Check out this custom built 4×4 overlanding ambulance conversion with everything you need need for extreme remote camping. The interior features a slide-out bed, a transforming dinette area, several hidden compartments, and an innovative shower/toilet area. Really cool rig.
Why we chose an ambulance:
I know what you’re thinking, “that’s a HUGE rig” or something to that effect, but would you believe me if I told you this rig is actually SMALLER than our truck camper? Luckily, you don’t have to take my word for it. Check out 📸 2 & 3. We took these photos right before we sold our old rig.
The ambulance is dwarfed by the truck camper! Our old rig towered at 13 feet 🤯 while our ambo sits comfortably at 10 feet 4 inches AFTER the tire upgrade (these photos are before that upgrade when it stood at 10 feet).
We were so tall in the old rig that we were constantly hitting branches on the trails and in small Mexican towns, we were having to get out of the rig to make sure we weren’t going to tear down power lines!
We probably could have dealt with the height issue if it hadn’t been exacerbated by the fact that it’s center of gravity was so darn high. This made it constantly feel like we were going to tip over going off-road. A rig we couldn’t stand up in was never an option for us! Our interior height, after 2.5” of insulation in the ceiling, is 6’1”
Who’s ready to get nerdy with me? 🤓 When selecting our new base rig, we knew we wanted something capable of SAFELY tackling rough and remote terrain. We talked about height in our last post but height wasn’t the only factor going against our truck camper in this regard, it also had a VERY high center of gravity. This made it feel extremely “tippy” going off road 😳
Our old flatbed started 39” from the ground which meant all of the weight, from the camper and our gear, was higher than 39”. This is going to be the case with any rig built above the frame rails. THIS IS WHERE THE AMBULANCE SHINES! Ambulances are built with storage compartments that extend BELOW the frame rails. In our case, these compartments provide 14” of below the frame rails storage and we have them almost all the way around the box! We’ve loaded these compartments with our heaviest items 📸 1 & 2 – water and tools – which lowers our overall center of gravity. These compartments start 22” from the ground. Now, some of your might think this below the frame storage negatively impacts our ground clearance. It doesn’t. Our F550 had 9” of clearance and our ambulance has 14”.
14” might not sound like a lot but I added it up – our below frame storage totals 29 cubic feet. For comparison, our fridge is only 7 cubic feet!
It’s hard to describe the difference sitting inside the 2 rigs off-road but I’ll try. In the truck camper, you could actually feel all this weight above where you were sitting in the cab, you could feel it pulling you side to side and there was nothing you could do about it. In the ambo, there’s nothing, no feeling of extra weight and a lot less fear about plummeting down a cliff to your death! Yes, of course, there’s still side to side movement but it’s lower to the ground which is what’s important.