And now the moment you didn't know you've been waiting for...Atl-Atl's 4x4 Ford E350 RV documentation thread!!
- Thread starter Atl-atl
- Start date
FreedomTraveler
Observer
This is the company I bought my Adv. 19RK from in January 2020 to avoid the hassle and expense of re importing from Canada.
Although I can't recommend them right now due to crazy pricing, they appear to have one in stock;
Adventurer Class CAdventurer Class C for Sale on RVT.com
New and Used Adventurer Class C RVs for Sale in Arizona on RVT. With a huge selection of vehicles to choose from, you can easily shop for a new or used Class C from Adventurer in Arizona
www.rvt.com
There are good units, but I would wait for a downturn in the economy before trying to buy one now.
I paid $19,500 for a unit with 119,000 miles ( Inst. cluster was changed to US / Imp. ) It's now has over 240,000 mi. and runs great. 5.4L 2 valve.
Atl-atl
Adventurer
Interesting, thanks for the heads up. We are not going to be full timers after our first big trip so it hopefully wont be a problem. Im also willing to pay for added ground clearance and if that means a new dump tube every couple years, so be it.
Atl-atl
Adventurer
Alrighty, here come some updates!
Looks like it will be pretty easy to access the bellhousing bolts so I can remove the trans ?
Got the winch all done. Had to trim the headlight bezels and the bottom of the grill so I could push the bumper all the way up where it looks best. Still contemplating fog lights.
Cool thing about the Ujoint FB002 bumper is the quick disconnects for onboard air and jumper cables that they build in.
Installed a safe thats hidden under one of the dinette seats and sandwiched inside the seatbelt framework. Its through bolted and aint goin anywhere.
Also wired up an inverter straight to the house battery. In this particular RV there are no 110 outlets that run without the generator being on so I installed this inverter for little stuff like charging phones/laptops/etc. Currently the house battery has 105 amp hours, I plan to keep the battery it came with since its a pretty high end Lifeline AGM. Ill put a nicer battery under the hood and we should have plenty of power for now. In the future Ill probably add solar but for now Im not worried about it since we have a generator.
Finally finished the ceiling. Ran short on material and took a couple weeks to get more in my hands. Turned out really nice. I need a fancier camera to truly capture it though.
And last but not least, tore out the entire front end!!
Ripped out all the old I beam stuff, prepped the frame for the new shock mounts and shackle mounts. Just need to chop off the exhaust and modify the front of the engine core support and Ill be ready to start the install of the front suspension. Only waiting on my front spring hangers to come back from powder coat.
Buh bye
Looks like it will be pretty easy to access the bellhousing bolts so I can remove the trans ?
Got the winch all done. Had to trim the headlight bezels and the bottom of the grill so I could push the bumper all the way up where it looks best. Still contemplating fog lights.
Cool thing about the Ujoint FB002 bumper is the quick disconnects for onboard air and jumper cables that they build in.
Installed a safe thats hidden under one of the dinette seats and sandwiched inside the seatbelt framework. Its through bolted and aint goin anywhere.
Also wired up an inverter straight to the house battery. In this particular RV there are no 110 outlets that run without the generator being on so I installed this inverter for little stuff like charging phones/laptops/etc. Currently the house battery has 105 amp hours, I plan to keep the battery it came with since its a pretty high end Lifeline AGM. Ill put a nicer battery under the hood and we should have plenty of power for now. In the future Ill probably add solar but for now Im not worried about it since we have a generator.
Finally finished the ceiling. Ran short on material and took a couple weeks to get more in my hands. Turned out really nice. I need a fancier camera to truly capture it though.
And last but not least, tore out the entire front end!!
Ripped out all the old I beam stuff, prepped the frame for the new shock mounts and shackle mounts. Just need to chop off the exhaust and modify the front of the engine core support and Ill be ready to start the install of the front suspension. Only waiting on my front spring hangers to come back from powder coat.Buh bye
Atl-atl
Adventurer
Starting to get spicy in here. Picked up the front spring hangers today and got them installed. Also chopped out the exhaust, pulled the wiring harness and misc. items off the trans in preparation for its removal, deleted the rear driveshaft, deleted the old poop toob holder which netted me about 6" of breakover. Lowest hanging fruit is now the little exhaust pipe for the generator. I labeled and removed the O2 sensors, removed some heat shields, drained the trans fluid. Ford 6R140 takes 4 GALLONS of ATF, 4 gallons, think about that for a minute. It weighs 325 pounds, dry. About 2.5 gallons came out of the drain plug and theres probably 1 in the converter which Ill empty once the trans comes out. Also used the jig to check the areas of the frame that Ive prepped for leaf spring installation and last but not least added to the pile of parts for the scrap yard.
Hard to see the jig but its there.
You get an oxygen sensor and YOU get an oxygen sensor AND YOU GET AN OXYGEN SENSOR!!!
This large round plug took me about 30 minutes to figure out how to remove. #thanksobama
Bye starter
Bye driveshaft
Hard to see the jig but its there.
You get an oxygen sensor and YOU get an oxygen sensor AND YOU GET AN OXYGEN SENSOR!!!
This large round plug took me about 30 minutes to figure out how to remove. #thanksobama
Bye starter
Bye driveshaft
Atl-atl
Adventurer
Well I dumped at least a quart but probably two on my buddies driveway today. Who knew transmissions were top heavy. Thing literally tipped over just sitting there on the ground. The remaining fluid drained out the trans cooler fittings. ?♂️
That being said, the transmission is out. Thank whoever you believe in. What a mess. All in all removing the thing from the van was actually quite easy. The trouble came in the form of the vehicle not being high enough on the jack stands to simply roll the trans out from underneath on the trans jack. I had to rig up a system with a ratchet strap and a regular jack to get it off the trans jack and onto the ground, then prop it up with a blanket under one end and a low profile jack under the other to drag it out. Took for-effing-ever since this is a one man show. When I go to reinstall I will be dropping the trans from the engine hoist onto a furniture dolly to roll it under the van and then probably lift it initially with my ratchet strap rig and then put the trans jack underneath to finish it off.
Crossmember gone
Oh boy
Whoops. The spatters of fluid you see coming towards the camera are from the wind. It was blowing drops over six feet from where it was actually falling out of the trans. Flagstaff is notorious for its wind and today was no exception. Its a love hate relationship with this town.
I hate you right now
Keeping track of all the nuts and bolts. They are in labeled baggies now. The two small bolts with blue loctite are for the dipstick and trans cooler lines, the three medium bolts are for the starter. The short chunky bolts and plate are the bottom section of the flex plate, the two larger nuts are for the trans mount at the crossmember and the seven larger bolts are for the actual block to bellhousing interface. Thats right, those seven long skinny bolts are all that connects a V10 with 450lb/ft of torque to the transmission, which is rated to handle 1400lb/ft of torque!!!
Engine hoists arent just for engines
Off to the automatic transmission shop we go!!
That being said, the transmission is out. Thank whoever you believe in. What a mess. All in all removing the thing from the van was actually quite easy. The trouble came in the form of the vehicle not being high enough on the jack stands to simply roll the trans out from underneath on the trans jack. I had to rig up a system with a ratchet strap and a regular jack to get it off the trans jack and onto the ground, then prop it up with a blanket under one end and a low profile jack under the other to drag it out. Took for-effing-ever since this is a one man show. When I go to reinstall I will be dropping the trans from the engine hoist onto a furniture dolly to roll it under the van and then probably lift it initially with my ratchet strap rig and then put the trans jack underneath to finish it off.
Crossmember gone
Oh boy
Whoops. The spatters of fluid you see coming towards the camera are from the wind. It was blowing drops over six feet from where it was actually falling out of the trans. Flagstaff is notorious for its wind and today was no exception. Its a love hate relationship with this town.
I hate you right now
Keeping track of all the nuts and bolts. They are in labeled baggies now. The two small bolts with blue loctite are for the dipstick and trans cooler lines, the three medium bolts are for the starter. The short chunky bolts and plate are the bottom section of the flex plate, the two larger nuts are for the trans mount at the crossmember and the seven larger bolts are for the actual block to bellhousing interface. Thats right, those seven long skinny bolts are all that connects a V10 with 450lb/ft of torque to the transmission, which is rated to handle 1400lb/ft of torque!!!
Engine hoists arent just for engines
Off to the automatic transmission shop we go!!
Kingsize24
Well-known member
This is going to be awesome!!! Great job so far!
Atl-atl
Adventurer
Weekend update!!
Got to work on all the cutting and welding Saturday morning. Since its literally always windy in Flagstaff and especially in the part of town where my buddies house is located I had to hold up a welding blanket while he welded to shield him from the wind. Thankfully it worked and we got all the plasma cutting done and welding done in about 2 hours. After that I just had to wait around for the paint to dry before assembly of the shackles and installation of the leafs.
Shackle sleeve holes cut
Sleeves welded up
All painted and bushings installed. The frame on this truck is actually super clean. There is zero rust, everything you see here is simply dust. No time to worry about cleaning it all to repaint a frame that is perfectly black underneath.
Engine crossmember cut
Shock mounts welded up
Painted and frame side track bar mount installed
Cooling lines for the oil filter shortened. There is actually engine coolant that runs through these lines. The oil filter housing is actually a heat sink. I was fully expecting oil to come out of these lines when I undid them. Boy was I surprised when the oil was translucent red and watery.
The leafs came from Alcan with center pins installed already but since Ill be adding 4 degree shims to increase caster I had to buy some new longer center pins and center pin head extenders. Thankfully Napa had center pins in stock and I was able to get everything buttoned up with ease.
Springs installed
Got to work on all the cutting and welding Saturday morning. Since its literally always windy in Flagstaff and especially in the part of town where my buddies house is located I had to hold up a welding blanket while he welded to shield him from the wind. Thankfully it worked and we got all the plasma cutting done and welding done in about 2 hours. After that I just had to wait around for the paint to dry before assembly of the shackles and installation of the leafs.
Shackle sleeve holes cut
Sleeves welded up
All painted and bushings installed. The frame on this truck is actually super clean. There is zero rust, everything you see here is simply dust. No time to worry about cleaning it all to repaint a frame that is perfectly black underneath.
Engine crossmember cut
Shock mounts welded up
Painted and frame side track bar mount installed
Cooling lines for the oil filter shortened. There is actually engine coolant that runs through these lines. The oil filter housing is actually a heat sink. I was fully expecting oil to come out of these lines when I undid them. Boy was I surprised when the oil was translucent red and watery.
The leafs came from Alcan with center pins installed already but since Ill be adding 4 degree shims to increase caster I had to buy some new longer center pins and center pin head extenders. Thankfully Napa had center pins in stock and I was able to get everything buttoned up with ease.
Springs installed
Atl-atl
Adventurer
I know what youre thinking, thats not enough of an update Atl-Atl, especially for a weekend. Well, youre right! This forum software is dumb and only lets you post 10 pictures per post so I have to split up my posts. Its about to get reeeeaaalllyyyy good.
Ill tease you with this first. When I installed the front spring hangers with the rest of the truck completely stock, the center of the front leaf bolt was about 16 3/4" off the ground. So much for this being a 6" lift ha...In case you cant read a tape measure its currently sitting 11 1/2" higher than stock.
Thar she blows, ready to bolt up. 99-04 Ford Super Duty high pinion Dana 60, Detroit true trac, Spintec hubs, SSBC 8 piston brakes and all new everything. This is a good day.
4 degree shims are put in "backwards" to increase caster.
Only hiccup is the plug for the RSC stability system wiring doesnt match. Still need to figure out if the wires need to match or I can simply "connect the loop." @ujoint any tips here?
And were in!! Axle, brake lines and shocks are installed. Still need to figure out the RSC wiring, bleed the brakes, fill the diff, run a diff breather, check the toe, install the swaybar, install the track bar, cut down the U bolts, top off the coolant, anything Im missing? ?
Test fit the front wheels/tires because I couldnt help myself. Thinking about keeping the Carolina Squat, what do you think?
Man this thing is huge. Im sure the springs will settle but right now I could fit 40s easily. These are 35s.
Ill tease you with this first. When I installed the front spring hangers with the rest of the truck completely stock, the center of the front leaf bolt was about 16 3/4" off the ground. So much for this being a 6" lift ha...In case you cant read a tape measure its currently sitting 11 1/2" higher than stock.
Thar she blows, ready to bolt up. 99-04 Ford Super Duty high pinion Dana 60, Detroit true trac, Spintec hubs, SSBC 8 piston brakes and all new everything. This is a good day.
4 degree shims are put in "backwards" to increase caster.
Only hiccup is the plug for the RSC stability system wiring doesnt match. Still need to figure out if the wires need to match or I can simply "connect the loop." @ujoint any tips here?
And were in!! Axle, brake lines and shocks are installed. Still need to figure out the RSC wiring, bleed the brakes, fill the diff, run a diff breather, check the toe, install the swaybar, install the track bar, cut down the U bolts, top off the coolant, anything Im missing? ?
Test fit the front wheels/tires because I couldnt help myself. Thinking about keeping the Carolina Squat, what do you think?
Man this thing is huge. Im sure the springs will settle but right now I could fit 40s easily. These are 35s.
ujoint
Supporting Sponsor
Splice the ABS wires together and you're good to go! Drive it 20 or so miles before you add the trac bar, we do it once the van has been up and down the road a few times and back from alignment. The front will come down once the rear is up and some of that weight transfers forward.
Its lookin good! Congrats!
Its lookin good! Congrats!
Atl-atl
Adventurer
Thanks Chris. So for the ABS wires, the colors dont match from the axle harness you provided to my chassis harness, can I connect the wires in any order and it will work?
ujoint
Supporting Sponsor
Doesn't matter, splice away!
Atl-atl
Adventurer
Weekend update!!! #1
Here we go. The rear suspension should have been easy but it was kind of a pain in the butt. For starters the springs weigh a lot, like, a lot. The driver side was quite easy to do by myself. but the passenger side shackle bolts were blocked in by the grey water tank. After about 5 minutes of thinking about/attempting to remove the tank and quickly realizing that was a bad idea.
I decided to loosen the bottom shackle bolt, cut the head off the upper bolt to remove the leaf. Once the leaf was removed I measured the length for the new upper bolt. It needed to be a little shorter since Ill have to install it in the opposite direction and the end of the bolt needs to clear the frame/shackle mount. Thankfully it all worked and I got the leaf pack in with the help of a friend.
Stock leaf almost ready to remove.
Stock shackle bolts that arent able to be removed due to wonderful RV stuff.
New stuff all installed but not tightened down yet. Gotta wait to get it on the ground.
Getting closer.
Also got the rear shocks mounted. The uppers were stem style shocks and they get replaced with these adapters. The stock uppers are a massive pain to remove and these adapters are a pain to install but now the shocks are much easier to install/remove. Also bent the hard-to-soft brake line mount. I nearly tore off the soft brake line when removing the stock springs. The diff breather tube did remove itself but that was an easy fix.
Moving to the front for a moment. Got the front swaybar installed and got everything torqued but I still need to do a bunch up front.
Rear end lookin good. Hate how the shock mounts are so low. Anything that hangs below the axle annoys me on a vehicle that goes offroad. Probably shouldnt complain about the rear shocks considering the front axle has way more junk hanging down.
The rear is SO much higher than before. Now that its all put together I can actually get under the truck to work on things instead of having to lay flat and scoot underneath. The departure angle is quite good for an RV hahaha. There are even decently beefy skid plates on the gray/black water tanks which is cool. Ill definitely be showing more of the capability of this ridiculous rig soon.
And now the moment you've actually been waiting for...its effing huge. Like, Im going to have to download one of those apps that tells semi drivers the height of every bridge and underpass. I can barely get inside and Im a physically fit 6 foot tall man. Im going to have to add a step to the driver door and to the side door of the RV. Those tiny looking tires are 35s.
Here we go. The rear suspension should have been easy but it was kind of a pain in the butt. For starters the springs weigh a lot, like, a lot. The driver side was quite easy to do by myself. but the passenger side shackle bolts were blocked in by the grey water tank. After about 5 minutes of thinking about/attempting to remove the tank and quickly realizing that was a bad idea.
I decided to loosen the bottom shackle bolt, cut the head off the upper bolt to remove the leaf. Once the leaf was removed I measured the length for the new upper bolt. It needed to be a little shorter since Ill have to install it in the opposite direction and the end of the bolt needs to clear the frame/shackle mount. Thankfully it all worked and I got the leaf pack in with the help of a friend.
Stock leaf almost ready to remove.
Stock shackle bolts that arent able to be removed due to wonderful RV stuff.
New stuff all installed but not tightened down yet. Gotta wait to get it on the ground.
Getting closer.
Also got the rear shocks mounted. The uppers were stem style shocks and they get replaced with these adapters. The stock uppers are a massive pain to remove and these adapters are a pain to install but now the shocks are much easier to install/remove. Also bent the hard-to-soft brake line mount. I nearly tore off the soft brake line when removing the stock springs. The diff breather tube did remove itself but that was an easy fix.
Moving to the front for a moment. Got the front swaybar installed and got everything torqued but I still need to do a bunch up front.
Rear end lookin good. Hate how the shock mounts are so low. Anything that hangs below the axle annoys me on a vehicle that goes offroad. Probably shouldnt complain about the rear shocks considering the front axle has way more junk hanging down.
The rear is SO much higher than before. Now that its all put together I can actually get under the truck to work on things instead of having to lay flat and scoot underneath. The departure angle is quite good for an RV hahaha. There are even decently beefy skid plates on the gray/black water tanks which is cool. Ill definitely be showing more of the capability of this ridiculous rig soon.
And now the moment you've actually been waiting for...its effing huge. Like, Im going to have to download one of those apps that tells semi drivers the height of every bridge and underpass. I can barely get inside and Im a physically fit 6 foot tall man. Im going to have to add a step to the driver door and to the side door of the RV. Those tiny looking tires are 35s.