IVAN

Navi

Adventurer
Quick Introduction.

My nickname is Navi. Almost everyone has called me Navi since I first put a Navigator front end on my first truck in High School.

My background is in custom trucks. I currently drive a 2001 F150 Supercrew airbagged on 22s.
I also have my very first truck, a '99 F150 with a completely hand built frame, IRS, 24" wheels, etc. It's set aside for now but I'll eventually rebuild it.
My wife has a '68 Bug as a project vehicle.

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Navi

Adventurer
A year ago I decided to start working towards a vehicle that could more easily tow a camper, a boat, utv, etc. Something we could take camping. I never got to as a kid, but I hope to be able to take my family as much as possible in the future.
I have a 6yr old daughter and we just recently had another baby girl in January.

Camping, offroading, etc will be a whole new world to me and I'm really excited about it.

I started browsing this board. Mainly lurking. Posting a few times. Gathering A LOT of information. I've read every build thread at least once lol.

At first I was thinking an AWD Express. It would do most of what I wanted but the towing limitations killed that idea.

I wanted a 2009+ but was unsure if the eventual 4x4 conversion budget would allow an RSC axle.
After a lot of back and forth I decided to go with a 2006+.
The V10 was very tempting. The mpg is horrible but it would have enough power to tow.
The 6.0 is a beast. I know I'd have to bulletproof it pretty quickly. Luckily my older brother is a former Certified Ford Diesel Mechanic and my little brother is part owner of a mechanics shop. I know no less than 5 diesel mechanics.

I pretty much decided I'd get a v10 or 6.0 based on which deal popped up that I liked. The pros/cons were equal to me on both motor choices.

I like passenger models. I want the kiddos to be able to look out the windows when we travel. I also like the look more. I wanted rear ac/heat. I wanted 4 captains chairs, I was open to eventual sienna's as an option. Had to have power windows. Power seat is a big plus for when my wife drives, shes a foot shorter than me. I wanted an RB. Prefer leather but cloth is fine.

Now that I had my search criteria I started watching craigslist, autotrader, cars.com, forums, facebook, etc. I didn't want to buy until my daughter was born but I wanted a good grasp on the market.

Daughter #2 was born healthy as can be on January 7th. Paid all those pesky expensive medical bills. Then let things settle a bit.

Wifey gave the ok. Time to buy!
 
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Navi

Adventurer
Nationwide search. I'm willing to travel. I know finding my ideal van with under 100k miles would be a relatively tough find. I dodnt want a Northern van because of rust.

Tripped across a 6.0 RB in AZ. It looked really nice in the photos but they wanted too much $$.
I emailed them with some basic questions. Really the only thing I didnt like was the 3.55 open differential.
Ends up the advertised price was wrong, or they realized it was too high. Whatever it was, the price was now a decent deal. Not a steal, but decent.

Called up the guy I was emailing. He went outside and made me a video walkaround. Cold started it, cranked right up.

Decided it would be a good fit for me. Paid a deposit to hold it. I'm renting a car and making the 921 mile drive to AZ next Thursday. My little brother is coming with me to do a last look over. If all goes well I'll sign the papers and drive it home.

Me and the wifey joked about a name for it. IVAN is my nickname backwards, sounds like a good name for a van.

So I present to you, IVAN:

2006 Ford E-350 Chateau 76k miles

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Navi

Adventurer
Planning to drive it a bit. Recover from the purchase. Then dive in and bulletproof it.
I'm looking into some options to level it out within the year. Switch to aggressive and slightly taller tire.

My blue supercrew will be for sale soon. That will eventually be 4x4 money but I'm going to wait and see what oil prices do before spending much more money. The oilfield is hurting. I need to pad my savings back up lol.
 

ujoint

Supporting Sponsor
Thats a great van, welcome to the Van geek support group!

It can grow up to be V7s brother!

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Navi

Adventurer
Thats a great van, welcome to the Van geek support group!

It can grow up to be V7s brother!

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Thanks!

I've driven my wife crazy by randomly sending her UJOINT van pics over facebook messenger. It'll get there one day.
 

bknudtsen

Expedition Leader
That's a nice van! Having a ScanGauge installed for the trip back will give you a good idea of how the 6.0 is doing. Set it up to monitor coolant vs. oil temp, FICM main power, and voltage. Safe travels!

Brad
 

Navi

Adventurer
That's a nice van! Having a ScanGauge installed for the trip back will give you a good idea of how the 6.0 is doing. Set it up to monitor coolant vs. oil temp, FICM main power, and voltage. Safe travels!

Brad

I'm seriously considering ordering one off Amazon.
 

ert01

Adventurer
Agreed on the scangaugeII. Get one and bring it with you (and find the xgauge codes for the 6.0 online and print them off and bring them along with you too).

Should help get a baseline on that 6.0. Watch a lot of YouTube videos from dieseltechron and you'll have a good grasp on what to watch out for.
 

Navi

Adventurer
So I had Scanguage in my cart on Amazon.
Then I started thinking. I have a bluetooth dongle thingie and Torque Pro already, I wonder what all it would read on the 6.0?
I did some internet searching and it reads quite a bit with custom PIDS.

This isnt my screenshot, just an example I found.
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I bookmarked the pages I quickly browsed. They are all relating to the trucks but I assume it would work the same for the van. I'm going to mess with it more when we go over to the in-laws Sunday.

I have an old Android Note2 laying around that I can dash/window mount.
 

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