E350 Gray Vhale Build Thread

[mk216v]

I don't want to derail this thread so I'll make this short and sweet; currently 3rd poptop is hush-hush as it's in the works. Hold tight grasshoppers, will definitely be worth it!

 

[FarmerFrederico]

I don't want to derail this thread so I'll make this short and sweet; currently 3rd poptop is hush-hush as it's in the works. Hold tight grasshoppers, will definitely be worth it!

Looking forward to this as we definitely want a pop-top but haven't committed to anything yet. CCV was going to be our choice because they are so local to us but I'm open to new ideas!

 

[ujoint]

I don't want to derail this thread so I'll make this short and sweet; currently 3rd poptop is hush-hush as it's in the works. Hold tight grasshoppers, will definitely be worth it!

I agree!

 

[mk216v]

I agree!

I'm glad you agree too. :snorkel: :victory:

 

[DzlToy]

With regard to air pressure for on and off road travel, you have a few choices:

The proper method is to corner weight the van fully loaded with gear and people, just as you would have it when you are off road on a trip. Then get a "Load & Inflation Table" for your specific make and model of tire and that will tell you the lowest pressure you can use and safely carry that weight. Slow speed and off road travel can be a catch 22. Tires do not heat up as much as they do on asphalt, but there are other hazards such as sharp rocks.

Second option is simply trial and error using your butt dyno and your on board air to fine tune the ride and traction. Rock crawling rigs with beadlocks can go down to 2-3 psi per tire and I have run 8-10 on my 4Runners without beadlocks. Something in the 25-30 psi range is a good "guess" but that is really all it is without some empirical data.

 

[mk216v]

With regard to air pressure for on and off road travel, you have a few choices:

The proper method is to corner weight the van fully loaded with gear and people, just as you would have it when you are off road on a trip. Then get a "Load & Inflation Table" for your specific make and model of tire and that will tell you the lowest pressure you can use and safely carry that weight. Slow speed and off road travel can be a catch 22. Tires do not heat up as much as they do on asphalt, but there are other hazards such as sharp rocks.

Second option is simply trial and error using your butt dyno and your on board air to fine tune the ride and traction. Rock crawling rigs with beadlocks can go down to 2-3 psi per tire and I have run 8-10 on my 4Runners without beadlocks. Something in the 25-30 psi range is a good "guess" but that is really all it is without some empirical data.

Definitely depends on terrain, ie 25-30psi in sand dunes es no bueno(I've usually run 10-12psi then). For faster forest roads with some lime-shaped rocks, I've found 25psi or so to be pretty comfortable.

 

[FarmerFrederico]

Definitely depends on terrain, ie 25-30psi in sand dunes es no bueno(I've usually run 10-12psi then). For faster forest roads with some lime-shaped rocks, I've found 25psi or so to be pretty comfortable.

You've been down to 10-12psi on your rig? We went up to Yankee Doodle Lake on a 2/5 road - very easy but constantly bumpy. I dropped it to 35psi but really should have gone even lower - no extremely sharp rocks. I'll try 25psi next time out.

No pics of my onboard air setup yet, but it works just fine. Takes a little longer to air up than my kid has patience for but it's a great feature to have - makes these rigs much more versatile.

You guys running about 60psi on the road? If it doesn't hurt life of the tire too much I'd think it would feel better at 50-55psi. I ran around with 55psi for a few days in town and it took the edge off the ride with little potholes and what not. Can't find a weight/psi chart for my BFG KO2's and I still need to weigh the front and rear axles.

 

[mk216v]

10-12psi on my G's Hutchinson beadlocks. I'll have to be more careful running that on these standard wheels so I'll probably stay around 15psi.

Goodness am I doing a no-no? I'm running 36-40psi on the street on my 35" Toyo M/T's; very comfortable as you can imagine. Ran them at this pressure to the innards of UT and back without issue.

 

[ohpyramids]

Mk216v id be a bit surprised if you weren't feeling extra body roll on the street. It may cause extra heat buildup and premature tire wear, but thats something you gotta feel out.

Curious to maybe start a tire/tire pressure thread on here.

I have cooper st maxx's d load range. Running 44 psi street is still harsh but my van is also totally empty. Went to 35psi offroad in death valley but the washboard was killer. Going to try 25 or 30 psi on the next outing. Ujoint onboard air is a killer upgrade. Love it.

 

[REDOVAL]

I've got the V10 with factory installed auxiliary battery. I've been planning on tying in to it to power the ARB air compressor and have heard that there should be power from it in the B pillar where I want to install another DC outlet for an interior fan and eventually a fridge. This thread over at SMBF
http://sportsmobileforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1917 discusses how it is wired. It should have a relay between the two and the auxiliary was designed to run trailer power even when the van is off...so it acts kind of like a house battery. It will be nice to have the wiring diagram book soon!

So my main battery in engine compartment reads 12.3v when engine is off and 14.2v when engine is on so I'm getting a charge from alternator. Auxiliary battery though reads 12.3v regardless of whether engine is running. So, it's not getting charged, right? How could it be 12.3v if it probably hasn't been changed/maintained in 5 years? I dropped it and checked water levels and they are good.

One thought I just had. When I had the 4x4 conversion done, the shop didn't know there was an auxiliary battery and the auxiliary one didn't have the cables disconnected before welding. Could the battery be holding a charge from being correctly charged a few weeks ago before the conversion happened but the relay between the two has been shorted since?

I don't want to spend the time connecting to it if I can't keep it charged. Gotta figure out how to check the relay.

Here is some info on the aux battery setup (lifted from some time ago in a different thread):

Here is the deal on the optional FACTORY Aux battery on a gasoline powered van works, well at least my 2008 V-10. I just added a second aux battery with a tray I bought from e-bay. Here is what I found out.

The option Code is 634 $145 in 2008 you got ONE 78 AMP battery (main) and ONE 75 AMP battery.
The battery IS isolated from the main battery when the key is off.
The battery size is group 65 for BOTH of my Batteries.
The biggest problem of the batteries are how tall they can be and still fit in the box. 6 1/2 inches tall is it, unless you modify the box.
Aux batteries are available WITH and WITH OUT a trailer package.
Aux battery powers the trailer battery relay (if it has the FACTORY hitch wiring installed) when the key is on or off just like it does if you don't have an AUX battery but if the trailer drains the battery with the AUX battery the van will still start.
The relay for the Aux battery is mounted under the main battery.
The part number is F8UB-14088-AA
There is a diode in the hot in run circuit, it is mounted in the (as Ford calls it) BJB or battery junction box next to Fuse F5.
This wire on my van is White and Black 14 or 16 gauge and hooks to the small/energizer terminal of the relay.
One of the large terminals on the relay is another Black and White wire. This one is 8 or 10 gauge and hooks to a 60 AMP Fuse F20 in the BJB. This wire is Hot all the time.
The other large terminal has the feed wire to the Aux battery and a Red/Yellow wire that
feeds the trailer relays via BJB Fuse F24 20 AMPS and Fuse F8 40 AMPS.
(note without an Aux battery these two large wires have a jumper in them in at connector C145)

I hope that helps any of you who have wondered how this all works. I spent many hours with the factory Ford wiring book and a volt meter making sure this is how it works before adding my Second Aux battery to my system. The manual makes it look to me like the relay should have four terminals but mine only has three.

Oh and the reason for disconnecting the Aux battery ground (at the frame connection) is because it DOES power the trailer relays all the time even if the other battery is disconnected completely, plus one terminal of the relay is still hot.


My V10 E350 had the aux battery solenoid fail and was no longer connecting the aux battery to the rest of the system. I swapped out the stock relay with a PAC 200A unit and it has worked reliably since (about a year).

http://www.amazon.com/PAC-PAC-200-2...e=UTF8&qid=1439495282&sr=8-1&keywords=pac+200

Hope any of this adds to what you already know about the setup.

Scott

 

[mk216v]

Mk216v id be a bit surprised if you weren't feeling extra body roll on the street. It may cause extra heat buildup and premature tire wear, but thats something you gotta feel out.

Curious to maybe start a tire/tire pressure thread on here.

I have cooper st maxx's d load range. Running 44 psi street is still harsh but my van is also totally empty. Went to 35psi offroad in death valley but the washboard was killer. Going to try 25 or 30 psi on the next outing. Ujoint onboard air is a killer upgrade. Love it.

Actually the van handles better on 35's and 38psi than my G-Wagen did on 33's at 36psi. Van of course weighs about 2000lbs more depending on gear.
New tire pressure thread here; http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/146743-What-tire-pressures-are-you-running-on-your-van

 

[mk216v]

Here is some info on the aux battery setup (lifted from some time ago in a different thread):

Here is the deal on the optional FACTORY Aux battery on a gasoline powered van works, well at least my 2008 V-10. I just added a second aux battery with a tray I bought from e-bay. Here is what I found out.

The option Code is 634 $145 in 2008 you got ONE 78 AMP battery (main) and ONE 75 AMP battery.
The battery IS isolated from the main battery when the key is off.
The battery size is group 65 for BOTH of my Batteries.
The biggest problem of the batteries are how tall they can be and still fit in the box. 6 1/2 inches tall is it, unless you modify the box.
Aux batteries are available WITH and WITH OUT a trailer package.
Aux battery powers the trailer battery relay (if it has the FACTORY hitch wiring installed) when the key is on or off just like it does if you don't have an AUX battery but if the trailer drains the battery with the AUX battery the van will still start.
The relay for the Aux battery is mounted under the main battery.
The part number is F8UB-14088-AA
There is a diode in the hot in run circuit, it is mounted in the (as Ford calls it) BJB or battery junction box next to Fuse F5.
This wire on my van is White and Black 14 or 16 gauge and hooks to the small/energizer terminal of the relay.
One of the large terminals on the relay is another Black and White wire. This one is 8 or 10 gauge and hooks to a 60 AMP Fuse F20 in the BJB. This wire is Hot all the time.
The other large terminal has the feed wire to the Aux battery and a Red/Yellow wire that
feeds the trailer relays via BJB Fuse F24 20 AMPS and Fuse F8 40 AMPS.
(note without an Aux battery these two large wires have a jumper in them in at connector C145)

I hope that helps any of you who have wondered how this all works. I spent many hours with the factory Ford wiring book and a volt meter making sure this is how it works before adding my Second Aux battery to my system. The manual makes it look to me like the relay should have four terminals but mine only has three.

Oh and the reason for disconnecting the Aux battery ground (at the frame connection) is because it DOES power the trailer relays all the time even if the other battery is disconnected completely, plus one terminal of the relay is still hot.


My V10 E350 had the aux battery solenoid fail and was no longer connecting the aux battery to the rest of the system. I swapped out the stock relay with a PAC 200A unit and it has worked reliably since (about a year).

http://www.amazon.com/PAC-PAC-200-2...e=UTF8&qid=1439495282&sr=8-1&keywords=pac+200

Hope any of this adds to what you already know about the setup.

Scott

Thanks for the info Scott. Anyone know if this info is different from a diesel van with 2 batteries standard (a house, and a starter)?
I'm just about to replace both Les Schwab Xtreme65's(~3.5yrs old) with Interstate AGM MT7-65's (770CCA, 965CA; http://www.interstatebatteries.com/m/category/car-and-truck-batteries/mt-7-agm-batteries).

 

[REDOVAL]

Thanks for the info Scott. Anyone know if this info is different from a diesel van with 2 batteries standard (a house, and a starter)?
I'm just about to replace both Les Schwab Xtreme65's(~3.5yrs old) with Interstate AGM MT7-65's (770CCA, 965CA; http://www.interstatebatteries.com/m/category/car-and-truck-batteries/mt-7-agm-batteries).

If I'm not mistaken, the diesel versions have the batteries wired in parallel (one wired directly to the other with no isolation relay) to support the higher electrical load requirements of the diesel engine platform. General advice with batteries is to change both at the same time and be sure to use the same batteries to prevent parasitic drain from one to the other.

Scott

 

[mk216v]

If I'm not mistaken, the diesel versions have the batteries wired in parallel (one wired directly to the other with no isolation relay) to support the higher electrical load requirements of the diesel engine platform. General advice with batteries is to change both at the same time and be sure to use the same batteries to prevent parasitic drain from one to the other.

Scott

Thanks much.

 

[FarmerFrederico]

Haven't updated in a while...here we are camping near Loch Lomond near St. Mary's, Colorado in late September 2015. Perfect weather but cold enough at night that it was great to have the queen size bed in the back of the van...cramped with a 3y.o. between us but fun times!