Arctic Ambulance

I'm having an intermittent problem with the shifter: three times now the transmission has downshifted to 1st, while moving. The speed display shows 0, while the truck speedometer still shows the correct speed. This happened once in 4th at about 45mph, twice in 2nd at low speeds. Each time, stopping, putting it in park then starting up again has restored things to proper functioning.

After the second instance I replaced the vehicle speed sensor, and checked the wires running to it, but the problem recurred.

I asked US Shift for troubleshooting suggestions, and they replied:

It depends on how exactly you have the TSS harness connected. Are you using the single wire PSOM method as shown in our manual, or are you connected directly to the rear axle ABS speed sensor?

Either way, it sounds like an intermittent wiring problem. If you are connected to the PSOM, the module may be failing. PSOMs are known to fail especially given their age, and there are a few companies that specialize in refurbishing them.

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I tapped into the wire running into the back of the speedometer, which I believe runs from the PSOM? or is the PSOM the speedometer? I'm finding places that repair the PSOM, and all of them seem to be talking about repairing the speedometer, not the device which sends a signal to it.

My speedometer needle doesn't waver or drop out, which is what I always associated with a failing module.

Anyone have any ideas for differentiating between PSOM (whatever that is) and something else?

I've been driving the machine, and so far the problem hasn't recurred. My wife says "It fixed itself!" Somehow that's not comforting.

I've started pulling out interior cabinets we definitely don't want. The cabinets are welded aluminum, nicely made.
From above the passenger side bench:

From behind the driver seat, a stack of cabinets and the interior door.

The door couldn't be opened from inside the house, so it had to go. Anyway, there's going to be room for a queen mattress over the passenger bench. Building a queen size platform that can fold up into a couch, or be removed entirely, needs to come soon.

Here's the inside with those bits out:
Left rear. The lower sliding doors open into the left rear outside storage. The upper ones are all inside.

Left front. It's not insulated behind that cabinet. The area underneath hinges down to expose the circuit board, relays, switches et cetera for the module controls.

Front of the module. The left side of the photo shows the front left outside storage cabinet, with a little "glass" door that lets you reach through into it. I think that was to let you turn the oxygen bottle on/off. I'm thinking about mounting a propane bottle in there. There's no insulation on the front of the module. Above the driver seat you can see the bolts securing the left side light bar mount, and the wires running to it. That'll be a great place to eventually mount some moose lights. The glass doors on the right open into the front right outside storage.

Right side, looking aft. That's the side door at the left of the photo, and the right rear outside storage at the far right of the photo. The bench between is almost exactly the length of a queen mattress, and there's just room to build a platform and lay one down there. The trick is going to be making it fold up into a bench, and making it removable for grocery runs.

The big white dog really, really wants a ride.

While I had the dash out finding the signal from the PSOM and hooking it up to the shift controller, I replaced the dash bulbs with green LEDs.
Some went in backwards so they don't light, and next time the dash comes out, I'll need to rotate them.

That's pretty impressive. I never realized how roomy those were. Good project.

I got the bed platform roughed out today. It's in two pieces that stack to make a bench or pull out to make room for a queen mattress.
Stacked:

Pulled out:

Awesome job, nice to see it coming to life.

I always thought about an ambo but the dually and stand up height became the deterrent. I’m 6’4”

Any rate I’ll be following as mines on the back burner.

I'm 6'4" too. Headroom inside is probably 5'8", so my wife can stand inside, but definitely not me. It wouldn't work to live in, but that's not our plan.

nelstomlinson said:

I'm 6'4" too. Headroom inside is probably 5'8", so my wife can stand inside, but definitely not me. It wouldn't work to live in, but that's not our plan.

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Not as bad as my van. Stock roof height inside (the fiberglass topper makes an attic, via a hatch in the stock roof) and I'm 5' 10.5". I sit and lie down a lot because I'm bent in a 120° angle when standing. Unless I stand on my knees, which I do to access stuff down low in drawers and boxes.

Cubey said:

Not as bad as my van. Stock roof height inside (the fiberglass topper makes an attic, via a hatch in the stock roof) and I'm 5' 10.5". I sit and lie down a lot because I'm bent in a 120° angle when standing. Unless I stand on my knees, which I do to access stuff down low in drawers and boxes.

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Cut your roof, forego the attic. That is my plan on my van!! You’ll be much happier.

Cant Write said:

Cut your roof, forego the attic. That is my plan on my van!! You’ll be much happier.

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It would only add about 7 inches height in the center. Not enough of a gain to go through all that work.

Cubey said:

It would only add about 7 inches height in the center. Not enough of a gain to go through all that work.

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Different strokes for different folks.....

I feel like the 7” would make a world of difference. Plus still keep some attic space, between the A/B pillars and then the rear 3’.

When I bought my van, he had a cut roof one on his daily. Made a world of difference. But the tops could be different.

I get that the difference between hunched and stooped isn't worth a lot of effort, but what good is the attic? It seems the fiberglass top adds a lot of wind resistance for not much gain.

nelstomlinson said:

I get that the difference between hunched and stooped isn't worth a lot of effort, but what good is the attic? It seems the fiberglass top adds a lot of wind resistance for not much gain.

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I do store a few things in the attic, like water hoses and a small duffel bag of winter clothes I rarely need. So it does have some purpose.

The big air gap gives a cooling effect to the ceiling, like with a house. It's very sloped in the front so I doubt it gives much in wind resistance.

Plus in the event of a bad wreck, the metal roof gives better structural integrity to the walls than fiberglass would, in keeping the walls from folding over. It has metal beams going side to side for structural integrity.

The old pig rolled like a boat in a swell, so I'm changing the shocks. The rear shocks were needlessly hard, but the front shocks are worse! There is no clearance to access the top nut on the front shocks. I was able to squeak a wrench in on top of the passenger side, and turn the shock body enough to get clearance for a sawzall to cut it off.

On the driver side, there is a little tiny hole in the floorboard that lets you get tantalizingly close to the top of the shock. There isn't room to get a deep socket in there, and the medium is _just_ too shallow. I'll get back to the drivers side on Monday, probably.

I've been getting some advice on the shifting issue, that's in the intermittent shift issue thread: https://www.oilburners.net/threads/e4od-vss-and-us-shift-intermittent-issue.93576/#post-1144547
Still no solution.