Antarctic IDI Build

[Thewespaul]

So today the Ambo went home, its going back to the owner Matt for a month to go to an offroad bronco rally here in Texas, he will be towing his rockcrawler up there with the Ambo, then it will be coming back for some more upgrades.

So heres the last bit of work from these last couple days,

Buttoned up the exhuast, I modified the stock muffler hanger to be the main hanger, then used a universal hanger welded to a 4 inch clamp as the side to side hanger, tried to keep it super simple for easy removal and came out pretty good, but much too quiet imo...

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Connecting up to Banks downpipe is always a pain since they decided to use a real oddball size, but used a band clamp sleeved with a 3" flexpipe to my s bend to a 3" to 4" adapter.

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[Thewespaul]

Swapped the new dryer in with a new blue orfice tube. Swapped in a good used ford ac compressor and flushed everything out. Blew the lines and pulled the system down to 30 inches Hg, didnt drop so no major leaks. Filled it up with freon and pressures all look good and the compressor is cycling like normal. Inlet and outlet temps look good on the condenser, and the dryer is getting frosty at idle.

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Vent temps were only around 60 degrees so checked for a temp change when moving the blend door open/close. No change. Blend door must not be sealing so I bypassed the heater core and now have cold vent temps.

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Played with the exhaust crossover trying to get it to seal and just kept cracking the flange more when tightening it so Im going to definitely be cutting that side off and replacing it. Added a small helper spring to the wastegate arm to help hold the wastegate closed longer and sealed properly in case that was an issue, I turned the fuel down a touch to help with the egts and noticed a drop in power but made the egts more controllable.

 

[Thewespaul]

Late update, but the owner of this beast @theSHERPA has been enjoying the truck and making it his own, picked up a pretty universal winch bumper and mocked it up, decided it wasn’t the right look

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Modified the stock bumper for the obs vents and used that for the time being. Going to be doing something real special for the winch bumper that’s going in.

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[Thewespaul]

Led work/backup lights recessed into the rear bumper

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Then this truck did what it was built to do, it towed Matt’s bronco up to a big bronco rally here in Texas, probably the coolest tow pig there I’m sure.

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My favorite part of working on trucks and doing builds is by far seeing their owners happy with their trucks and enjoying them, so definitely made my day seeing these pictures! Looking forward to seeing the ambo soon to get some water to air intercooler goodness.

 

[Bart F-350]

Yeah!!! what would that Bronco/trailer combo weigh?

I had huge problems with only 6613lbs trailer behind my rig, with standard tires, no turbo, and no ambu body. just a flat deck.

 

[Thewespaul]

I think we said bronco was around 4K and trailer is 1.5? So probably around 17,000 lbs total. Egts were a problem and trans temp got up there too, gonna be taking care of that with these next upgrades.

 

[Bart F-350]

Odd, mine is allowed to come in at 17600lbs, and that is a conservative German weightlimit (truck with a braked trailer).
when I had the problems, mine weighed 12400lbs, I have to add that we passed over a high pass with a million curbs, but starnge enough the problems started an hour after passing that pass???? (vomited all oil out of the gearbox) it didn't burn the gearbox though.

I'd like to add; please replace that annoying factory trans cooler, That doesn't earn that name!!!!
It comes with the ambu package, but is the biggest joke I've ever seen!!!

I did, and I added a trans temp gage also!

 

[no mufflers]

I think we said bronco was around 4K and trailer is 1.5? So probably around 17,000 lbs total. Egts were a problem and trans temp got up there too, gonna be taking care of that with these next upgrades.

that was one thing i did notice with the banks. had to pedal it alot. the only way to really solve that is put a big turbo on. or i guess turn the fuel down.

i have also noticed once the converter is locked, towing the temp will get to the 200* area and hang there. unlocked and it will get warm quick.

 

[Thewespaul]

that was one thing i did notice with the banks. had to pedal it alot. the only way to really solve that is put a big turbo on. or i guess turn the fuel down.

i have also noticed once the converter is locked, towing the temp will get to the 200* area and hang there. unlocked and it will get warm quick.

Putting a trans cooler on the frame. I think the turbo will work alright once the water to air intercooler is in. Did you have an intercooler in when you had the banks or did you intercool once you upgraded? I had the fuel set pretty conservative but the crossover keeps leaking more and more so can’t keep turning the fuel down to compensate, gotta fix those leaks

 

[no mufflers]

i didn't have an IC, only ran 10 lbs of boost. i have the same pump just with bigger turbo and IC and i can barely hit 900* now.

i feel bad your having trouble with the up pipes. once i welded the cracks on the flange and used some silicone it sealed up.

 

[Thewespaul]

Not your fault man, Matt told me you were plenty upfront about the cracks when you sold it. I’m thinking we will either replace the crossover completely or I’ll cut the cracked side off and weld in a na pipe for that side

 

[no mufflers]

yeah that would work. i guess as long as the pipe is close to the same diameter. if you found a flange that slipped inside the banks pipe that would be even easier.

 

[Thewespaul]

Like seeing an old friend, the ambo is back for some fixes and upgrades

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[G. Mann]

Switch up to 19.5 rims and tires.... puts you into the commercial truck category for weight and ply count. Might have to shop around to find tread you liked.

10 lug, 19.5's, F450 or F550 axles, 4 wheel disk brakes, with hydroboost... Bobs yer Uncle.

 

[210Tumbleweed]

Better carry a mounted spare...them 19.5's are a PITA to "flip in the ditch"...and most service trucks won't have them except during regular business hours...
Sincerely,
An EX-road service guy

P.S. That AMBO is freakin' awesome...almost makes me wanna trade in my 5th-wheel.