Bob the Campulance. E350 Crestline with Roof Raise. V3 in Progress.

[Bikersmurf]

Various updates before I forget.

1. if you are building your own lithium ion battery pack and live where the temps drop below freezing.. make sure have a temp probe in the pack and not just outside of it. Ambient air temp is not the same as the temp inside the pack. Probably better to have some sort of heating option to insure the pack is entirely above freezing. It's expensive otherwise

2. The 5kw Espar type diesel heater appears to be the correct size. Been camping in temps down to -14 Celsius and haven't yet had to go full blast but the minimum setting is rarely too hot either.

3. If you're running stock dually tires and the (of) limited (use) slip rear diff and are venturing off paved roads where it is snowy, sandy or muddy.. make sure to bring tire chains. Maxx tracks would likely be good as well but chains alone got me out of trouble.

4. If winter camping and doing active outdoor stuff.. make sure to install at least double the amount of coat hooks and such you think you'll need.

What kind of chains do you have? Do you have single or dually chains?

I’ve got all V-bar single chains I’ve run on the outer dually. The one time I used them in the snow, I pealed them off because they weren’t tight enough... &/or strong enough.
The only good thing was traditional chains is that they’re easy to fix and resize. Mine were originally for a size larger... I removed a few links and a cross bar for a perfect fit.

 

[iggi]

Vbar single. Pretty strong as I originally purchased for my Landcruiser before I upsized the tires. Took some fiddling to snug them down without being up on a jack or being able to roll out a bit. Usually when winter wheeling I get the chains on before I'm in trouble.

What kind of chains do you have? Do you have single or dually chains?

I’ve got all V-bar single chains I’ve run on the outer dually. The one time I used them in the snow, I pealed them off because they weren’t tight enough... &/or strong enough.
The only good thing was traditional chains is that they’re easy to fix and resize. Mine were originally for a size larger... I removed a few links and a cross bar for a perfect fit.

 

[Bikersmurf]

The mistake I made was being stuck on a hill before trying to put them on. It was also dark, cold, and I wasn’t feeling patient. Even with chains, the ice under 6” of snow, the hill was impassible for my rig.

 

[iggi]

I think a challenge with heavy rigs like ours is keeping momentum. I prefer to drive slower over rough stuff but every time I've gotten stuck it was due to a lack of momentum. That being said though, maybe with more momentum I would have just been stuck deeper.

The mistake I made was being stuck on a hill before trying to put them on. It was also dark, cold, and I wasn’t feeling patient. Even with chains, the ice under 6” of snow, the hill was impassible for my rig.

 

[Bikersmurf]

I think a challenge with heavy rigs like ours is keeping momentum. I prefer to drive slower over rough stuff but every time I've gotten stuck it was due to a lack of momentum. That being said though, maybe with more momentum I would have just been stuck deeper.

Momentum = Mass x Velocity

because of how heavy they are you don’t need to be flying... but starting from a dead start on a snow covered sheet of ice on a hill will always be a bad thing. Not that my 40 Landcruiser wouldn’t just laugh at it, but an ambulance won’t keep up with it in poor conditions. The flip side being the Ambo will leave it far behind on the street.

 

[iggi]

Side Marker Upgrade.

A couple times last summer I had to change lanes on short notice and the cars next to me seemed totally unaware I needed over. This puzzled me until I turned my flashers on and stood outside... once a car is even with my rear bumper it's really hard to see the single side indicator and the factory front signal doesn't show well during the day.

What I assume is the hole for the side front marker was used by an emergency light. So to help keep the unaware from driving into the side of me I worked on adapting a generic LED amber light into the Whelen light frame and connecting into the signal light.

Simple job but a bit time consuming just figuring it all out.
I just tied the LED light into the leads for the factory signal light. Wasn't sure if it would cause issues with the flasher but its' fine so far.

 

[Bikersmurf]

It’s easy enough to get a LED compatible flasher. I’ve got the P/N in my thread... or I can check what P/N it is.

 

[iggi]

Thanks, be useful if I switch the main signal bulbs to LED.

It’s easy enough to get a LED compatible flasher. I’ve got the P/N in my thread... or I can check what P/N it is.

 

[Bikersmurf]

I’d highly recommend LED bulbs... way brighter than incandescent. Unfortunately my rears tend to burn out after a year... downside of cheap LEDs that are almost as bright as some fog lights.

 

[Abitibi]

Hey Ian, if you have a chance to post what you did for soundproofing your cab/doghouse that'd be awesome. As you know I started insulating mine and just wanna see if you did something different that might work better, especially for the doghouse.

Cheers mate!
David

 

[Abitibi]

Side Marker Upgrade.

View attachment 578520View attachment 578521View attachment 578522View attachment 578523View attachment 578525View attachment 578526View attachment 578528View attachment 578529View attachment 578530View attachment 578531

Body of mine did something very similar on his ambo... Great way to deal with this extra fender light. He uses his as a spot light but I like the marker idea.

 

[iggi]

Glad I'm not the only one lazy enough to have mismatched screws and such. I prefer not to cut corners like that but done is better than perfect.

 

[Bikersmurf]

Glad I'm not the only one lazy enough to have mismatched screws and such. I prefer not to cut corners like that but done is better than perfect.

I’d search high and low till I found matching screws... it’d bug me too much in a visible area... & white as well

 

[iggi]

Updates:

Finally replaced the original auxiliary module connect relay/switch with the Blue Sea ML-RBS unit.
The original unit was almost fire starting hot and was consuming over 3 amps.

From my research, all relay type switches use power when activated. (that's a bad thing for campers). I could have used a much less expensive manual disconnect but wanted to maintain the remote switch.

The magnetic latching switch by Blue Sea has a remote switch, is capable of high amps and doesn't use any power to stay activated. Here's the link:

https://www.bluesea.com/…/ML-RBS_Remote_Battery_Switch_with…

While it was a similar size to the original switch, I couldn't get it lined up with the original wires. I was just about to make new leads for it but.. the original ones are soldered to the panel! Since dinner was waiting I took the quick route and just extended the wires with some 1 gauge battery cable I had on hand. It's uglier than I wanted but the leads are bolted together so I'm not worried about them at all.

End result. .03 Amp draw. I figure that's just the power lock sensor.
The other 1+amp draw was the rear heat relay. For now it's disconnected until I figure out the best way to add a manual switch to it.

 

[iggi]

PS. Changed title of thread. "Flagstaff" caused too much confusion as I am not in AZ.