Ford V10 reccomendations and advice

EMrider

Explorer
You have a great starting platform for a nice 4x4 conversion camping/hauling rig.

4x4 vans are great IMHO. Huge cargo capacity and you don't have to pack for trips like a feather-weight backpacker. If it fits inside, it goes.

R
 

cruiser812

Observer
So i did a little more digging into the van and it has disc brakes in the rear end and it appears that my grandfather ordered it from the factory with 4:10 gear ratio and has a limited slip. The axle code is C2 confirming what I was thinking about the rearend (unless the website i looked it up on was wrong). A V10 with skinny tires and a lot of rain while accelerating on the on ramp equals a drifting van. The tires are new but not great in the rain.


another_mike, thanks for the input on the gearing. My last Rubicon that i had prior to my current one I lifted and put 33" tires on an it was a dog on the highway with the 4:10 ratio. In town it was fine but acceleration at highway speeds (past 65mph) was almost non existent. Then again it was the inline 6 and they arent known for power just torque. I wouldnt want to run into the same situation if I convert the van. A rig with a v10 that cant get out of its own way and or others would not be alot of fun.



Cropped van code.jpg
 

another_mike

Adventurer
So i did a little more digging into the van and it has disc brakes in the rear end and it appears that my grandfather ordered it from the factory with 4:10 gear ratio and has a limited slip. The axle code is C2 confirming what I was thinking about the rearend (unless the website i looked it up on was wrong). A V10 with skinny tires and a lot of rain while accelerating on the on ramp equals a drifting van. The tires are new but not great in the rain.


another_mike, thanks for the input on the gearing. My last Rubicon that i had prior to my current one I lifted and put 33" tires on an it was a dog on the highway with the 4:10 ratio. In town it was fine but acceleration at highway speeds (past 65mph) was almost non existent. Then again it was the inline 6 and they arent known for power just torque. I wouldnt want to run into the same situation if I convert the van. A rig with a v10 that cant get out of its own way and or others would not be alot of fun.



View attachment 406030

Im sure the transmission in your van also has completely different gear ratios than your jeep,, so I wouldnt get caught up on how your jeep performed with the 4.10/33.
 

brianjwilson

Some sort of lost...
My 2011 e350 with v10 and 5 speed auto has 4.56 gears and 35s. Solid 10mpg in town and 12mpg highway around here (60-70).
Tons of power. Very quick. It will be for sale soon but not for anything close to the 20k you might see old quigleys go for. ;)
 

deserteagle56

Adventurer
My rig is a 2007 and it came from the factory with the V-10 and 3.73 gears. By far the best mod I did to this thing was install 4.56 gears. The V-10 thrives on RPM; with the 3.73 it would shift down on every grade it seems like. The 4.56 gears really woke it up - gave it a completely different feel and no more constant shifting. Fuel mileage did not change, which surprised me. I got 12 mpg with the 3.73 gears and it hasn't changed with the 4.56.

By the way, this is a heavy rig and sits on LT285/70R17 tires.
 

86scotty

Cynic
A 5-Star tune at around $500 will be half the price of a gear change and will wake it up and improve it in all areas. I did this to my motorhome and it scoots like a sedan now. I have a 98 v10 I'm doing MG's kit on and it will get the same treatment, but you can't go wrong with either DIY kit available. The rear full float with discs just says 'keep it' more and more to me. That's a great van!

Oh, Raptor Line the roof with a $100 mail order kit. Easy. Done. You can get the tintable kind and make it match your current color for a few dollars more in tint base from your local auto paint store.
 

Timjim

Observer
5 Star tune is really nice. did my 3.73 gears a big favor. I am only running 33" tires, but it helped alot. Van is fast.
 

cruiser812

Observer
A 5-Star tune at around $500 will be half the price of a gear change and will wake it up and improve it in all areas. I did this to my motorhome and it scoots like a sedan now. I have a 98 v10 I'm doing MG's kit on and it will get the same treatment, but you can't go wrong with either DIY kit available. The rear full float with discs just says 'keep it' more and more to me. That's a great van!

Oh, Raptor Line the roof with a $100 mail order kit. Easy. Done. You can get the tintable kind and make it match your current color for a few dollars more in tint base from your local auto paint store.

I did some research on the 5 star and it does look to be like it is the best to help out with performance. I just filled the van up yesterday and calculated the mileage to be around 11 mpg which i consider good for nothing but in town and hauling furniture. I will have to look into the raptor line especially with the paint shot. Still been scrubbing the roof to try and get all of the purplish Florida mold off of it. Spent about an hour at the car wash scrubbing by hand working on the van. Stopped after that as i had enough of the humidity.

I like the idea of a better coating for the roof that will hold up better.
 

broncobowsher

Adventurer
Couple of things I want to point out. When you see references to newer V10 and the 5-speed automatics, those are the newer 3-valve engines. Without actually looking it up I think they have an extra 80HP or so over the older version you have. I remember an old neighbor who had a V10 motorhome and traded it in on a newer (and a little bigger) one. Went from the old 2-valve to the new 3-valve and was really impressed at the improved performance.

The general rule of thumb is adding 4WD eats 2MPG. Loose another 1MPG per inch of lift. Not always true, but generally pretty close.
 

another_mike

Adventurer
Couple of things I want to point out. When you see references to newer V10 and the 5-speed automatics, those are the newer 3-valve engines. Without actually looking it up I think they have an extra 80HP or so over the older version you have. I remember an old neighbor who had a V10 motorhome and traded it in on a newer (and a little bigger) one. Went from the old 2-valve to the new 3-valve and was really impressed at the improved performance.

The general rule of thumb is adding 4WD eats 2MPG. Loose another 1MPG per inch of lift. Not always true, but generally pretty close.

No. my 2006 v10 has the 5r110 and 2v... I dont know when, if ever, ford was using the 3v v10's.... When the F series switched, the E series didnt.

But around 2003/4 they did get the updated heads that had more threads for the spark plugs.

Yep, even 2017 E350 cutaways are still getting the 2v http://www.ford.com/commercial-trucks/e-series-cutaway/2017/models/e350-cutaway-srw/
 

cruiser812

Observer
I figured the 2 mpg loss but a mpg per inch seems a bit much. If I went 6 inches of lift that would put the van around 4 mpg and it would not be worth driving at that fuel economy.
 

andy29847

Adventurer
About that roof leak......look closely at where the roof joins the side (rain gutter). When the paint goes, rust quickly follows at this spot.
 

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