- 2 days ago
noWhy are so many people turning old ambulances into off-grid 4x4 RVs? Built by Mike at JM Custom Coach Builders, this extreme Ford 7.3L Powerstroke diesel ambulance conversion proves why this trend is taking over, featuring an 8-inch Ujoint Off-Road lift kit, 37-inch tires, a fold-down rooftop DJ booth, and an off-grid Renogy lithium electrical system.
Step inside one of the most unique camper van builds on the road today. This video gives you an exclusive tour of a custom heavy-duty ambulance transformed into a fully functional party RV and off-road overland rig. From the massive dual 300Ah lithium battery setup and 800W solar panel array to the custom resin countertops, outdoor shower, and sound-reactive Nanoleaf LED lighting, this build redefines what is possible in small-space RV living. Whether you are searching for overland vehicle ideas, DIY camper van inspiration, or practical trailer tours, this walkthrough offers an incredible look at heavy-duty custom coach building. Watch as host Patrick from New Jersey's Outdoor Adventures dives deep into the functional features, custom storage drawers, fold-out bed layout, and party setup that make this 4x4 rig a true masterpiece fo
Step inside one of the most unique camper van builds on the road today. This video gives you an exclusive tour of a custom heavy-duty ambulance transformed into a fully functional party RV and off-road overland rig. From the massive dual 300Ah lithium battery setup and 800W solar panel array to the custom resin countertops, outdoor shower, and sound-reactive Nanoleaf LED lighting, this build redefines what is possible in small-space RV living. Whether you are searching for overland vehicle ideas, DIY camper van inspiration, or practical trailer tours, this walkthrough offers an incredible look at heavy-duty custom coach building. Watch as host Patrick from New Jersey's Outdoor Adventures dives deep into the functional features, custom storage drawers, fold-out bed layout, and party setup that make this 4x4 rig a true masterpiece fo
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TravelTranscript
00:00I can build you anything. The sky's the limit if you have the money.
00:06Hello and welcome back to the show. This is Patrick with New Jersey's Outdoor Adventures YouTube channel.
00:11Today, I have Mike with JM Custom Coach Builders back on the show.
00:15He's going to give us an updated tour of his ambulance camper conversion.
00:18And this thing is incredible. It's four-wheel drive. It's got living quarters on the inside.
00:23And up top there, that's a DJ booth. Join us for the tour.
00:28Patrick, thanks for having me back on the channel. My name's Mike. I'm the owner-operator of JM Custom Coach
00:33Builders.
00:33I've been working on this for six years. I finally finished it last week.
00:38It's got a four-wheel drive conversion with an eight-inch lift. It was done by U-Join Off-Road.
00:43It's on 37-inch tires. If you come around here, I'll show you what all the compartments are, what's in
00:51them.
00:52I have two dual-purpose batteries in here that charge three different ways.
01:00And here is just the access to the electrical cabinet, which I'll show you when we go inside, get a
01:05better view of that.
01:07It's got some steps. It's pulled out. Nice and easy. Go back in.
01:13Access to the cab on one side. This area I just used for storage and my propane tank.
01:22It's got a built-in outlet from the side. These are actually for the speakers that are mounted on the
01:28back to plug them in so we have power to them.
01:33This door actually just goes to the toilet, and there's no reason to open it.
01:37This is actually just a water spigot if I want to have water outside.
01:42Come around the back. I have a two-foot deck on the back for everybody to hang out on while
01:46we're tailgating, having a good time.
01:49Steps come down.
01:50The DJ booth. I'm so thrilled that I just finished this.
01:54It actually folds down flat.
01:58Everything folds down together, and then it just bolts all back together when it's time to use it.
02:03We can set this up in about five minutes, have the DJ on in about 20.
02:08Lights go up there. It puts on quite a show. You've got to see it at night.
02:12It has a built-in OUNIN 4000 to run everything.
02:21Over here we've got a 45-gallon water tank.
02:25And since there isn't any room inside for the shower, you take this, put it here, and then you can
02:33take a nice outdoor shower.
02:36Yeah, and you can just fill it up just like this.
02:40Easy peasy.
02:43It has a pressure sensor of water pump.
02:49Oh, I've got to close that.
02:55We also have outlets on this side for that speaker.
02:59This is the propane water heater to get all my nice hot water and take my showers.
03:06This is the utility drawer, or the cabinet, should I say.
03:10I have everything I need in here.
03:11If I get a flat tire, I have a jack.
03:14I have a built-in air compressor.
03:17I have an auxiliary tank that I made for the generator because the generator is gas, and this thing is
03:25a 7.3 diesel.
03:26So I put in a 12-gallon tank, and this is how you fill it.
03:32Oh, by the way, it's pride, and that's why my nails are painted.
03:36I have all my tools in here, all my fluids, my cords, my air hose, so I can run my
03:43air tools if I need to do so, if I have an issue on the highway.
03:49This I don't have too much in.
03:50I used to have a lot more stuff in here, but I started building it all in, but I do
03:54have an extra fuel tank, a ratchet set, and I keep my ladder in here and my step stools and
04:00random stuff.
04:03This is the shore power plug, and this is the block warmer.
04:09These steps actually came with the ambulance, but I actually fabricated these steps here so it was a little easier
04:15to get into now that it's 8 inches taller.
04:17I actually keep a lockbox here in case I lock the keys of the vehicle because I've done that before.
04:23So the code is, just kidding, I'm not going to go to the code.
04:28This bumper actually is made by U-Join Off-Road as well, the guys who made the lift kit.
04:32I love this bumper.
04:34I added some lights into it.
04:36I re-added the ambulance sirens because it came without the sirens, and you just have to have them.
04:44I added the roof rack with some light fox lights, and one thing I would like to add is that
04:50that light bar up top, I finally put that on after having it for four years,
04:55and it just sitting in my garage because I needed to get the wrap done.
04:58Speaking of the wrap, the wrap was done by Bren, who is the owner of AGX Designs, and I couldn't
05:07be happier with this wrap.
05:08Me and him collaborated on the design together, and he got this wrap done in three days, right before tomorrow's
05:17Pride.
05:18We're in Asbury Park right now.
05:20I brought this here for the Pride Parade, and this will be in the Pride Parade tomorrow, driving down Cookman
05:27Avenue with a DJ on the roof.
05:30If we come inside, this is the interior.
05:39Now, first, I probably should show you the electrical system because that is probably the coolest thing about this.
05:45Now, I'm a wholesaler for Rennergy Power Systems, so I asked Rennergy if they wouldn't mind if I got their
05:53best stuff and sport it for them and make sales for them.
05:56So, this is Rennergy's best system.
05:59Let me turn this on to white so it's not doing that.
06:05There we go.
06:07So, it has a 3,000-watt inverter charger.
06:09This is their best one.
06:11One thing that's interesting about it is that it has the ability to run two legs.
06:16Most inverters can only run one, so you can run 240 through this inverter as opposed to only one pen.
06:22It's got a 50-amp transfer switch.
06:26It has a 60-amp solar controller with 800 watts of solar on the roof.
06:30It's got the shadow flux panels.
06:32These are combiner boxes, which are just fused, which protect all the circuits.
06:36It has two 300-amp-hour lithium batteries.
06:40It has a 60-amp DC to DC charger.
06:43For those of you who might not know what that is, basically, when I start the vehicle, it boosts the
06:47wattage up and it charges these batteries a lot faster than it would if you were using a continuous-duty
06:54solenoid, which is just, it just boosts the wattage up.
06:57It's got two amps, one 8-channel amp and one sub-amp, a capacitor, and it also has a cell
07:05phone signal booster for when you go to festivals or in the middle of nowhere.
07:11It boosts your signal, so you can have cell service, listen to Spotify, watch some videos, all that stuff.
07:17It also has Starlink on the roof.
07:19That's pretty much all of it in here.
07:22Storage cabinets, this just holds my bedding and, you know, towels and soft stuff.
07:29This holds random things.
07:33This holds my trash pail and the emergency light-like actuators and things like that.
07:40It has so much stuff in the front.
07:42Unfortunately, the front is filled with stuff right now because we are doing an event.
07:45But if you'd like to see, it has a CB radio.
07:50This is the siren.
07:55It has the air compressor, all the light controls, and then all the original ambulance controls are here.
08:04It also has, if you look over here, it has a pull string, like air horn, because I always wanted
08:12to have one of those.
08:14All right, moving on to the living space.
08:16All right, so it has, I built a computer.
08:20Now, I don't really like laptops, so I built the smallest tower that they make just because I love the
08:26way it looks.
08:27It's a fun little thing to have.
08:29This computer has a lot of systems that are integrated into it, into some of the Rennergy stuff,
08:34so I can manipulate and change things on, like I can change my charging watts and all kinds of things.
08:40Like, I also have temperature sensors in here, so I can monitor.
08:45Like, if I leave my dog in here and put the air conditioner on, for some reason the generator shuts
08:49off,
08:50I get an alert on my phone that says the temperature is rising in here, and I can come back
08:54and make sure everything is okay.
08:57This is my control panel, so this tells me everything I need to know and activates just about everything in
09:02here.
09:02This activates the, this basically just turns on and off the inverter.
09:07This tells me my solar battery voltage.
09:10This tells me my engine battery voltage.
09:12This is just my weather center.
09:13This controls some of the LEDs.
09:15This controls some of the LEDs.
09:17This turns on and off my generator remotely from inside.
09:22Radio remote.
09:24Up top, I have built-in audio jacks for the DJ, so he can plug right in, and then his
09:33music will play through all my speakers in here,
09:35so everything is synced up.
09:36So I have an audio selector switch here that basically swaps that over, so that all works very simply.
09:44What else do I have?
09:45This is actually Renergy's, it's the Renergy Rego 1 controller.
09:50You can, you can check all of your systems from here as well.
09:56This is telling me how many watts I'm getting in on my solar, and I can also change some things
10:00on there if I want to.
10:02My inverter, my fingers are greasy because it's hot.
10:08Well, you get the idea.
10:09I can do the DC to DC charger, the inverter, and the solar controller.
10:13I can change all the settings from right there.
10:15It all works via Bluetooth.
10:17I have two 12-inch subs that knock pretty damn hard in here.
10:23I always like this, the little flip-up-like seat.
10:26You know, it's kind of like a theater seat, you know.
10:32Now, this is actually the only original Ambler's cabinet that's left.
10:36I altered it slightly to make it, like, more cool, but, like, it's just for my storage.
10:41I also have a toaster over there that I've never used.
10:48And I always liked that it opens up like this.
10:50It's just cool.
10:52It's got a microwave.
10:54I don't cook in here much.
10:56I never put a stove in here because I just like the fact that I can take this and move
11:00it out of the way and have more counter space.
11:02Maybe one day I might put a stove in, but right now this is good enough for me.
11:08This countertop is actually a piece of plywood that I poured resin on and manipulated with heat to make it
11:16kind of look like stone.
11:18I did the same with this one as well, but just made it a simple, like, star pattern, like with
11:24some flakes in it.
11:26So, it's got a, oh, that's just a vacuum tube clock.
11:29It's a little circuit board I built just to, kind of looks like 50s noir, kind of fun.
11:34One of the vacuum tube lights is out.
11:37Down here is my hot water heater and all my plumbing as well as my, you know, my cooking stuff.
11:45What else?
11:47Let's see.
11:49Microwave, which I almost never use.
11:51I like these cabinets.
11:52These are made by Moduline.
11:54They just, they seemed like a good idea at the time because I could just screw them in and be
11:57done with them.
11:58But they're kind of like, like toolbox cabinets, like in a way.
12:03But they just fit in that spot so well.
12:06I have another one over there.
12:07Same deal.
12:08This one is a flip up.
12:10That's where most of my alcohol is stored for events.
12:15I built this drawer over the box from the outside.
12:18It just holds my silverware and stuff like that.
12:22Since this thing, since I don't live in this thing, I didn't need a large fridge, you know.
12:26Sometimes I bring a cooler, but this is good enough for all the drinks and stuff like this because this
12:31is more of a weekend warrior than something to live in.
12:35But I have an exhaust fan.
12:38It's got a 15,000 watt BTU air conditioner, which I do plan on replacing with one with a heat
12:43pump soon.
12:44I've got my little bar here.
12:47This folds out into a bed.
12:50I'm not going to do it for you right now, but I'll show you, like, the inner workings of it.
12:55It actually all flips up like this, and then these parts slide out, so you're pretty comfortable in here at
13:01night.
13:02It has a black water tank and a pretty standard, like, regular RV toilet that flushes and all that stuff
13:09that makes it really, like, convenient.
13:12I don't know why people love their dry or compost toilets.
13:15I like these.
13:18Oh, this light is, uh...
13:24There's also a mood light for the bathroom.
13:26It does turn into regular light, but it's just fun.
13:31And if you want to use the bathroom, you close this door, and then you slide your curtain out, and
13:38then you're going to have some privacy.
13:40And then at night, when you want your privacy over the windows, you can just bring this straight down.
13:47Blocks the light.
13:50That's how you use it.
13:52Yeah, that blocks out sunlight from coming in, so...
13:55Because that bakes you in the morning if you don't have the air conditioner running.
13:59Oh, yeah.
13:59And so, the light's in here.
14:01Now, this thing is made for fun and festivals, so...
14:04I programmed it.
14:06Let me get this out the way.
14:07I programmed it to do some really cool stuff.
14:11Now, it's daytime right now, unfortunately, but at nighttime, this thing really lights up.
14:15So, if I turn the LED controller on to...
14:19These LEDs here, I built them into the rail so they face out.
14:25And then I painted the roof white, so at nighttime, the LEDs shoot light right across the ceiling.
14:32And then the Nanoleafs, these are Nanoleafs, by the way.
14:35They do all kinds of crazy stuff.
14:37So, let's say if I put this on, and it goes by sound, so you're hearing it move.
14:44And then we can put the music mode on, on the LEDs, or on the Nanoleafs.
14:48And they'll be manipulated by the sound of the music.
15:10So, that's my ambulance.
15:13Patrick, thanks again for having me on the channel.
15:16I just want to put a shout-out to Bren from AGX Designs, who made this wrap.
15:22Patrick will put a link for that in the description if you want some of his stuff.
15:26He's based out of my town, Florence, New Jersey.
15:31If you want to find me, I'm on jmccbuilders.com, or Facebook, or Instagram, or YouTube.
15:37JM Custom Coach Builders.
15:38Just find it.
15:40And I can build you anything.
15:42The sky's the limit if you have the money.
15:44Like you can.
15:45You've been on the show several times.
15:47There's some amazing creations.
15:48People love them.
15:50And I'm happy that you do this, and you help people, and walk them through the process,
15:54and work with their timeline and budgets.
15:57Everything's possible.
16:00Everything's possible.
16:00I know you've got a show to put on, so I'll let you to it.
16:03Awesome.
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