SOLD '04 Ford 4x4 Sportsmobile, $46k, Boise, ID. Details inside.

[Conundrum]

VAN IS SOLD.



Part 1

Quick read-Van is in Boise, ID. Asking $46k. 100k miles on van. 5k on rebuilt engine. I would drive it anywhere. Paint isn't great.

Long read...

Hello all, It’s time to sell our Sportsmobile. Why in the era of #vanlife?… I’ll answer that up front. 1-We don’t use it that much anymore. Too many things pulling us in different directions. 2-Too many vehicles. We’re a household of two with five vehicles and two trailers. Our lot is small. Parking is an issue. 3-We want a garage. This will help pay for it. 4-We’ve had a ton of great trips in the van. We’re going to try a couple years of flying places to see new things. We’ll get a van again someday.

Details: 2004 Ford E350 6.0L EB Van Sportsmobile 4x4 conversion w/ Super Camper top. Walk-through layout-back benches have seatbelts for three per side and that folds down into queen bad (skis fit nicely underneath), LP stove and furnace, 12V fridge, 4-6V AGM batteries with about 650 AH, 200w of Renogy solar panels, 3,000w Renogy Inverter, Bluesky solar controller, tons of house lights, Fiamma 45 awning with electric in/out, two fantastic fans, Livewire TS+ with EGT and 5-Star tunes (only ever have used 40 hp economy), Atlas 2 transfer, Dana 60 Rear, Dynatrac 60 front, Dynatrac ball joints, front and rear ARB lockers with compressor, custom springs by Boise Spring Works, Alpine CD/Bluetooth deck, house speakers, 20 gal water system (not hooked up currently), takes city water and shore power, plenty of outlets, tons of storage up top, 46 gal fuel tank, RVIA sticker so can register as RV, 6.0 pulled out, rebuilt, bulletproofed (ARP studs, cam lifters, turbo rebuild, EGR delete (passes emissions), HPOP, LPOP, receipts included, Starcool house AC, microwave (not currently in, removed for storage but included), silver insulating bubble wrap cut for each window, front passenger swivel seat, two alternators for charging, belly storage, front and rear 2” receiver, remote alarm, one fob, two keys and I’m sure I’m forgetting more stuff to list.

Maintenance:

-Purchased at 84,500 from RV dealer in Las Vegas. Original owner was professor in TX. Had it built by SMB. Original interior was primary colors. Second owner was in CO. Pulled the Aluminess WHITE front and rears. Not sure if repo or traded in to dealer I purchased from. I found the original owner on SMB Yahoo and will give you a thumb drive of the pics I have. Dealer in LV had the interior converted to grey with new leather on the front seats. Carpet, leather, and vinyl is still in great shape. SMB original cabinetry is rough. Yes, the cardboard drawers were at the request of the original owner. Dealer had all fluids flushed, AC system including Starcool serviced, interior swap, and brakes serviced with pads.
-85,500. New Cooper Discover AT3 285/75/16 E on Alcoa wheels. Aluminess spare tire carrier installed. Converted all interior lights to LED.
-88,080. Alignment, oil service. One of the top windows broke when closing. No replacement available. ARE topper windows installed both sides.
-92,128. New rear ARB locker-would not actuate. Weird noise from axles. Replace all four inner shafts and bearings/seals. Dynatrac ball joints installed. New Warn Hub. Alignment.
-92,253. Transfer case service, new rear u-joints.
-92,274. Synthetic Oil change.
-92,407. SMB springs tired and flat. Custom packs built by Boise Spring Works. Bilstein shocks installed. Rides awesome, built for weight of van, and is a little taller than SMB springs.
-93,118. Cooling system flush, new thermostat, MAP clean.
-94,827. SCT Livewire with EGT therm installed. 5-Star tunes. I’ve only used the 40hp econo tune. I believe there is an 80 and 120hp tune on there. I don’t find I need them and I also used to run some HO tunes on a 7.3 and it cost me a transmission so I went easy here. Trans filter and service, synthetic oil change. Once warmed up, the delta between oil and water them has never strayed outside 15*.
-94,894. Was tired of the detachable SMB front swing arm (like you’re really going to need this on a van like this) and had custom heim joint sway bar ends made. No more sounds and tightened up the front end a bit.
-96,878. Disaster. Engine down. J’s Automotive in Boise pulled it and rebuilt. So, basically a new bulletproofed motor went back in.
-97,786. Oil change to check motor. All good.
-99,280. Synthetic oil change at home due to time, not miles. No receipt.
-100,980. Synthetic oil change due to time.

In the last two years other than maintenance and repairs:

-Installed two Renogy 100 watt solar panels to Bluesky controller. Original SMB inverter failed so replaced with Renogy 3000 watt inverter. Unfortunately, it was bigger so had to remove the water tank. We never really used the water system as this was a ski wagon for us so we left it dry almost all the time and in the summer, we found jugs easier to use so the tank went unused most of the time anyway.
-Installed 4 6V AGM batteries. Don’t have the name on the receipt but they were pretty top end $270 apiece and the net is somewhere between 600-700 amp hours according to Huskey Electric.
-New posts and A/C Delco drive batteries.
-New thermostat, CO and LP monitors.
-Installed a used Fiamma with electric motor. I have the middle peak and stakes for it.
-The LP door was rusty (common) so I put a new one on. The old rusty one is in the belly as a spare if needed. I think you could shot peen and paint it.

 

[Conundrum]

Part 2

Random thoughts:

-The best mpg I’ve got is 16.5 doing 65 in MT. The worst is 13 doing 80 on I84. Probably about 14 ave.
-We’ve camped down to 0* in a ski area parking lot. We lived.
-The longest trip with did was two weeks. It was fun but the skiing was only okay.
-You’re buying a SMB conversion with 100k on the chassis and about 5k on a rebuilt better motor.
-After talking with the original owner, he was great with maintenance. I can’t comment on a couple year period with potentially a hooligan. I’ve tried to stay on top of maintenance and fix anything that needed it or made weird noises.
-The blinkers play a little jingle I can place. I thought it was funny and left it.
-There are a few switches that do nothing. The original owner had it lit up with aux lights on the outside that the second owner must have removed when the bumpers came off. I’m happy to walk you through how everything works.
-Theres a few things I’m leaving with the van so you can drive home safely and comfortably. Memory foam pad that we used over the folded down seats. We like that. We’re washing the bedding now. If you want it, you can have. No judgement or I’d throw in a double flannel Slumberjack sleeping bag if you’re flying in and camping on the way home. Jumper cables, 4-ton bottle jack, small fan, new solar shower, three spare wipers, hood louvres I never installed, new style SMB stickers (my wife liked the retro so I left those on), and leveling blocks.
-This van has taken us comfortably to WA, OR, CA, AZ, NV, NM, CO, UT, MT, WY, and all over Idaho.
-We do travel with dogs. I did my best to vacuum and dust but you may occasionally find a dog hair here and there. Never smoked in though.
-There is a ton of storage.
-The microwave will fit back in it’s slot. You really need to be plugged in to shore to use it much. I have had the motor rev’d and heated stuff up.
-The fantastic fans are great.
-We haven’t put many miles on it the last couple years. I do drive it every week or two so it doesn’t sit.
-It passes emissions here and NV. Because the EGR is gone, it might not pass visual where you live. They tried to do a visual here and it’s too packed under the hood so no sweat.
-9' fly rods will fit up top without breaking down. I have some foam and bungies ready.
-ABS light stays on sometimes for a little bit. I've called SMB-they say that's fine. I've also had people check it out and there's never been anything wrong and it stops like it should for a 10,200 lb van.

The bad:

-The paint isn’t great. There are few spots where it is flaking off. No rust though. You can see on the drivers side door and back by the water inlet.
-It’s been a TX, CO, and ID van. Overall, not bad for chassis rust. It does have some surface rust. I tried to show it in the front wheel well pic.
-The top fiberglass needs a clean and polish. A lot.
-The water system isn’t hooked up. You will need to arrange the inverter differently to fit the 20 gal tank. I think putting a smaller tank in was going to be my move. We just used our rafting jugs so I didn’t mess with it. The city line in and pump works. The faucet works. It drains to the grey tank no problem. I’m not if the tank pump works. We typically use the little plastic wash bins to collect grey water and then poured those out.
-The SMB cabinetry is showing it’s age and was a weird design to begin with. It’s worked for us for six years.
-If we were keeping the van, we’d have it painted/polished, hook up the water system, take the back benches out and build an elevated bed and a new cabinet/countertop. But it’s ready to van camp today as is too.
-It has some ski area stickers on the interior. I think if I try to peel them off, it’s going to look worse than leaving them. And if you like ski area stickers, it’s your lucky day.
-There is some glue residue on the A pillars. I don’t know how to get it off. I think someone had a velcro curtain for the windshield.
-The wiring around the inverter could be cleaned up. That was part of the new water tank project.
-The curtains work and are there. They are also an off white cream color. We’ve always planned on replacing and haven’t.

The deal:

-The van is in Boise, ID, and has been since we bought it. I’m asking $46,000. I feel with 5k on the motor, 100k on the van, and the stuff I’ve done to it, that’s a fair price. Plus, if you were to put some money into aesthetics (paint, bumpers if that’s your thing), you would easily have a van worth a lot more. Not many SMB 4x4 conversions with the mileage in this price range. I would like cash or cashiers check. If you hand me cash, I will hand you the title. If a check, we’ll need to meet during bankers hours and if the check clears, I’ll hand you the title. If you want to fly in, with some advanced notice, I could pick you up at the airport. I’m firm on price for now. I’ll let you drive it depending on if you seem like a responsible adult when we meet but please don’t ask unless you’re serious about buying it. I’m not interested in trades. I don’t need help selling it. If you want to buy it and then sell it, that’s great. You can text me at the original Idaho area code, eight six three, eight eight zero five. I don’t pick up numbers I don’t know but am happy to talk once we’ve texted. Sorry for all the words. I want to give a clear description of what you’re getting into as this van is sold as is. I would drive this van anywhere tomorrow if I had the vacation time. The diesel tank and propane are full and I had the oil changed so it’s fresh for the new owners.

 

[Conundrum]

Last few pics.

 

[tbonebrown]

It's late. I'll text you tomorrow morning.