Bought myself an Ambulance

Brianpgreen

New member
I've been skulking around here for quite a while. I just made a deal on a 2001 E450 7.3 with 105000K miles that I'll be picking up next week. Looking forward to participating more and lurking less. Thanks for all of the effort you guys put in sharing information on the forum. I definitely wouldn't have come to the conclusion that I needed an ambulance without it.
 

Brianpgreen

New member
Time will tell whether or not it's a good or bad influence. I've got much to learn about this 4x4 conversion process. I intend to go the U-Joint route but haven't figured out the details. Tell me more about the tail housing so I know what to look for.

I'll post pictures when I have them. The auction site took everything down as soon as it was over. The seller is supposed to be sending me the pictures.
 

Corneilius

Adventurer
Tell me more about the tail housing so I know what to look for.

The E450s that I've seen (Ambo and Rv) have the 4wd tail housing already installed. The Ambos have a driveline emergency brake assembly bolted to it. The assembly unbolts and a NV271 bolts up, no transmission removal necessary.
 

Brianpgreen

New member
The E450s that I've seen (Ambo and Rv) have the 4wd tail housing already installed. The Ambos have a driveline emergency brake assembly bolted to it. The assembly unbolts and a NV271 bolts up, no transmission removal necessary.

I like the sound of that.
 

Brianpgreen

New member
So I've got my hands on it and have some pictures. I just drove this thing from Wisconsin to Washington State.

The stretcher came in handy in that it saved me a few bucks on hotel rooms. I'm ready for a real bed though. Ebay suggests that the stretcher may be worth $1000-$1500.

I'm liking the look of the power system in that it appears to be easily reconfigurable. It's got three batteries in the front lower compartment on the passenger side and no battery under the hood. I'm going to have to figure out how to either add a battery back under the hood or separate one of the three so I can run the electrical in the module without the motor running. As it's set up now everything shuts off about 10 minutes after shutting the motor down. It has a 110 inlet that appears to do nothing other than power a few outlets in the module but none of the lights. I'm fairly ignorant when it comes to electrical systems so I've got a lot to learn.

More later.

GFI6778_cropped1.jpg


GFI6779_cropped.jpg


GFI6780_cropped_1.jpg


GFI6782_cropped_1.jpg


GFI6797_cropped.jpg



GFI6787_cropped.jpg


GFI6789_cropped.jpg


GFI6792_cropped.jpg
 
Last edited:

Bikersmurf

Expedition Leader
Two of the batteries should be isolated from the others. Is there annother battery on the Passenger side frame rail?

The house power is reliant on an input from an oil pressure input (at least with mine... And they tend to be fairly standardized). If you bypass it, you should be able power when the engine is off.

Good looking rig... :D
 

Brianpgreen

New member
Two of the batteries should be isolated from the others. Is there annother battery on the Passenger side frame rail?

The house power is reliant on an input from an oil pressure input (at least with mine... And they tend to be fairly standardized). If you bypass it, you should be able power when the engine is off.

Good looking rig... :D

I thought two of the batteries should be isolated as well. Doesn't appear to be the case though. There isn't another battery under the frame rail. I saw that somewhere in the manual that there should be one just forward of the rear passenger side wheels. Nothing there though.

The seller told me the house power was on a 15 minute timer. I can also power it on if I turn the ignition to the on position without starting it.
 

Bikersmurf

Expedition Leader
I see. Mine had to be running... Before the it stopped working and I rewired it to be on whenever I switched it on.

For isolation I'd recommend a Blue Seas ARC battery isolator. I'd also add a second starting battery to the P/S frame rail.
 

huskyhauler

Adventurer
Just replied to you PM, but now that I've seen your thread I can be a bit more clear!

Looks like you have a Road Rescue with a similar box build as I do. you'll find it's very strudy. The box layout is different. That passenger side box window is great.

For the sake of cash flow, you can do what I did and leave the box and cab white and paint the blue strip (Crimson in your case). Get a decal, preferably custom, and throw it up on the side of the box.

Use the CO2 tank compartment (tall skinny on driver side just behind the driver door) for tailgate canopies and chairs. The compartment behind that is a great bet for a generator. The rear most compartment is a good utility compartment. That's where you store the propane tank, freshwater tank, gray water tank, tools, adapters, extension cords, etc.

Your house (box) batteries are located in the smallest outside compartment on the passenger side, the one all the way to the front of the box and below the larger cabinet door.

If your batteries shut off after 15 minutes, and they're aren't dead (if you cycle the key in the ignition) they are certainly on a timer. This is likely to keep them from draining should the driver/medic shut off the rig and leave the rear power on. There should be two deep cycle batteries in there, and two batteries in your engine bay.

Look around to see if you have a batter maintainer/charger. If you do, when you plug into shore power (the 110 inlet on the driver side) it will charge the batteries as well as power the 110 outlets in the box. If you do not have a generator adapter built in you can simply plug a generator into the shore power when camping or tailgating.

Being in Washington, when you store the rig keep the sliding window on the passenger door open to fight mold growth on the inside.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,840
Messages
2,878,743
Members
225,393
Latest member
jgrillz94
Top