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Ambo2RV

Ambo2RV - the evolution of a retired ambulance being converted to a Class C RV.

06/11/2026

Getting Ambo2RV out on the road to gain a little experience, all systems go!

05/12/2026

From the "I learned something the hard way" files... While building my ambulance to RV conversion, where I learned not only the necessity of having a vent to let air escape from the tank while filling, but also to let air in when using water out of the tank.

While filling, the tank will/can pressurize to the point of expanding or even breaking - and while drawing water out, the negative pressure can possibly collapse the tank - and ALL of this puts excess pressure on your entire plumbing system, lines, valves, pumps, etc.

Another thing I learned, is that if you have TWO tanks - I didn't think I'd need a air relief vent on BOTH tanks, but after test filling my tanks while I could still see both tanks at the same time during the conversion, indeed you DO NEED suitable relief air vents on BOTH tanks, as the water in the line connecting them creates two separate air chambers, and the same negative effects happen on the UNVENTED tank.

The other interesting thing I learned, which you hopefully won't ever encounter... I vented the tank with an outlet and elbow hose that was routed to the outside of the RV (below the tank) but only raised the outlet about a 1/2" above the top of the tank, figuring that was plenty of height above the water level - however, while filling the tank fully the 1st time, after the tanks were built in and NOT visible easily, I was mystified as to why water started running out of one of the tanks vent tubes once the tank got full - which I THOUGHT made sense, and wasn't an issue... but it WAS an issue! A siphon effect had started, and there was no way to break the siphon (tried putting my finger over the vent tube where water was being drained multiple time, and for several minutes) - and the entire 100 gallons siphoned out. I had to open up the the access to the tank, and raise the height of the vent tube exit about 10" above the tank top, and change the vent tube routing to solve the siphon issue.

Learning new things all the time.

04/10/2026

I wanted a shower, and a toilet - but I wanted it to disappear when not in use. It's a little tight, but it came out looking a lot like I had hoped it would. Started with a custom fabbed stainless shower pan, added a composting toilet, then an internal wrap around shower curtain, and finally a sliding screen to make it all disappear when not in use. Using waterproof PVC TrussCore throughtout my build for ceilings, walls, and the entire shower made it a LOT easier. Thanks to 1BadAmbo for the idea and information on TrussCore!

04/06/2026

Three easy steps - I don't know why it took me so long, but it's fun to see the progress. I hope we're going to enjoy lots of travel in our Ambo2RV.

03/01/2026

Finally got my license plates, about ready to plan our first trip in AMBO2RV.

02/16/2026

Finally got my conversion far enough along to go have the inspection done to re-title it as a "self built motorhome" rather than a commercial ambulance. I'm wondering what kinds of issues it would have caused if I'd have shown some of the ChatGPT ideas for upgrading it?

08/06/2025

Adding new windows turned out to be one of the simpler parts of my conversion, and I'm so glad that we decided to add them - lots of light, great views while driving, and fully opening, with built in screens for just bugs, or full black out for sleeping and storage. Very happy with the 550mm x 1100mm (21.6" x 43.3") Arctic Tern windows from Tern Overland. Pretty straight forward to install, very well built, and quality that impressed. From the outside, they might look they're positioned a little high, but from the inside, they are perfect for people sitting on the couch/twin beds on each side to have great views while driving down the road to our dreams. https://ternoverland.com/550x1100mm-flat-arctic-tern-window/

08/03/2025

Grey water plumbing seemed so simple, just run a drain hose from the shower on one side of the ambulance, and a drain hose from the sink on the other side of the ambulance, to a tee - and then into the grey tank. Of course, as anyone working on these kinds of projects knows, it's not always as easy in real life. Fortunately, a fabricator friend was able to make it all work, not only building a REALLY nice grey water tank frame, getting it installed with a little downward lean to the drain, but was also able to wrestle a 2" not very flexible hose across the frame of the truck, using a "hose press" to flatten it just enough to get it to squeeze between the bottom of the box and the top of the frame. Having his patience, knowledge, tools, and being skinny enough to get under the truck and between the frame and wall make it all happen.

07/30/2025

From a hydraulic ramp to a bike rack... when I first bought my dream adventure vehicle, I thought the hydraulic ramp that extended out and lifted from ground to the interior floor would be great for loading e-bikes into my rig. Through the glacial pace of the conversion, I began to have thoughts of simplifying things, making it easier for 70 year olds to bring e-bikes on our journeys, and to live easier in the space we have. That's how I ended up making the decision to remove the hydraulic ramp, and have a receiver hitch installed, and add a bike rack. A talented fabricator friend make it all happen! I think we're going to enjoy the bike rack, as we now have a telescoping ramp to actually roll the bike up on the rack to secure them, and also, a swing-away that allows us to swivel the entire rack (with or without the bikes) completely out of the way to the passenger side, to allow full access to the back door entry way of the rig. Whatever works for you, I think this was a good decision for us.

07/20/2025

From a very small window... to a walk through between the cab and the box. Of course, the plan was always for access between cab and box. Most of the entire "wall" between the two was covered with electronics, siren controls, light controls, which allowed us to remove a guesstimated 1,000 lbs of wiring in total. I used a 5" hole saw to start at each of the 4 corners, to have smooth corner radius when done, and left about a 1/4" lip all the way around to attach a rubber "boot" to for the weatherproof connection between the cab and box. I used a sawzall some, but more successfully, a circular saw with an aluminum cutting blade - which allowed pretty accurate depth control, cutting through the 2" x 2" square aluminum studs without cutting the aluminum plate that they were fastened to. My best advice, dig in and go.

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85375

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