M1010 Ambulance to Expedition Rig

Outback

Explorer
Everything except the Dynamate was ordered from LMC (interior wise). I was not impressed with the carpet or jute padding. Seat belts were hit and miss. Customer service was absolute crap! They won't be getting anymore orders from me. Door panels were also from LMC. They come with the inner widow Felt/rubber attached. No need to order that as a separate item.
 

Outback

Explorer
The Campulance is looking great. The lift is done as well as the interior. Mechanically she is a new truck. I just rolled over 4300 miles. Thats original miles. All the fluids have been replaced. Everything that can be greased has been. New bearings as I drove on the factory ones but the grease was old. Not taking a chance there. Top speed as she sits is 55 MPH. She has 4.56 gears and a 3 speed Turbo400 with the top gear being 1:1. You can see my dilemma. What to do?

Raptor 700R4 made by PATC. This would be there level 3.

I am currently running 2515 RPM at 55MPH. If I swap out the Turbo400 for the 700R4 I would gain a lower first gear and have a .70 Overdrive.

Turbo400 1:1 and 4.56 gears = 2515 RPM at 55 MPH
700R4 .70 and 4.56 gears = 1760 RPM at 55 MPH

Who goes 55 MPH in a 75 MPH? Ok so there are some idiots that do go 55 in a 75 but far and few between in general. I know I would like to actually make it to my destination sometime before I have to go back home! So lets do the math for 75 MPH while keeping the engine at its most effecient RPM range. Thats 1800 to 2000 RPM. So here we go.

Turbo 400/ 4.56 = 3430 RPM at 75 MPH
700R4 / 4.56 = 2401 RPM at 75 MPH

Getting close but need to lower the RPM a bit. Note: At 75 MPH with the 700R4 I am running at over 1,000 less RPM than I was with the Turbo400 at ONLY 55 MPH! Yah Over Drive rules!

So after looking at all the options I have decided on the following

700R4 / 3.73 gears / 35" tires = 1879 RPM at 75 MPH

To make up for the taller gears (4.56 to 3.73) I will swap in ORDs NP205 with Magnum Box. My crawl ratio will increase. and give me two separate Low Range gears to choose from. I will have a gear pretty much for any terrain.
 

jkroberts

Observer
Dude that thing is seriously awesome! Cleanest M1010 I've ever seen. Lift looks good! Bummer your changing out the 4.56's. If you end up wanting to sell the old gears let me know

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 

NevadaLover

Forking Icehole
a 700 in a 1 ton, good luck with that. highdesertranger
700R4 with a big auxiliary cooler will work just fine, keep the temp down and don't pull a huge trailer and enjoy the overdrive! These trans got a bad rap because they didn't have decent coolers and weren't maintained well, my '84 had 274000 miles on the original trans, original owner serviced it every 50000 miles, when I got it I installed the biggest plate type cooler that would fit, I take it to the farthest most remote regions and never worry about it!
 

CampStewart

Observer
That 700r4 would have a much better chance at a long life with 4.56 gears than 3.73 with 35 inch tires. OP is your trans builder aware of your vehicle weight, aerodynamics, tire size and gearing choice?
 
That's a good looking rig. Have you ever considered just putting an overdrive unit on the rear of your 205? Might be a good alternative to changing out the tranny.

its an awesome build
 

Outback

Explorer
The PATC built 700R4 Raptor can handle 600 HP and 600 FT LBS of torque. It can tow in Overdrive a 6,000 lbs trailer. To put it into perspective it can handle twice the FT LBS and HP of a stock 700R4. Also a stock 4l80E can only handle up to 440 FT Lbs. I think she will be just fine. I have no intention of towing as trailers are like throwing out an anchor when your 4 wheeling. Thank you though for your concerns. I could go with a 4L80E. I just dont want a computer controlled transmission. That adds another $1,000 and I dont get the very nice .70 overdrive of the 700R4.
 

Outback

Explorer
That's a good looking rig. Have you ever considered just putting an overdrive unit on the rear of your 205? Might be a good alternative to changing out the tranny.

its an awesome build

I believe you are talking about the Saturn Overdrive for the Dana 20 transfercase. I am unaware of a bolt on overdrive for the NP205. If you know of one let me know! That would be perfect.
 

chilliwak

Expedition Leader
Yea the gear vendors overdrive will fit right on. You can get the ball switch for low gear on the 205 if it doesnt already have one. That will allow you to interlock low gear so the over drive cant be engaged.

check this thread out

https://www.expeditionportal.com/fo...eld-maintenance-assault-vehicle.145559/page-7

He found one used. They are 3000 bucks new


Wow thats a lot of bucks for an overdrive unit. Cheaper to do an overdrive transmissin with all the bells and whistles. That way you dont have to change your driveshaft for a custom built one. Cheers, Chilli..:cool:
 

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