another_mike
Adventurer
I always liked the idea of a van, but really wanted something offroad capable for my summer trips West. After finding this site and Ujoint, I immediately began looking for a van. I was once a tech at a dealer, so I wasnt afraid to get something that needed a little work. My search criteria had to be no rust, regular length body with either the V10 or 6.0 diesel. After a few months I found my van, a former fleet van with a large cable company in the Tampa Florida area. 2006 E350, V10, Power locks and windows, 140k miles. It had a nice howl from the rear end, got it for $9000. Whoever had this van treated it well. There werent even many scratches inside or on the door sills.
I wont go too much into the basic 4x4 conversion, as Im sure there are a lot of posts about this already, but ill go into what specifically I did that may differ from others. I ordered the coil kit from Ujoint and immediately placed the rear bulkhead and cargo shelving on craigslist. I got $250 for the shelves and $125 for the bulkhead. The next day I used that money to buy the transfer case. The ladder rack was too rusted and was simply trashed.
Then began shopping for the differentials. I picked up a 2005 Dana 60 for $600, and a 2005 Sterling 10.5 and front donor driveshaft for $1000.
The front D60 was completely disassembled and built with all new seals, timkin carrier bearings and hubs, Dana 4.10 gears, Eaton Detroit Locker, Spicer ujoints, new ball-joints, and Warn manual locking hubs. I replaced the rotors with new, used Ford reman'd calipers, and new Motorcraft brake pads.
I had someone set up the rear carrier and gears for me as I was running short on time (was hoping to be in Colorado on vacation by the beginning of September). The rear has an OX Locker with electric actuation with Yukon 4.10 gears and I replaced all the wheel bearings and seals myself (Quad4x4 sells a great tool kit to do this if you dont have the correct bearing race and seal drivers). The rear calipers were in good condition so were reused, and installed Motorcraft pads. Still working on figuring out how to make the parking brake cables work.
Using my friends 30x40 garage, and in the Florida heat (often over 100 degrees), I did the conversion myself throughout August. Yes, those are Harbor Freight 12 ton jack stands. Im still alive....
Luckily, I have sources at the local Ford dealer that gives me parts at cost. I had to pick up a lot of miscellaneous bolts that didnt come with the kit and stuff that didnt come with the used parts I bought, like all the radius arm bolts, track bar to track bar mount bolt (the one that supposed to be torqued to 400ftlbs), transfer case to extension housing bolts, output shaft retaining nut... I cut the rear spring ubolts down about an inch as theyre so long I couldnt get a socket on them.
I replaced both internal and external filters in the 5R110 transmission and the refill took 10.5 quarts. The wheels are American Racing 17x9 wrapped with Toyo Open Country M/T 35x12.5's.
Before and After
Since im currently in Colorado on Vacation... more to come....
I wont go too much into the basic 4x4 conversion, as Im sure there are a lot of posts about this already, but ill go into what specifically I did that may differ from others. I ordered the coil kit from Ujoint and immediately placed the rear bulkhead and cargo shelving on craigslist. I got $250 for the shelves and $125 for the bulkhead. The next day I used that money to buy the transfer case. The ladder rack was too rusted and was simply trashed.
Then began shopping for the differentials. I picked up a 2005 Dana 60 for $600, and a 2005 Sterling 10.5 and front donor driveshaft for $1000.
The front D60 was completely disassembled and built with all new seals, timkin carrier bearings and hubs, Dana 4.10 gears, Eaton Detroit Locker, Spicer ujoints, new ball-joints, and Warn manual locking hubs. I replaced the rotors with new, used Ford reman'd calipers, and new Motorcraft brake pads.
I had someone set up the rear carrier and gears for me as I was running short on time (was hoping to be in Colorado on vacation by the beginning of September). The rear has an OX Locker with electric actuation with Yukon 4.10 gears and I replaced all the wheel bearings and seals myself (Quad4x4 sells a great tool kit to do this if you dont have the correct bearing race and seal drivers). The rear calipers were in good condition so were reused, and installed Motorcraft pads. Still working on figuring out how to make the parking brake cables work.
Using my friends 30x40 garage, and in the Florida heat (often over 100 degrees), I did the conversion myself throughout August. Yes, those are Harbor Freight 12 ton jack stands. Im still alive....
Luckily, I have sources at the local Ford dealer that gives me parts at cost. I had to pick up a lot of miscellaneous bolts that didnt come with the kit and stuff that didnt come with the used parts I bought, like all the radius arm bolts, track bar to track bar mount bolt (the one that supposed to be torqued to 400ftlbs), transfer case to extension housing bolts, output shaft retaining nut... I cut the rear spring ubolts down about an inch as theyre so long I couldnt get a socket on them.
I replaced both internal and external filters in the 5R110 transmission and the refill took 10.5 quarts. The wheels are American Racing 17x9 wrapped with Toyo Open Country M/T 35x12.5's.
Before and After
Since im currently in Colorado on Vacation... more to come....
