E-Series is Best for Overlanding; here's proof

[rruff]

What does a flatbed do for the F-series? It locks the frame in place, just like the bed would, decreasing it's ability to flex and making it less capable off road.

Well... not if you use a pivoting system, like most people on here do...

...freeing up the F-series locked potential... but you are still limited to the size of camper by the short 8' bed. At the most, a 10' cabover camper (8' floor with 2' departure angle), but the door would have to be on the side and not the rear.

Simply untrue, I listed the wheelbases earlier. The F450 or 550 cab-chassis models, which have a C frame aft of the cab, have up to 205" wheelbases with 4 options.

 

[86scotty]

There's no argument that the actual camp space is better in a van. My biggest critique is you got to listen to all your stuff rattle going down the road.

I'm with @2025 deleted member The seating position in the E series is awful. I suppose if you did a seat swap to actually get good seats in it might be better but I'm still a little skeptical. The only two people I know who've had E-Series campers both sold them in large part because of how uncomfortable they were going down the road. Both people went back to full size trucks with slide in campers. Both have their pros and cons but I wouldn't say one is flat out better than the other.

Stuff rattling. This is true but there are fixes for that and no RV is any different. My favorite fix is "hey honey, go back there and figure out what's making noise". Because the noise stops when the vehicle stops, of course.

It's not the seating position that sucks in the E-series IMO, it's the seats. Of course this is just my opinion. I'd rather drive my Quigley with Scheel-Mann's all day than any F-series, and I've driven a lot of F-series but not newer cushy trimmed out ones.

Two people is not a very big sampling of owners, by the way. I've always said when it comes to vehicles, "there's a butt for every seat". You should try vans for yourself before you write them off.

Oh, and the most uncomfortable E-series vans have leaf spring front ends, no matter who converted them.

 

[tacollie]

Two people is not a very big sampling of owners, by the way. I've always said when it comes to vehicles, "there's a butt for every seat". You should try vans for yourself before you write them off.

I agree that two isn't a very big sample size. I did drive drive both vans. Both had factory seats. One was an older leaf sprung powerstroke Sportsmobile and that thing was not worth it in any way. It was purchased new by my old man.

The other one was a 2011 that was coil sprung with the 5.4 built by a close friend. That one had a custom box on the back and was really cool but I wouldn't call it comfortable driving and was still overpriced for the milage in my opinion.

I can't remember the year now but we looked at one that had a V10 and 200k miles that they were asking $40k. It was coil sprung with no build in the back. So just a four-wheel drive van. It was the only one local we could find at the time and my wife wanted see what they were like. Neither of us were into it. We ended up with a 2-year-old XLT F-250 for less money.

Don't get me wrong. The actual camper space is superior in a van.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

We are all kind of swinging in the ditches here but I will add a unladen heavy built vehicle on a test drive will in fact ride like crap. A Super Duty or a heavier Econoline is not built to run around empty.

Even my lowly Ranger/F-150 will ride better with some ballast in the back.

I assume a SD has similar seats to my '150, I could drive that thing anywhere with ease. Same with the '02 before it. Ran it up to the black hills a couple months ago, 600 mile cannonball run each way with no issues at all. Its just a peasant grade XLT with a split bench.

 

[86scotty]

We are all kind of swinging in the ditches here but I will add a unladen heavy built vehicle on a test drive will in fact ride like crap. A Super Duty or a heavier Econoline is not built to run around empty.

Very true. My 10k lb van rides great but has had the Agile RIP treatment. I had one that was almost 12k. Rode pretty good too if you didn't overinflate the tires.

I agree that two isn't a very big sample size. I did drive drive both vans. Both had factory seats. One was an older leaf sprung powerstroke Sportsmobile and that thing was not worth it in any way. It was purchased new by my old man.

I have not owned a leaf sprung SMB, just coil spring Quigleys, but I have ridden in a couple and it is universally known among SMB folks that the SMB leaf conversion is about the roughest riding van conversion ever.

 

[rruff]

I have not owned a leaf sprung SMB, just coil spring Quigleys, but I have ridden in a couple and it is universally known among SMB folks that the SMB leaf conversion is about the roughest riding van conversion ever.

Gotta think a well-done (lots of thin leafs and good shocks) leaf spring front end wouldn't ride that bad... ?

 

[DzlToy]

Failing to realize that stiff framed trucks tricycle off-road, making them less capable. This is what this post is about. Actual off-roading... not traveling great distances on road. Thank you for continuing the story and your feedback.

Failing to realise that a truck frame is NOT suspension is common is this community. It is an undamped spring. Speak with any race car, mountain bike or vehicle engineer worth his salt and he will tell you, if he's honest, that tuning a suspension on a flexible chassis, frame, tub or monocoque is a nightmare. The stiffer the frame, the better the suspension works.

The reason that these heavy-duty trucks "tricycle" which is a noun, not a verb, is that the suspension is designed to carry heavy loads with minimal wheel travel. These vehicles, e.g. Ford's F-550, do this very very well. If they were designed to articulate or have massive wheel travel (Can Am X3, downhill mountain bike or trophy truck), then they would do that very well. That was not the design brief.

Don't conflate a bone stock or mildly modified truck designed for carrying heavy loads (work truck, ambulance, roll back wrecker, agricultural use, heavy towing, etc.) with a rock crawler or even a Unimog. The latter has absolutely abysmal suspension. Have you ever ridden in or driven one? They are dump trucks compared to a modern light duty truck or SUV. Mercedes designed the frame to flex because the engineers could not figure out how to carry heavy loads AND make the suspension flexible at the same time way back in the 1950s and 60s.

A flexible frame is an undamped spring. It is not suspension; it does not suspend anything. That is the job of everything below the frame, e.g. leaf springs, link suspension with coil overs, air bags, etc. A leaf spring is also an undamped spring, which is why it's always paired with a damper or shock absorber (a shockie for our truncating Australian friends).

Big heavy trucks ride like crap because they are designed to carry heavy loads, by the OEM. They are not designed to ride like a Rolls Royce Ghost or to bomb down a dirt road at 60 MPH.

Horses for courses.

P.S. You may wish to read Doug Hackney's posts to see what happens when a heavy frame flexes one too many times.

 

[deserteagle56]

Gotta think a well-done (lots of thin leafs and good shocks) leaf spring front end wouldn't ride that bad... ?

I drove this 1976 GMC Terravan conversion for over 32 years. Leaf springs all around. It rode every bit as good as - if not better - than my current Ford Quigley on coils.

 

[rruff]

Failing to realise that a truck frame is NOT suspension is common is this community. It is an undamped spring. Speak with any race car, mountain bike or vehicle engineer worth his salt and he will tell you, if he's honest, that tuning a suspension on a flexible chassis, frame, tub or monocoque is a nightmare. The stiffer the frame, the better the suspension works.

There aren't many heavy load trucks with torsionally stiff frames. The OKA from Oz and some of the MAN trucks have stiff frames. Not that long ago even 1/2 ton pickups in the US had flexible frames. The longer it is and the greater the load, the harder it is (more weight and material) to also make it torsionally stiff and strong... plus you then need to make the suspension articulate more (more weight and space) if you want to keep the wheels on the ground. So much easier to let the frame twist and have the stiff suspension support the load, and live with the negatives of the big undamped spring.

 

[gator70]

I agree the "E" series is better than American pickup trucks, but not e series vans. More so E series cab chassis.