Juggernaut Chronicles

Time to get all the passenger seats out of the bus. It's a relatively easy process. Simply remove the bolts holding the seats to the floor and walls. The seats were heavier than anticipated. Lots of steel as some of the seats flipped up against the wall to accommodate wheelchairs.

Here are the interior lights we plan to use on the Valkyrie build. There should be no shortage of lighting. Also a couple of bonus items we happen to have that will be installed.

I just received a DJI Osmo Action 3 camera I recently ordered to see how well it works for the price. I am trying to upgrade the quality from what I am using now to something on the order of a GoPro. Thought I would showcase the video at different frame rates so you can see what it looks like. After the testing I think it will work out quite well. Links to Manufacturer and Amazon DJI: https://www.dji.com/osmo-action-3 Amazon Action 3: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7X2JXND?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 Amazon Tempered Glass: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFBR5KRL?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details Amazon Camera Case: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BG42JRR6?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details Amazon Suction Cup Mount: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZRP4LWH?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

This video is the transmission shakedown video. Valkyrie has not really been driven since work was done on the transmission. It's only been driven short hops here and there. Now it's time to stress it a bit. Put on about 40 miles. Drove across the valley and up into the mountains to add a but of stress to the transmission. Up and down shifting as the grade changed. Downhill was in 3rd gear and maintained 40 MPH without any additional gas. Test the brakes a couple of times. They are pretty solid, but really wanted to add stress to the transmission. Came through with flying colors.

Google Maps tells me I need to exit I-84 in the middle of nowhere Oregon as there is construction ahead. I'm on my way to the Great Western Overlander Roundup 2022 in Chehalis, WA. She dumps me onto a dirt road at 2AM. I figure it'll be just a few miles before I'm on a hardball road again. Nope. She keeps telling me things like 2.3 miles to go, or just 5 miles to go. Well just under 18 miles later, with half the trip on a two track dirt road I'm back on the freeway having climbed over 2000 feet and crested a mountain with no lights or houses, or even farms to be seen anywhere. What a freakin' bypass.

Lots of parts have been arriving. Here are the exterior lights that will be installed on Valkyrie. The goal is to give a clean and consistent look as well as being functional. The installation will be featured as a video when the time comes to do all the wiring.

Time to get the wheelchair lift out of the vehicle. Not too bad a process other than I took it out as two components. Each part was kind of heavy. But I have a trailer I dragged them into to take to the dump so it all worked out.

We found some little cooking devices manufactured by MyMini for our camper build when it's ultimately completed. This is not an advertisement or an endorsement of the manufacturer. We decided to try them out and see how well they work and gauge their durability as an additional cooking system used on Valkyrie. Our cook top will be a two place induction cook top but if we are simply cooking a hot sandwich as a quick meal, there is no real need to fire up an 1800W induction cook top when we can cook the same sandwich using 520W and it heats and cooks the food far faster meaning increased efficiency and reduced power consumption. See if they are right for you. We are certainly going to use them.

Maintenance video of the blower motor system. We needed to replace the blower motor switch since it failed. It's a common failure on the Ford Econoline class of vans. Poor engineering at its best. Since we replaced the blower motor switch, we continued on to replace the resistor and the blower motor just to have a clean and new working system.

Another maintenance video. The Ford 5R110W transmission was throwing DTC's since I picked her up in Orlando. I didn't have time to do anything when I got her, so I drover her back to Utah. Today, I changed out the solenoid body (valve body) on the transmission. This video is already long enough, but I did have some other transmission issues to take care of. It's all done now and Valkyrie drives and shifts great. It's so important to insure you have a sound and working vehicle before you spend the money on an RV conversion.

This video is the replacement of the vehicle batteries. The old batteries were type AGM65, glass mat, deep cycle batteries. The AGM batteries were selected so the wheelchair lift, doors, rear air conditioning and lighting would be able to be used when the vehicle was not running. Since the AC and the wheel chair lift will be removed, there is no need for AGM batteries. I am replacing the batteries with type 24F 750 CCA lead acid. Since the batteries are configured in parallel, that gives me 1500 CCA for engine start. The old batteries would die in just a couple days. Looks like I had a problem with at least one cell in one of the batteries but it could have been more. When driving back from Orlando, FL when I picked her up, the front battery was spitting water and gas like it was overheated and was pressurized. I could get away with just one battery for the vehicle, but the second battery is located on the frame at the rear of the vehicle. Depending on wire resistance, this could be an excellent point to connect a DC to DC charger to charge the house batteries from the alternator since the camper electrical system will be located in the rear. The bus has an oversized alternator to run all the accessories in the bus. The only wire I would need to run would be the ignition sense wire to the charger.

The first video doing parts unboxing. We'll try to do this with the various parts and pieces we order in for Valkyrie so you can see what we bought and how they will be used. Headlights, mirrors, and electrical connectors arrived on this video.

This is the walk around of the E-350 Turtletop Shuttle Bus we named Valkyrie. Lots of work still ahead for this camper conversion, but this will give you an idea of the starting point for which to follow the progress.

We started down the path. We purchased a 2012 E-350 Super Duty shuttle bus in Orlando, Florida and had to drive it back to Riverton, Utah...sight unseen. The price was right and the Turtle Top (manufacturer) style is reminiscent of the Ford Chinook RV. Getting it back to Utah was a 30 plus hour marathon drive and a day delay before leaving to replace a stolen catalytic converter. Now that it's back home, time to start building a travel RV out of her. Build videos coming.