Outback
Explorer
Yes the O ring was missing.Good to see your front hubs getting serviced Mr Outback. Was the O ring missing? You should be good to go for a long while now. Happy travels. Cheers, Chilli...
M1010 Ambulance to Expedition Rig
- Thread starter Outback
- Start date
I live in the middle of a corn/wheat/soybean field. I never would have guessed how destructive the little buggers could be. I'm not a cat guy, but the cat I got piles them up in front of the door. Lock her in the garage, dead vermin in the morning. Basement, death all around.
I didn't realize how well suited these ambulances were for expedition rigs. I recently picked up a K30 6.2 diesel for the frame and other parts. I cannot seem to tear it down...
Outback
Explorer
When I was home I started painting my new aluminum placards I had cut for me. I had mine made from .060 aluminum. The Military used a .050 thick Aluminum. They are harder to install since they are thicker but even harder to get out once installed. Thats a good thing. I have six more to go. The roof mounted one is 56x56 if memory serves me correct. I left my notes at home but anyway, the widest material I can get is 48" I will have the top one cut into 3 sections. I will rivet and paint them together. It should work out just fine. I will move my license plate to a new location. Possibly just below where it is now centered under the left side red cross.
Outback
Explorer
Took the few days I had off to paint the last Red Crosses for the CMPULNC. I have pretty much everything I need for the lift except time. I also ordered a new dash. Ive decided to get a Vintage air kit for my A/C needs. Also need to get a Banks Diesel kit installed. Then I can build out the back. My last day for work is sometime mid September. The company I work for lost the service contract. The person I have worked with for the last decade plus we decided to startour own company and may have just picked up the contract. We shall see. Anyway I hope to get a little time off to finish up some projects and get my equipment moved into my new work (not the one pictured above). My new work shop is huge! Finally a work shop that will fit my needs (wants).
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highdesertranger
Adventurer
very nice. highdesertranger
jamesgrizzlyadams
Observer
Looking forward to seeing some details on the ORD lift as you get it installed. I am also planning a 4" ORD lift with the shackle flip in the rear, once the budget allows. I've been sort of back and forth on the lift height that I want to go with, but as you mentioned early on in this thread... F@#k it! the 4" lift will be awesome! I know Stevo had some issues after installing his lift, so I'm curious to see how yours goes.
What springs did you end up going with up front? The Tuff Country HD springs or ORD custom? Are you thinking of going with their crossover steering kit as well?
Thanks for all the posts, I need to get my build thread up to date!
What springs did you end up going with up front? The Tuff Country HD springs or ORD custom? Are you thinking of going with their crossover steering kit as well?
Thanks for all the posts, I need to get my build thread up to date!
Outback
Explorer
I'm Back,
I retired Sept 28th this year and finished up moving into our new house. Last week was the first time I had a chance to start my Suspension lift on the Campulance. While I have us fully moved into our house I am no where near moved into my new work shop. I should have waited until my shop was completely outfitted before I started this project here. Oh well. I was just chomping at the bit to get her done. I did but it would have gone much faster if I had every tool in its place and not in bags etc etc etc. OK onto the good stuff.
Last week I started installing the Off Roads Design 4" lift. I purchased all of the optional Heavy Duty parts. I must say some of the smallish factory parts I replaced were a !@%#@ to get off! One of the front leaf packs rear shackle mount was a days work getting out. Part of the problem was the air chisel. The other problem was not drilling the rivets out deep enough. But out it came none the less. The other side took me 30 minutes. New air chisel and drilling deeper. The new air chisel was the main factor. SO if you are going to be installing anything where you need to remove factory rivets then get the absolute best air chisel you can afford. That along with my new 80 compressor and high flow fittings made a huge difference on the other side. 4 days or so later I was done with the lift. The ride is absolutely far superior to anything GM had at the time. The reverse shackle flip is amazing. I used all greasable shackle bolts. This with the new bushing and shackle flip give a much smoother ride. I also went with the easy ride front springs. Again and huge and dramatic change in the ride of the vehicle. The Bilstein Shocks and steering damper are also a huge improvement. After I installed the ORD lift I started on my new interior. More on that later. Here are a few pics of my truck wither her new Suspension lift.
I retired Sept 28th this year and finished up moving into our new house. Last week was the first time I had a chance to start my Suspension lift on the Campulance. While I have us fully moved into our house I am no where near moved into my new work shop. I should have waited until my shop was completely outfitted before I started this project here. Oh well. I was just chomping at the bit to get her done. I did but it would have gone much faster if I had every tool in its place and not in bags etc etc etc. OK onto the good stuff.
Last week I started installing the Off Roads Design 4" lift. I purchased all of the optional Heavy Duty parts. I must say some of the smallish factory parts I replaced were a !@%#@ to get off! One of the front leaf packs rear shackle mount was a days work getting out. Part of the problem was the air chisel. The other problem was not drilling the rivets out deep enough. But out it came none the less. The other side took me 30 minutes. New air chisel and drilling deeper. The new air chisel was the main factor. SO if you are going to be installing anything where you need to remove factory rivets then get the absolute best air chisel you can afford. That along with my new 80 compressor and high flow fittings made a huge difference on the other side. 4 days or so later I was done with the lift. The ride is absolutely far superior to anything GM had at the time. The reverse shackle flip is amazing. I used all greasable shackle bolts. This with the new bushing and shackle flip give a much smoother ride. I also went with the easy ride front springs. Again and huge and dramatic change in the ride of the vehicle. The Bilstein Shocks and steering damper are also a huge improvement. After I installed the ORD lift I started on my new interior. More on that later. Here are a few pics of my truck wither her new Suspension lift.
Outback
Explorer
After the interior was removed I removed the Military brackets the were welded to the floor of the cab. After that I primed and painted all of the exposed metal. I then cleaned the floor and installed Dynamat. The entire cab floor was covered. I then installed some foil backed Jute padding. Next time I will go with Dynamats 1/2" thick insulation. I was not impressed with LMCs jute padding. Anyway its in and does work very well. I then installed the the carpet. In the shop I used a reupholstery kit from LMC and reupholstered the seats. The seats cam out really nice. The factory foam was in new like condition. After some wrangling around with the LMCs seat belts I ordered another set. I combined the two to get everything to work properly. They came out really nice. I then started on the doors. The doors were completely gutted and cleaned. I installed new door locks, greased the window tracks and installed all new window rubber and felts. after that I Dynamatted the doors and installed the new door panels and hardware. They also came out really nice. The kicker panels were dyed black and the baffles needed some new paint. I will be installing those today. In fact I will be installing the new dash board and sun visors as well as a few bits and pieces here and there as needed. I will get some more pictures after todays work. For now here are some from the last few days. 
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Outback
Explorer
The carpet is a bit dirty. I will post the completed Interior pics after I clean everything up. So far there is a dramatic drop in the interior cab noise. I fact its hard to believe its the same truck. You can actually carry on a nice regular tone conversation now while on the highway! To give you an idea of how loud it was before hand I had planned to use some type of communication head sets with ear protection when on long highway runs. Yah it was that loud. The doors now shut with a very solid THUD instead of a high pitched tinny sound. Ok its time to get outside and finish her up.
bknudtsen
Expedition Leader
Looks great!