rear: Good lord compressing the rears was a real gut buster. The fronts I could lean into and get them squished, but the rears I had to do laying on my back and puttin the ol' biceps to work. I thought for sure I was gonna blow a vein some place.
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Opinion time. First shot is obviously the front wheel well, and the 2nd shot is the rear wheel well. There's quite a bit up front and not so much in the rear. I can't decide if that makes it look "unbalanced" or not. I'm considering opening up the rear a bit, but I'm wondering if I'm just being goofy.
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And here she is on rubber and outdoors again! Woot! Unfortunately I had to tow it out because I don't have my driveshaft(s) yet, but by cracky it rolls.
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I'll get it measured for shafts tomorrow and make some calls. Those and a few minor details like bleeding brakes, mounting the sway bar, and getting the front end all aligned and this bugger will be in the history books.
I'll be picking brains on a paint scheme and keep your eyes open for a thread I'm going to start over a design for the sleeping system. In essence I'm going to run a little design contest with a cash money prize for the winning system.
A plus was she fired right up after months of sitting. Getting excited about it again!
Only the nuts for the bolts holding the front of my rear springs in place. DOH! I remember leaving them off because I wasn't going to tighten anything until it was on the ground and with all the weight on the suspension. Not only were these nuts not on, none of the rest of the suspension had been tightened, which I had totally forgot about. Forgetting things like that is a hazard of stretching a project out so long.
The USPS stuffed these in a corner of my house I wasn't paying attention to and they sat there for almost a week. I STILL wouldn't have found them except I asked Chris when he'd be getting shocks in and he said "puter says yours were delivered about a week ago". Huh?
Front:
Rear: Good lord compressing the rears was a real gut buster. The fronts I could lean into and get them squished, but the rears I had to do laying on my back and puttin the ol' biceps to work. I thought for sure I was gonna blow a vein some place.
Opinion time. First shot is obviously the front wheel well, and the 2nd shot is the rear wheel well. There's quite a bit up front and not so much in the rear. I can't decide if that makes it look "unbalanced" or not. I'm considering opening up the rear a bit, but I'm wondering if I'm just being goofy.
And here she is on rubber and outdoors again! Woot! Unfortunately I had to tow it out because I don't have my driveshaft(s) yet, but by cracky it rolls.
I'll get it measured for shafts tomorrow and make some calls. Those and a few minor details like bleeding brakes, mounting the sway bar, and getting the front end all aligned and this bugger will be in the history books.
I'll be picking brains on a paint scheme and keep your eyes open for a thread I'm going to start over a design for the sleeping system. In essence I'm going to run a little design contest with a cash money prize for the winning system.
A plus was she fired right up after months of sitting. Getting excited about it again!
patoz
Expedition Leader
Tom, you're winning the race for sure! :smiley_drive:
As far as forgetting to tighten the rear suspension bolts goes, well you know what they say...loosing your memory is one of the first signs of old age! :Wow1:
Yep, this is very true. I used to say 'If I take it apart, I can put it back together again'. Now days it's, 'If I take it apart, I can put it back together again...if I took the time to label everything and put all of the screws, bolts, etc. back where they belong, write detailed notes, and take a few pictures, especially if it's been more than a couple of weeks'.
The picture of the Ambo in the driveway is somewhat deceiving due to the picture angle, and it looks like it's on a little bit of a hill, so it's hard to tell about it looking level. The rear wheel/fender combination is never going to look perfectly right, no matter high high or low you go with it, because the rear wheel circumference arc and the fender circumference arc are now out of ratio with each other. I also don't see any way to increase the fender circumference arc without cutting into the compartment and personnel door area in front of the wheels.
Just keep in mind though, if you do remove the aluminum fender flares and no longer need or want them, mine are banged up and I would be glad to take them off your hands. I also still have that front console you wanted, and will eventually have both electrical control panels available.
As far as forgetting to tighten the rear suspension bolts goes, well you know what they say...loosing your memory is one of the first signs of old age! :Wow1:
Yep, this is very true. I used to say 'If I take it apart, I can put it back together again'. Now days it's, 'If I take it apart, I can put it back together again...if I took the time to label everything and put all of the screws, bolts, etc. back where they belong, write detailed notes, and take a few pictures, especially if it's been more than a couple of weeks'.
The picture of the Ambo in the driveway is somewhat deceiving due to the picture angle, and it looks like it's on a little bit of a hill, so it's hard to tell about it looking level. The rear wheel/fender combination is never going to look perfectly right, no matter high high or low you go with it, because the rear wheel circumference arc and the fender circumference arc are now out of ratio with each other. I also don't see any way to increase the fender circumference arc without cutting into the compartment and personnel door area in front of the wheels.
Just keep in mind though, if you do remove the aluminum fender flares and no longer need or want them, mine are banged up and I would be glad to take them off your hands. I also still have that front console you wanted, and will eventually have both electrical control panels available.
Bikersmurf
Expedition Leader
Mine like that are Black plastic... & they wouldn't survive off road at all.
Two things accomplished today. Got my driveshafts ordered from Tom Woods Custom . Almost a Ks worth of twisting goodness! Hehe. Second made reservations at Mickey's campground for 10 days of hot, humid, sweaty fun. Woot!
Cant wait to get those shafts slammed in. Kind of curious how much of a pig it'll be with those 37's and 4.10s.
Cant wait to get those shafts slammed in. Kind of curious how much of a pig it'll be with those 37's and 4.10s.
Drive shafts due to arrive monday.
One thing I want to mention about this project. I'm fairly lucky. I have a 960 sq ft secondary garage to work in. I have welders, torches, plasma cutters, saws, grinders, etc etc etc. I have a fair amount of free time (what my wife allows me) because I dont have to actually work. I am seriously ahead of the game compared to the average guy my age (and amazingly thankful for that), but given all that I would really recommend taking your junk to Chris and dropping it off. If you dont apply a value to your time, sure its going to cost a lot more, but odds are in the end it will come out a whole lot nicer and be done a boat load faster.
Some guys out there can/will do that level of work in their back yard, but most will run out of time and/or patience to get it done. In my case it was both and it shows. My rear axle looks like the 1992 unit it is, instead of passing for new. Ditto on my frame. Its in great shape, but covered in dirt, grease, a bit of surface rust here and there. Take it to Chris and this all comes back looking like new, and a whole heck of a lot faster. A lot faster than I managed anyway.
If I had to do it over again I'd hand him the keys, pick it up when done, and call myself a Happy Camper.
One thing I want to mention about this project. I'm fairly lucky. I have a 960 sq ft secondary garage to work in. I have welders, torches, plasma cutters, saws, grinders, etc etc etc. I have a fair amount of free time (what my wife allows me) because I dont have to actually work. I am seriously ahead of the game compared to the average guy my age (and amazingly thankful for that), but given all that I would really recommend taking your junk to Chris and dropping it off. If you dont apply a value to your time, sure its going to cost a lot more, but odds are in the end it will come out a whole lot nicer and be done a boat load faster.
Some guys out there can/will do that level of work in their back yard, but most will run out of time and/or patience to get it done. In my case it was both and it shows. My rear axle looks like the 1992 unit it is, instead of passing for new. Ditto on my frame. Its in great shape, but covered in dirt, grease, a bit of surface rust here and there. Take it to Chris and this all comes back looking like new, and a whole heck of a lot faster. A lot faster than I managed anyway.
If I had to do it over again I'd hand him the keys, pick it up when done, and call myself a Happy Camper.
EXPO365
Adventurer
Btw, I'm looking for some input (preferably graphic) on how to get from this.....
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back to something like this...
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Both the seats fold flat like you see, and I'm trying to figure out something that maybe folds up against that wall when stowed, and then folds out across the top of the seats when deployed. It would be great to keep the window visible in the process. I know that could most likely be handled by having a matching opening cut in the fold-out, with an insert to be placed in it for use, but the general design is eluding me at the moment. IOW, some photoshop or sketchup guru figure this out for me while I work on the mechanics of the 4x conversion.
Not sure if your still looking for a bed setup or not, but newhouserv.com has a fold down bed that converts into a couch also. I'm leaning towards it myself. There's video on YouTube that shows it in action.
Reinstalled the factory bumper. I'll be dipped in dog-doo before I drop $1K + on a bumper, and I don't care what it's made out of. I had to notch it where the front spring hangers are, but nothing a trusty ol' cut-off wheel couldn't handle. The fairing at the bottom was pretty much toasted so I left it off. Not sure what I'll do with the whole thing in the long run.
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Biggest issue was tire clearance at the front. This obviously isn't going to fly.
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I laid out a cut line using some striping tape and the result isn't too awful bad. I have to do something with that dent though. Still haven't figured out how they managed to do that with the bumper installed.
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Then there's these... Woo Hoo!!! Driveshafts showed up.
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Holy Screaming Eagle ******** getting that rear pinion yoke off dang near caused me to blow a gasket. No way I was busting that thing loose by hand. Even hitting it with a torch didn't get it done. It had to be changed because I wanted a 1350 u-joint back there and the Dana 70 only has a 1310. I ended up putting a breaker bar on it, and then sticking my floor jack under that, and started jacking away. I thought for sure I was going to bust the breaker bar cause that sucker was bending like a banana. Scared the crap out of me when it went Bongggg!! I looked up the torque spec in the book and it was like 450 ft lbs or some such. No freaking way I can do that by hand without an 8 ft breaker bar. I installed it the same way I removed the old one.
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Lousy picture of the front installed.
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Today was a good day over all. I got the rear pinion yoke swapped and the drive shafts installed, filled the transfer case and managed to dump a quart of fluid all over me in the process which blew great big goats, got the holes drilled for the sway bar links and got all that mounted, got the hole cut for the xfer case shifter and got all that hooked up, got a brake line secured that required some grinding to it's original mount, trimmed the bumper, and gravity bled the front brakes. Unless I'm missing something I need to finish bleeding the brakes and she'll be ready for the alignment shop. I'll do a quick and dirty driveway alignment so I can drive it over and then I should be good to go for road worthiness. WOO HOO to infinity!
What do you guys think about this wheel well? Here's the factory...
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And what I'm thinking about doing, but not sure about. I laid out a cut line. In front of the wheel well is one idea, with the rear of the wheel well laid out a different way. I'm trying to get something that's more in line with the way the front wheel well looks. Or am I going the wrong direction? There is 10 1/2" of opening on the front wheel well and the rear is 8 1/2". The tape line is set at 10 1/2". Leave it as is? Cut it? Cut it but not so high? ????
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Biggest issue was tire clearance at the front. This obviously isn't going to fly.
I laid out a cut line using some striping tape and the result isn't too awful bad. I have to do something with that dent though. Still haven't figured out how they managed to do that with the bumper installed.
Then there's these... Woo Hoo!!! Driveshafts showed up.
Holy Screaming Eagle ******** getting that rear pinion yoke off dang near caused me to blow a gasket. No way I was busting that thing loose by hand. Even hitting it with a torch didn't get it done. It had to be changed because I wanted a 1350 u-joint back there and the Dana 70 only has a 1310. I ended up putting a breaker bar on it, and then sticking my floor jack under that, and started jacking away. I thought for sure I was going to bust the breaker bar cause that sucker was bending like a banana. Scared the crap out of me when it went Bongggg!! I looked up the torque spec in the book and it was like 450 ft lbs or some such. No freaking way I can do that by hand without an 8 ft breaker bar. I installed it the same way I removed the old one.
Lousy picture of the front installed.
Today was a good day over all. I got the rear pinion yoke swapped and the drive shafts installed, filled the transfer case and managed to dump a quart of fluid all over me in the process which blew great big goats, got the holes drilled for the sway bar links and got all that mounted, got the hole cut for the xfer case shifter and got all that hooked up, got a brake line secured that required some grinding to it's original mount, trimmed the bumper, and gravity bled the front brakes. Unless I'm missing something I need to finish bleeding the brakes and she'll be ready for the alignment shop. I'll do a quick and dirty driveway alignment so I can drive it over and then I should be good to go for road worthiness. WOO HOO to infinity!
What do you guys think about this wheel well? Here's the factory...
And what I'm thinking about doing, but not sure about. I laid out a cut line. In front of the wheel well is one idea, with the rear of the wheel well laid out a different way. I'm trying to get something that's more in line with the way the front wheel well looks. Or am I going the wrong direction? There is 10 1/2" of opening on the front wheel well and the rear is 8 1/2". The tape line is set at 10 1/2". Leave it as is? Cut it? Cut it but not so high? ????
patoz
Expedition Leader
How much travel upward do the rear wheels have, and can they actually hit the wheel well at any point? If not, I would leave them alone because I can see several problems you will create by cutting them.
1. The complete wheel well will have to be rebuilt, including all of the bracing.
2. Will you be cutting into the compartment/seating area above the wheel wells? If so, all of that will have to be redesigned and closed back up.
If the clearance between the tires and the wheel well trim pieces is too tight they could be replaced with the black rubber type, so if they did hit no damage will occur.
BTW, are the bolts on those rims supposed to stick out that far? They seem awfully long.
Looking good, and I know you're ready to be done with this part of the build.
1. The complete wheel well will have to be rebuilt, including all of the bracing.
2. Will you be cutting into the compartment/seating area above the wheel wells? If so, all of that will have to be redesigned and closed back up.
If the clearance between the tires and the wheel well trim pieces is too tight they could be replaced with the black rubber type, so if they did hit no damage will occur.
BTW, are the bolts on those rims supposed to stick out that far? They seem awfully long.
Looking good, and I know you're ready to be done with this part of the build.
Actually there is nothing structural in the wheel well that would be cut, unless you count the lip of the existing wheel well opening, and no cuts would enter any compartments. I can't imagine ever flexing this thing enough for the tire to hit anything. Clearance is not the goal. I just dont like the shape of the opening compared to the front. The rear is very round and the front is kind of boxy looking.
Yeah, the bolts on the Hummer wheels are that long. Not sure why, but I don't intend to cut them. I actually like the look. Couldn't tell you why.
Yeah, the bolts on the Hummer wheels are that long. Not sure why, but I don't intend to cut them. I actually like the look. Couldn't tell you why.
Not sure the lip would need any attention other than a sanding to round off the edge and remove any jaggies. No way the tire is ever going to contact it, and I think its plenty thick so it wont be flopping about. Even so, I still cant make up my mind. The logical side says it works fine, leave it be, but the other side says cut, chop, change!