My quest to get a van. Looking for advice and wisdom.

[Jtai]

Hello all I have been reading over all the info getting more excited about a van each day.

I little back ground on myself. The lady friend and I enjoy camping with our 1 dog in my 1st gen ext cab Tacoma with a CVT roof top tent mounted over the bed. As great as this rig is it feels very cramped and taking the RTT on and off has become a chore. Our adventures are only quick weekend trips with a 3-4 day trip from time to time. We manly do dry camping out in the beautiful SW so we can take a break from city life and reconnect with nature. I would like to be able to do some stealth camping but with the current setup it is out of the question. And I feel with stealth camping it will open up more places for us to explore without the worries of finding a camp ground of dispersed camping area.

So that need has lead me to a van. Now the girlfriend thinks I'm CRAZY so maybe part of why I'm here is to find out if I am. My plan is to sell the Tacoma and buy a Ford E-350 RB and us it as my Daly driver and our camp rig. I love the way the Ford vans look and as much as I want a U joint 4wd van I know I can live without 4wd. My basic plan would be a Weld tech lift some bigger tires and some sort of LSD in the rear for some of the sandy roads. The inside would just be a basic bed a table and maybe a simple solar setup.

So with that being said am I crazy for making a E-350 my Daly driver ? Do most you guys only have your van for a weekend / adventure toy ? Is the girlfriend right ?

Let's say you have made it this far and you don't think I'm crazy. What years do you think are best for my needs ? I would prefer newer then older for reliability reasons. And I do like the front end of the 08 and up. I notice that most people have early 2000's vans on this site. Is that due to no RSC and people not wanting to mess with that on a 4wd conversion ? I read on another thread about rear axles and some certain types can only take an ARB locker. How do I find out what ones to look for or avoid ?

Thanks for reading and looking forward to any advice

[/url]20151012_123226 by jrx7s, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[hurstjd]

We decided on a van as well. We wanted something that was very comfortable and already in usable condition. We settled on a 1997 Ford E350 Airstream B190 van with only 58,000 miles on it. It now has 63,000. You can check it out here: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/128375-Advanced-4x4-Build-1997-Airstream-B190 The thread includes cost breakdown. I have done a ton more work on the van since I last updated that thread. I will be doing some more updates soon.

 

[ujoint]

Nothing wrong with a van as a DD! Many of us do it.

 

[naterry]

Is daily suitability your decision gateway? If so, daily driver decisions are best based on your daily driving requirements. Looks like you're in Nevada so perhaps tight spaces and city parking are not a concern? Those are the biggest drawbacks for a van.

The size and maneuverability limitations are unavoidable, everything else is subjective.

 

[Bbasso]

My van is my daily driver... Nothing wrong with it. But if you're going to get a van get the extended body, the extra space is well worth it.

 

[tgreening]

Till recently my daily driver was an F-450 dually, because I liked it, so an E-350 would be a mid sized SUV for me. I don't think you're nuts at all, though you probably will miss the mileage of the Taco, cause it ain't happa-ning in an E350.

Sell the GF on space, comfort, and not having to climb down a ladder for a midnight tinkle. Girls like easy tinkles.

 

[Bbasso]

A good running E350 7.3L will get just over 20 mpg...
Not too shabby for the size and capabilities.
Once you have the van setup/ functioning as you need, I'd bet she won't let you sell it.

 

[Jtai]

Is daily suitability your decision gateway? If so, daily driver decisions are best based on your daily driving requirements. Looks like you're in Nevada so perhaps tight spaces and city parking are not a concern? Those are the biggest drawbacks for a van.

The size and maneuverability limitations are unavoidable, everything else is subjective.

Yes it is one of the main things holding me back. I do live in Henderson ( outside of Last Vegas ) but I never have to park in downtown or in multi level garages. I'm more so worried about driving such a large vehicle day to day, I'm guessing I will get use to it but have never owned anything so large before.

 

[hobovan]

I have an '00 ext cargo and am a new van owner. At this point, I am DDing it, but I am comfortable in big vehicles, having driven them most of my life. How much do you drive? Do you find yourself parallel parking often? It's really your habits that will answer the DD question.

The 7.3 that Bbasso mentions isn't available after the '03 model. I know that when we went looking, we very quickly ruled out the 04+ model years because we wanted the reliability of the 7.3. If you want both, it is possible to swap the whole front end from the newer vans onto the older ones and, while I'm no expert, I don't think it's THAT in depth.

 

[Jtai]

A good running E350 7.3L will get just over 20 mpg...
Not too shabby for the size and capabilities.
Once you have the van setup/ functioning as you need, I'd bet she won't let you sell it.

20 mpg would be better then I can get in the Tacoma loaded down !!

I hope I can sell her on it. I think part of it is she thinks Vans are creepy.

 

[hobovan]

I think part of it is she thinks Vans are creepy.

Good news! The more you mod, the less it looks like a pedovan. My g/f said the same thing, and I'm getting a paint job out of it! (She hates the white)

 

[Jtai]

Good news! The more you mod, the less it looks like a pedovan. My g/f said the same thing, and I'm getting a paint job out of it! (She hates the white)

My GF hates white also ! Funny thing is I think white would be the best color for the desert.

To answer the question from page 1 I never have to parallel park and we will be moving at the end of the year but even after the move work will be less then 8 miles and all freeway. So 90% of the miles I put on truck is camping as work is so close

 

[hobovan]

work will be less then 8 miles and all freeway.

Just let your truck idle for a minute before you shut it down. If you jump in and then go bombing down the highway to get to work, then pull up in the parking lot and shut her down, you just killed your oil pressure, but the turbo is still spinning @ 10k. Other than that, you should be good. You could always rent one from Enterprise for a couple days, or lowes does the 19.99/day. Might be cheaper that way.

 

[hobovan]

Actually I guess you never said diesel, so there are other options if you want reliability in the newer body style.

 

[tgreening]

A good running E350 7.3L will get just over 20 mpg...
Not too shabby for the size and capabilities.
Once you have the van setup/ functioning as you need, I'd bet she won't let you sell it.

Maybe but I think he said he was after '08 +, but I might have misunderstood.