Am I crazy for wanting this?

So as mentioned in another thread about RV's I have a lack of a tow vehicle and with that lack also has come some other things with my unique situation

1) My family likes to camp and we have a family of 4 (2girls+mom+dog+me) and mom and dad need a bit more separation from children

2) I currently drive my miata to the track but want to be able to tow it so I can go to farther away tracks

3) When going to the track I would either be by myself or with one buddy and it would be nice if we could tow 2 miatas (so in a 28ft vnose) vs each having to drive but that's a nicety

4) My wife totally veto'd the idea of a 1ton truck+truck bed camper for me at the track

5) Wife didn't like the massive size of a diesel pusher which would be big enough to tow a 28ft trailer

So I saw an ambulance conversion on racingjunk a little bit ago and it actually looked pretty decent inside which got my looking around. It seems they can be had pretty cheap considering most 3/4 ton trucks in the 2001-2005 range are close to 10k unless they have super high miles. Could stay in it when its just me and my buddy, could tow the biggest trailer we could probably throw at it?

That lead me to this one on Craigslist for 10k

"1996 international Navistar custom truck. This truck has everything refrigerator, microwave hot water showering system flatscreen TV , Digital sound system front and back custom paneling and carpet. Truck is in good condition has a 7.3 Navstar for diesel a sought out motor. Truck has 227,000 Miles. Truck is set up for Towing. This is a great truck rate for camping or events everything works. No tire kickers please serious offers only"

No you are not crazy.

That sounds like exactly what you need.  Fair warning, it's gonna be slow.  A 96 7.3 is a very early 7.3 Powerstroke / T444E.  So it's probably the 210hp version.  You'll run out of power long before any other kind of towing ability. 

I am hoping I could sell it as being way cheaper than a class C for the family, because travel trailers themselves are so much cheaper than motorhomes and much more flexible on floorplans/sleeping areas and the like

I guess the question is: If you're buying something for the benefit of you AND your buddy, is he going halvsies on it with you?

Plus then you'd need to buy a big trailer. And when it's just you, you'd be towing one miata on a big 28' trailer with a massive overkill tow rig.

Personally, I'd just find a full-size SUV (Tahoe, Sequoia, whatever) for $5k and get a nice enclosed trailer for another $5k, and you can both haul the car in that as well as camp out of it with a few amenities added. Get like a 20' enclosed, you'll have tons of room in it to put a couple beds, a fridge, and a generator.

True,

Looks like its a International 4700 LP for low profile. I could go the trailer route but even if I did my own just me not 2 car thing I would probably want more workshop type stuff in the trailer than living quarters. I would mainly be buying it for me so I could stay at the track and tow my car regardless, bonus points for being able to also fit his car, I agree towing a 28ft trailer when its just me would be excessive but leaves room for other toys I guess :)

I have seen some "less" overkill converted ambulances as well it just seems like the ambulance frame might be better based than a box truck or shuttle in terms of build quality.

Most "living quarters" trailers are not wifeable in terms of quality and are gooseneck but if I am modifying it myself I guess I could do whatever. While unique I also think the ambulance is not likely to depreciate a lot more?

Is that a modified car hauler or a toy hauler? Most car haulers don't have a roofline like that do they?

I don't have the slightest clue. Just a photo I found on Google that seemed to match what I was talking about. That said, for example, one of our local (rallycrossers) has like a 22-24' enclosed trailer that he tows with an F250 or something. The car he keeps in it? Mazda2. So he has a TON of space in there with the car inside in that he could really set up a workshop pretty easily, add a small bathroom, have fold-down bunks on the sides, or whatever.  I mean, it's cavernous. And with a Miata, you could almost have a removable "loft" or something over the car for sleeping, it's low enough. 

IDK, if your wife is ok with camping in the back of that truck you posted, don't see why you couldn't make the front half of a trailer just as good. YMMV of course. I'm just throwing ideas out there for you!

Ambulances, box trucks (which are often built on similar chassis to ambulances, either a cutaway van or medium duty), school buses, etc. are likely to be pretty much bottomed out in value when you get them.  A lot of off the shelf RVs have limited towing capacity and the big ones can run into issues with combined vehicle length being over the legal limit. 

The in-between option is pretty much a 1 ton dually pickup and a big (40 foot) gooseneck trailer with living quarters (either pre-existing or DIY) plus Miata storage. 

For inspiration, an old neighbor of mine built this last year (although it's smaller than what you're looking at):

Crazy like a fox. Of course, now I want one too.

Yes to anything that helps me convince myself that a medium duty truck is a sane way to handle all my truck needs...

That truck is cool.

My wife is not ok with camping in something like the truck I posted, but i would be when at the track. And it looks like a decent spot on the couch to sit when towing . But like the image posted in the OP I could tow a very nice travel trailer when the family was along. Kids could sit on the couch and watch TV or something with the dog while we roll along (which is another thing I like about RVs) I was looking at a kodiak based class C but thats like 50k

Similar trucks seem to weigh around 18k with a GVWR of 25,500 to keep it under the CDL cap, that's a lot of payload which probably means easily handle tongue weights of almost anything "bumper tow" even a stacker

We like the "bunk house" layouts in travel trailers that put a queen bed at the front and a bunk bed room at the back with a door on it, I think we could buy the truck in the OP+the travel trailer+the 28ft enclosed and still be way under the cost of a class C

rslifkin said:

Ambulances, box trucks (which are often built on similar chassis to ambulances, either a cutaway van or medium duty), school buses, etc. are likely to be pretty much bottomed out in value when you get them.  A lot of off the shelf RVs have limited towing capacity and the big ones can run into issues with combined vehicle length being over the legal limit. 

The in-between option is pretty much a 1 ton dually pickup and a big (40 foot) gooseneck trailer with living quarters (either pre-existing or DIY) plus Miata storage. 

For inspiration, an old neighbor of mine built this last year (although it's smaller than what you're looking at):

I looked at a couple E-450 based ambulance conversions as well. I would totally consider one of those also

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/rvs/d/motorhome-stealth-bugout/6551318084.html

Another one

Hmm even these non converted ones seem somewhat plentiful and have nice interiors for modifying

Seems like a real cheap way to get a powerstroke diesel for less than 5k

https://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/d/2004-ford-e350-powerstroke/6533669176.html

I've never owned one, but I used to work in the mobile command center industry.  Those trucks are obviously very heavy duty.  Whats nice is the box on the back isn't a piece of E36 M3 like most RVs.  Its usually aluminum skin both inside and out, with 2x2x1/8" box tubing for framing.  It doesn't rust, it doesn't rot, and it doesn't feel like it will collapse under a strong unlike RVs.

I think one could be made into quite a fun tow/weekend camp vehicle.

I'm pretty convinced at this point that any RV that doesn't cost cubic $$$ is generally built like garbage and has a lot of poorly designed systems.  If you want a good RV, you're better off finding a suitable vehicle to start with and building your own. 

ProDarwin said:

I've never owned one, but I used to work in the mobile command center industry.  Those trucks are obviously very heavy duty.  Whats nice is the box on the back isn't a piece of E36 M3 like most RVs.  Its usually aluminum skin both inside and out, with 2x2x1/8" box tubing for framing.  It doesn't rust, it doesn't rot, and it doesn't feel like it will collapse under a strong unlike RVs.

I think one could be made into quite a fun tow/weekend camp vehicle.

How hard is it to attach things to the inner skin? to like bolt things to it?

You can rivet to it easily.  If its load carrying, you want to locate a stud, just like you would at home.  Usually they are 24" on center.

One problem with many ambulances is they are often not tall enough to be effective RV's.  

Soooo, why not drive the Miata to far tracks?

10k truck plus 10k trailer buys one hell of a tent and a lot of tows home if you happen to breakdown.

Towing to the track is something that a lot of people find fun, but I certainly don't.

I don't want to spend more than 2hrs in my miata even using a butt pad. Its loud, cramped, and has no cruise control. Also the tow vehicle is for going camping with the family as well, we have a small camper towed by our minivan but want to be able to go farther without worrying about the van transmission and also proving now the family enjoys it getting something a little bigger/nicer

Found a really dangerous thread on expedition portal

https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/ambulance-camper-expedition-rig-conversion-faq.135844/

I'm confused though... so the wife nixed a regular looking 1-ton truck with a slide in camper, but would be okay with a converted ambulance parked in the driveway?  

Have you run this new scheme past your wife yet?  

xflowgolf said:

I'm confused though... so the wife nixed a regular looking 1-ton truck with a slide in camper, but would be okay with a converted ambulance parked in the driveway?  

Have you run this new scheme past your wife yet?  

Umm, no... :P

She nixed the 1 ton truck+ camper primarily because "they are a waste of money" at least with the ambulance I can make the argument of it being even cheaper than a truck by itself. or so goes the rationalizing in my head