Preliminary Modifications

We left the last blog installment with the exciting-to-us news that our truck had been dropped off at Koop’s Tinsmiths for some pre-camper build modifications.  To understand the modifications, and how they are moving us closer to what we want for our final build, it will help to know what the truck is, and why we chose this particular truck as the base for our traveling home.

The truck is a 2010 Ford F-350 diesel dually with the 6.4liter diesel engine and a 14-foot flatbed.  It was custom ordered in the US by our neighbors for their large scale bee-keeping operation before they moved to Belize.  When they moved to Belize, they brought the truck with them, but with the smaller operation they are running here, they barely used it, and it has only the 30,000 miles on it that it had when they shipped it here. They decided to sell it in 2019, which is when we started thinking about what we wanted to do for our travels, and since it was living a half mile down the road with such low mileage, we jumped on it.  We had been looking for an older model diesel Ford because we intend to drive through Mexico, Central America, and South America with it, and many of the newer “features” on the diesel trucks make them impractical to drive in countries where there aren’t many high tech Ford dealerships.  Plus, this truck seemed to be made with our plans in mind; the 14-foot flatbed gave us plenty of options for a camper back and cargo, plus the flat bed has an air-ride suspension that will be ideal for both carrying and leveling mobile living quarters.

Before we could even think about what to do with the underside of the flatbed, we (well, the Tom part of the we) had to do a little remedial work on the truck since, despite the low mileage, the truck had been mostly sitting in our tropical climate, which isn’t especially healthy for hoses, belts, brakes, and moving parts in general.  

Tom did a lot of work on the suspension of the truck since all of the rubber body mounts had rotted.  He also replaced hoses and belts for the cooling system, as well as pressure lines.  He also needed to make some exhaust modifications.  And, a few of our maiden voyages in the truck ended with burning brakes, so that problem needed to be diagnosed and remedied.

For more detailed information, Tom will write up a separate post, no need to bore everyone with details they don't want!

The flatbed came with a few storage trunks, as well as storage for the air-ride air compressor, a spare compressor, and a spare tire carrier.  It also had a trailer hitch attached to the frame, but the receptacle for the hitch was a couple of feet under the back of the flatbed. We are planning to use the under-bed storage for spare fuel, spare water, tools, and 2 spare tires.  This meant we had to do a little bit of reconfiguring, although in the interest of saving money and materials, we wanted to use or re-use what came with the truck as much as possible.  

The new compressor boxes are on top, and the old storage box is still under the bed.

Close up of the new compressor boxes.

The reconfigured storage locker, customized for carrying extra fuel.

The first step was to move the hitch back so it would actually be useful if we wanted to tow something.  That project broke a number of drill bits and involved a few skinned knuckles, but finally the hitch receptacle is even with the back of the bed.  This also created some more room under the bed in the frame of the truck, which gave us more flexibility for air compressor compartments, as well as the space for a gray water tank in addition to reconfigured storage boxes.

This gives us two large compartments for carrying fuel and water containers, as well as tools.  It also gives us room for two spare tires, which we feel are necessary for driving through Mexico and Central America. An approximately 15-gallon gray water tank will fill from the topside of the deck, and have easily accessible drainage options under the truck.  And, the two air compressors are accessible both for fixing tires or doing anything requiring compressed air, and for trouble shooting the truck’s air-ride suspension.  

The final upgrade to the bed will be suspension stops that will prevent the bed from falling on the tires and the frame of the truck if the air-ride suspension fails.  We have been told by a number of unbiased mechanics that this is a top of the line air-ride system, used mostly on semi tractor trailers, but we know from experience that even the best equipment eventually wears out and sometimes fails, especially in our type of climate.  So, before we add any more weight to the flatbed, we will have emergency stops installed.