I find a lot of similarities between what I wanted and what you wanted. I have two kids though so I did the sienna seats. I also built these small aluminum brackets that I mounted into the body of the back of the van. I can fit my bags in first, then put my MTB's on a wooden mounting setup in over them. Gave me back my cargo space, without blocking my view to much. I also have a roof basket for the really long trips, like the Dallas to Vail for 2 weeks we just got back from. Hauled 6 bikes, fishing gear, RC stuff for the kids, all of our cloths, and two dogs. The van was spectacular.
Here is my struggle though. I do plan to haul my travel trailer a lot with me van. It is only a 12 passenger, is not diesel, and does not really have any lift to speak of accept the leveling kit and larger tires/wheels, but no 4x4 yet! I have noticed pulling my trailer, that my rig really does not pull quite as well as I had hoped, but I do have a small'ish trailer with a massive tongue weight. I have wondered about adding a spring to the rear end, or something like that, but for now, we are simply using our WDH system and are making due. Anyway, FYI, you may find you will want to shore up the rear end to tow with it. You mentioned the stabilizers. There is a guy who posted a link on a ford forum about the ford factory stabilizer mount that mounted to the frame of the ambulances. I mounted that on mine and it made a significant improvement, and the bracket was about $50. Regardless nice van, and have a ball. I will enjoy watching your progress with this.
