Antarctic IDI Build

gfemling

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What's with that boxed section of the frame? Never noticed that on these trucks before.
Can answer that- the ‘87-‘92(?) frame front horns are noted to be weak- notice no front hitch receivers for these. To do the RSK necessitates reinforcing the frame ahead of the front shackle point. That’s what I suspect he is saying about boxing in the frame there.
 

david85

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Can answer that- the ‘87-‘92(?) frame front horns are noted to be weak- notice no front hitch receivers for these. To do the RSK necessitates reinforcing the frame ahead of the front shackle point. That’s what I suspect he is saying about boxing in the frame there.

I agree about boxing the front end for the 4wd setup (, but I don't think that was the front end area.

If you look at post #304, you can see the crossmember for the transmission. The transfer case and rear driveshaft are also in clear view, so the boxed reinforcing appears to be midship modification. I'm very intrigued by this because it should in theory reduce frame twist, which makes sense for an overlander rig like this.

Hmm...I may have misread the photo, now that I'm looking at it again. Maybe it's just a flat-bar on the lower side of the C-channel. Doesn't appear to be boxed at all.

Got the speedo dead on this time, and found the happy spot for the wastegate where it stayed safe even with a trailer behind it but didn’t sacrifice spool up, got a video uploading of it. I ordered what I needed to finish up the new exhaust, going to put a v band at the transmission instead of the band clamp, for the time being I just put a turn down off the downpipe to keep heat off the trans, really isn’t very loud as you can tell in the video.

I also finished up the external cooler mount and deleting the stock unit, it took some time fiddling with the orientation and line routing but I’m pretty happy how it came out.
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All the lines run outside the frame away from the heat next to the water lines, and dont come any lower off the cooler than the bottom of the cab. I figured out how I wanted to control the fan and built everything on the bench, I start off using an oem ford (Mercury) fan temp switch (easy to get at any parts store or dealership) in-line on the incoming trans line that supplies a ground to the fan. In-line to that is a switched ground that will go to a toggle in the cab so that if the temp switch fails you have manual override to turn the fan on. The fan will get power in the accessory or ignition position, and is protected by the same relay/breaker/fuse combo I used on the e pump circuit.
 

Thewespaul

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What's with that boxed section of the frame? Never noticed that on these trucks before.
The front frame boxing is the rsk extension to run the excursion springs in the front, the rear of the frame has some additional Chanel riveted to the main frame for support, could be a cab chassis thing or something Ford did because of the lift that they put on the truck for use in Antarctica.
 

theSHERPA

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I didn’t purchase the backup camera but maybe @theSHERPA remembers what the brand was.
Camera was nothing special from Amazon. Found a surface mount camera with good reviews and bought it—pretty sure at this price point, most are just a rebrand of the same camera from China anyways.

The monitor (rear view mirror application) took more research. With Ambo box, the rear view mirror is pointless, but the dash is already crowded so I figured a dedicated rear view camera/rear view mirror would be ideal. I did more research on this part and bought off Amazon as well. I will try and look through my history and provide a link.

So the kit was pieced together based off what would work for my application.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

IDIBRONCO

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Installed the backup camera, my truck looks good back there,
I got a quick glimpse of it Friday afternoon. I must say that the engine looks really good in person. I also pointed out that it appeared to have had an E4OD behind it at one point since it has the 3rd stud on the bottom of the passenger's side valve cover where the Factory Turbo E4OD dipstick tube bolts down. Even Wes hadn't noticed that one.
 

Ilovelamp

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I got a quick glimpse of it Friday afternoon. I must say that the engine looks really good in person. I also pointed out that it appeared to have had an E4OD behind it at one point since it has the 3rd stud on the bottom of the passenger's side valve cover where the Factory Turbo E4OD dipstick tube bolts down. Even Wes hadn't noticed that one.
Thanks man, I appreciate it, I wish I had time to finish it myself. 13 hrs, 6 days a week, I just don't have the time! My guess is that engine came out of an auto truck. The truck was a 1 owner but judging by how clean the engine is internally from what I saw, it had to have been replaced at some point ‍
 

cre1992

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The front frame boxing is the rsk extension to run the excursion springs in the front, the rear of the frame has some additional Chanel riveted to the main frame for support, could be a cab chassis thing or something Ford did because of the lift that they put on the truck for use in Antarctica.

This is a sweet build. Might just have to workout dropping my truck off to you some time lol. Could you post some close up pics of the front frame where it is boxed in. I have a 1990 F-350 4x4 Ambulance as well, and I am thinking about using the rsk shackle flip. It would be appreciated.

Thanks
 

gfemling

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I have a 1990 F-350 4x4 Ambulance as well, and I am thinking about using the rsk shackle flip. It would be appreciated.

Thanks

regarding doing RSK on ‘87-‘92 version frames, I did my ‘87 last summer using Sky’s Off Road Design kit for SuperDuty springs. These remarks assume the frame on your ‘90 F350 Ambo is same as my ‘87 F250. I can vouch for its completeness and benefits BUT it turned out to be significantly more work than review of Sky’s instillation instructions imply- and they state it is a significant project. 2 primary surprises were (1)how much of the front needed to be disassembled and (2) how difficult removal if the original rear spring hanger’s rivets were. In truth the instructions did say rivet removal would be difficult and they were but access to get them driven out was challenging at a few locations. I resorted to gingerly use of cutting torch to remove- a sensitive job to avoid over sizing frame holes with flame wrench and/ or heat damaging nearby items. Just be forewarned on this- you will face a challenge. And regarding front disassembly, due to extra bracket size and welds required to affix to existing front frame horns, it was necessary to remove radiator core support (and thus all attached to it- radiator, batteries, etc). Also instructions alludes to doing a “stitch weld” along top of bracket to frame- to be effective this weld needs to be, in my evaluation at least, done properly to adequately tie the bracket to frame and thus reinforce this known weak area. To get sufficient access to do these welds (and fit up of some filler pieces) would be impossible without removing the core support. Appears the instructions are primarily from later model frames for which the reinforcing brackets may be smaller but be forewarned that proper installation on the earlier frames is more than implied by instructions. In final result, I’m pleased with the results but again realize it’s not a simple bolt in week end job.
 

cre1992

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regarding doing RSK on ‘87-‘92 version frames, I did my ‘87 last summer using Sky’s Off Road Design kit for SuperDuty springs. These remarks assume the frame on your ‘90 F350 Ambo is same as my ‘87 F250. I can vouch for its completeness and benefits BUT it turned out to be significantly more work than review of Sky’s instillation instructions imply- and they state it is a significant project. 2 primary surprises were (1)how much of the front needed to be disassembled and (2) how difficult removal if the original rear spring hanger’s rivets were. In truth the instructions did say rivet removal would be difficult and they were but access to get them driven out was challenging at a few locations. I resorted to gingerly use of cutting torch to remove- a sensitive job to avoid over sizing frame holes with flame wrench and/ or heat damaging nearby items. Just be forewarned on this- you will face a challenge. And regarding front disassembly, due to extra bracket size and welds required to affix to existing front frame horns, it was necessary to remove radiator core support (and thus all attached to it- radiator, batteries, etc). Also instructions alludes to doing a “stitch weld” along top of bracket to frame- to be effective this weld needs to be, in my evaluation at least, done properly to adequately tie the bracket to frame and thus reinforce this known weak area. To get sufficient access to do these welds (and fit up of some filler pieces) would be impossible without removing the core support. Appears the instructions are primarily from later model frames for which the reinforcing brackets may be smaller but be forewarned that proper installation on the earlier frames is more than implied by instructions. In final result, I’m pleased with the results but again realize it’s not a simple bolt in week end job.


Thanks on the heads up about this. I will keep the RSK on hold for now!
 

Robert Johnson

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@Thewespaul @theSHERPA

I just finished reading this whole thread. The crazy thing is I'm currently in New Zealand waiting to go to Antarctica for 6 months for work. Will definitely be contacting @Thewespaul when I get back to the states to get some parts for my truck.

This build is awesome by the way! Huge fan of the project.
 

Bart F-350

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Got my 225amp 3g kit installed, totally different truck now. Had to turn the regulator down with the fuel pump putting out more volume at the higher running voltage, batteries crank the truck much quicker now that they’re being fully charged to 14.7v, and with all the light and sirens on the alternator keeps charging above 14V at idle. And no more belt screaming!
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Installed the backup camera, much needed in this rig. Ran the wiring with the rest of the ambulance lighting wiring through the cab and into the overhead console in the box.
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and why was that, are the stock ambu packaging alternators so bad?
Btw, that new one is VERY small for a 220Amp unit!
 

IDIBRONCO

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3G alternators are physically small. I believe that the ambulance alternators are expensive to work on and replace.
 

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