My 2013 E-350 Family Rig

gradan07

New member
Hi everyone, I am a long time reader but wanted to do a better job documenting my project recently. We picked up a 2013 Ford E-350 12 passenger van in the fall of 2021. We are a family of 4 and I am trying to get my kids to as many cool places and states as possible. Since then we have traveled through/camped in 23 States. We are currently camping out of the van (ground tent) and most of my projects are about making camping with a wife and kids and dog go smoother and easier.

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My most recent project was to take my custom plywood gear organizer and add full extension drawers to it. I wanted to be able to get to all my gear without having to move anything else. The base box made life a lot easier but i wanted slides to get in and out of our fridge. and kitchen box. I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out. I don't do much wood work so this was a fun project.

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If anyone wants more details on what parts i used or the dimensions i made a youtube video of this build. There is info in the description for pdf drawings with all my dimensions and links to where i got the parts. If you want to skip the build the last few minutes are a tour of the finished setup and what gear goes where. I hope it can help someone out.


I'm working on a swing out bike rack now so i can use the drawers while the kids bikes are on the back without having to take the bikes off. I will be testing it all out next week we have a 1200 mile drive to see family in Florida.
 

gradan07

New member
Now that i have the drawer system up and working I really need to get a bike rack solution. Before i put the drawer slides in i could still get some stuff out of the organizer without taking the bike rack off. With the new setup its just not going to work. So I started looking into what type of swing out rack options were available. The rear bumper from Ujoint off road is awesome and i think i could make it hold the bikes but its just not in the cards right now. So i decided to go with a receiver mounted option for this next trip.

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There are options I can buy like this one but where is the fun in that.
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I have some 2x2 and 2.5x2.5 box tubing as well as a receiver tube to start this off. I will be using a spindle bearing assembly from Ruff Stuff to make the hinge.




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I got these parts started on Saturday while i wait for the spindle bearing parts from Ruff Stuff.

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We carry 4 bikes so i wanted to tie the lower bar into the hitch in more than one spot. There is a ton of leverage on this when its open. This is the reason i didn't just buy one b/c all the commercial options only go into the receiver tube. Here is what i came up with. It seems rock solid. It uses a square U bolt and extra tab to tie into the passenger side of the hitch frame.




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The bike rack only sits back about 2-3 inches from its original position.
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Here is a better view of the extra brace. That is as far as I got on Sunday. The Spindle bearing parts should be here Friday. With any luck I will be testing it out by the end of the weekend.
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Stitebunny

Adventurer
I like the swing out. I did one similar.
Unfortunately the top bar of mine twists a bit with the full weight on it and kind of bounces. Maybe if it was shorter it wouldn’t be an issue. Trying to figure out a patch for that.
 

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gradan07

New member
I like the swing out. I did one similar.
Unfortunately the top bar of mine twists a bit with the full weight on it and kind of bounces. Maybe if it was shorter it wouldn’t be an issue. Trying to figure out a patch for that.
Looks great! When you say the top bar, do you mean the upper one where the bike hangs from? Or the movable portion of the swing out down low? I don't have much time until i need to do about 2500 miles so any feedback ahead of time is great haha. My backup plan is to just take the swing out part off and run the rack like normal if it gives me problems.
 

Stitebunny

Adventurer
The moveable portion of the swing out is what twists. So then the receiver part of the moveable portion goes up and down. Then that is amplified at the top of the bike rack and it bounces forward and back. (If that makes any sense!)
My van does ride pretty rough though so that is part of it.
I think making the width of the swing out as narrow as you need is a good idea.
I wanted to be able to swing mine way out of the way is why i made it so wide.
But it was probably not necessary In hindsight.
 

gradan07

New member
The spindle and latch came in the mail today from ruff stuff. IMG_6504.jpeg
I want the latch to be pulling the top rail down onto a bump stop. My thought is that should help with the twisting and bouncing of the long arm when driving. Also need to figure out the pin detent for when it’s open. Anyone have an example of how to attach the latch to the tube. Welding would work but I could see this needing replaced. Bolt holes are blind. Thread the tube? Nut certs? IMG_6505.jpeg
 

Stitebunny

Adventurer
My results of threading the tube...
nut sert might offer more strength having more threads than just the thickness of the tube.
 

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