Ambulance Aero

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by JSH

The Express vans have the 2.8L Duramax as an optional engine.

Maybe it wouldn't be a bad engine for some Cutaway models too.

The Express 4500 Cutaway cab used for ambulances only has one engine now. A 6.6L gas V8 engine (401 hp/464 lb.-ft. of torque) with 6-speed automatic transmission

Is it still based on a small-block design, right? It's amazing how such design is so compact for its displacement range, which is a valuable asset for such a small engine bay in the vans.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Maybe it wouldn't be a bad engine for some Cutaway models too.

Maybe for some of the 10 ft or 12 ft single wheel box trucks. I doubt the 180 hp 2.8L would do very well powering something like this loaded up to 12,000 lbs

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Is it still based on a small-block design, right? It's amazing how such design is so compact for its displacement range, which is a valuable asset for such a small engine bay in the vans.

The 6.6L Duramax is an Isuzu commercial engine. Prior to that GM used Detroit Diesel engines.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by JSH

Maybe for some of the 10 ft or 12 ft single wheel box trucks. I doubt the 180 hp 2.8L would do very well powering something like this loaded up to 12,000 lbs

It won't pull like a 14 with a Playboy, yet it won't be so awfully slow either.

The 6.6L Duramax is an Isuzu commercial engine. Prior to that GM used Detroit Diesel engines.

I thought you were refering to the new 6.6L gasser instead of the Duramax, as the new 6.6L gasser is now the only engine available for the Express 4500. TBH it does surprise me GM never tried to fit the 4HK1 engine to the Express.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

It won't pull like a 14 with a Playboy, yet it won't be so awfully slow either.

In a country where the speed limits are 75 - 80 mph it would be slow. Especially once you throw in some mountains.

It could work for local delivery with the right gearing.

[kach22i]

I friend of mine has a rear engine Freightliner based Class-A RV, even the storage area underneath is insulated, and it's designed for cold weather. Warm in the winter, cooler in the summer because the engine heat/mass is far from the driver.

That said, I found this:


https://www.campingrvbc.com/how/rv-p...0A,Pack%20less.

Drive a smaller RV. The larger the rig, the more gas it consumes. A 40-ft Class A consumes 18-29 litres/100 km (7-13 mpg). A smaller Class C can expect to get 16-23 litres/100 km (14-18 mpg); while a Class B gets a more thrifty 11-13 litres/100 km (18-25 mpg) or better. The same goes for a trailer or fifth wheel – the smaller the unit, the less gas or diesel is consumed.

Pack less. The heavier your motorhome, the more fuel it costs to haul it. If you don’t need it, don’t bring it.

I think the comments above being premised on weight is because most manufactures give little consideration to aerodynamics. So take that into consideration.

When I was looking into the Cab-Overs, the weight compared to a full sized pickup trucks was 50% more and the fuel mileage suffered for it.

[redpoint5]

What a fiasco.

What's so expensive about those thermostats? I'm used to a $10 part and 10 minutes to replace it.

All that headache seems to be good reason to delete all the emissions junk. How much to just strip it all off and fool the computer that all is good?

[JSH]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

What a fiasco.

What's so expensive about those thermostats? I'm used to a $10 part and 10 minutes to replace it.

Nothing special about the thermostats besides the fact that they are under the dash of the van and you have to do a massive amount of disassembly to get to them.

Just the inside disassembly - don't know why the site keeps rotating the image

Originally Posted by redpoint5

All that headache seems to be good reason to delete all the emissions junk. How much to just strip it all off and fool the computer that all is good?

More than I paid to fix it and then you have a vehicle with reduced resale and that no dealer or above-board repair shop will work on. The EPA is also rapidly cracking down on companies selling diesel deletes so there is no guarantee of future support should their delete tune or parts have issues down the road.

Oh - and you have a massively more polluting vehicle because you were too cheap to do the maintenance.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by JSH

In a country where the speed limits are 75 - 80 mph it would be slow. Especially once you throw in some mountains.

Whatever a 5.3L Vortec does, the 2.8L Duramax can do. I have even seen an S10 (the Colorado name is not used in most of South America for political and soccer-related reasons) with this engine pulling a 5th-wheel trailer. As far as a rig like your ambulance goes, remember other trucks with a similar GVWR tend to use 4-cyls ranging around 4 to 5-litre and are much less rev-happy than the 4-cyl Duramax, which with a suitable gearing does the job just as well as those do.

[JSH]

The truck is home and after a visit to the DMV I now own a 23 ft motor home.

Hand calculation of fuel economy for the 3000 mile trip is 15.4 mpg and that includes all the stationary forced regens. Not bad at all.

[Drifter]

Congratulations - sounds like it has been an adventure so far.

Have you pulled the DPF to inspect & clean it? I'd normally expect to go around 1,000 miles between (rolling) regens on a cross country highway trip - every few hundred miles is a bit of a red flag. Hopefully the thermostat & DEF heater were the problem, but fire trucks & ambulances tend to idle a lot so it isn't unusual for them to start needing DPF replacements as early as 50,000 miles. Still, your engine has pretty low hours for the miles so it definitely wasn't idled all the time...