Not So Subtle E350 Shuttle - 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

[4x4pair]

I'm running 4.10's on 35's but if I could do it over I'd go to 4.56's since I tow with it.

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[bdog1]

I've worked on some shuttle vans that had an entire second system. Compressor, condenser and all.


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[sakurama]

I am just getting started on a similar build bought a 2002 with a 7.3 and 27k for milage trying to decide on gear ratio. Split between 4.10 and 4.30 I am planning on having Chris do a 4" coil setup The van has a small body lift since it had a wheelchair lift. Chris said 35's will fit. How does yours handle on the highway does it like to chase ruts or cracks in the pavement? What RPM does the 7.3 like to run at on the highway yet still be able to pull hills? I will be towing about 8k alot
Any info is a help

So first off the van handles great. I have a 2003 Ford F-150 Supercrew and the van, despite it's size, handles better. It's more firm, has less body lean and, as a surprise benefit, now has a tighter turning radius than it did before but also tighter than the pickup as I discovered today when I was tried to swing a U-turn and couldn't.

As for the gearing my van has 3.73's and paired with 35's it is geared way to tall. The van is barely over idle at 50mph in top gear but since I don't have a tachometer I can't tell you what the rpm's actually are. My plan, after talking to MG, is to go with the 4.30's because my feeling is that the 7.3 likes to be in it's powerband and the 4.30's should do that.

So, if you stay tuned, I should hopefully have the gears in mine changed as early as this week and in another week I'm hopefully going to pick up our trailer and bring it back. This time I will have gauges to read boost, EGT and Trans temp and since my Avion is almost the same weight as your trailer I will be able to give you some pretty accurate feedback.

So, stay tuned.

Gregor

 

[sakurama]

I'm running 4.10's on 35's but if I could do it over I'd go to 4.56's since I tow with it.

Even over 4.30's? Interesting...

G

 

[4x4pair]

Yes, I think so. It's such a small difference anyway. I think 4.56's would keep me from having to downshift to 3rd gear as often.

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[sakurama]

I can't tell you which OB2 scanners may work with your van but this what I've learned:

For the cheap "ELM327" type scanners, the Bluetooth would not work with my iPhone or MacBook, but the wifi version works fine on all of our apple devices... So apparently there is more going on here than just OBDII or not.

In my research I've discovered that Apple won't allow information transfer over Bluetooth so that's why none of the Bluetooth OBD's work with any iOS devices. As for the 7.3 Auto Enginuity is the only device that seems to work with the 7.3 but it's expensive and windows only so that's out on two counts for me. I wrote the Kiwi folks and they responded quickly that the Kiwi 2+ and the 3 should work with the Apple (although the 3 is Bluetooth so I don't know how) but they have no first hand knowledge of it working with the 7.3 and can neither confirm or deny...

I may try the Kiwi 2+ but I'm going to read through these responses again to be sure I didn't miss something.

Gregor

 

[Backcountry Pursuit]

I have a BluDriver bluetooth OBD reader and it works fine on my iPhone 6S. Much more of a basic thing than you are looking for but it works fine over BT.

 

[sakurama]

I have a BluDriver bluetooth OBD reader and it works fine on my iPhone 6S. Much more of a basic thing than you are looking for but it works fine over BT.

Really? Man, is this confusing...

 

[snowgroomer]

So first off the van handles great. I have a 2003 Ford F-150 Supercrew and the van, despite it's size, handles better. It's more firm, has less body lean and, as a surprise benefit, now has a tighter turning radius than it did before but also tighter than the pickup as I discovered today when I was tried to swing a U-turn and couldn't.

As for the gearing my van has 3.73's and paired with 35's it is geared way to tall. The van is barely over idle at 50mph in top gear but since I don't have a tachometer I can't tell you what the rpm's actually are. My plan, after talking to MG, is to go with the 4.30's because my feeling is that the 7.3 likes to be in it's powerband and the 4.30's should do that.

So, if you stay tuned, I should hopefully have the gears in mine changed as early as this week and in another week I'm hopefully going to pick up our trailer and bring it back. This time I will have gauges to read boost, EGT and Trans temp and since my Avion is almost the same weight as your trailer I will be able to give you some pretty accurate feedback.

So, stay tuned.

Gregor

Gregor

Thanks for the reply 4.30 is they way i am leaning. I am anxious to here how it runs and tows

Doug

 

[Timjim]

I have a BluDriver bluetooth OBD reader and it works fine on my iPhone 6S. Much more of a basic thing than you are looking for but it works fine over BT.

Have that same reader and it will do the job. What info you can get back depends on the vehicle. I was able to see my fueling and defueling on my 6.8l which was seemingly not running well at the time and it helped. Really all I needed was a KAM reset and the van ran great again.

 

[Petrolburner]

I have a bluetooth reader that works on my 5.4 van, but did not work on the 7.3 PSD van I just bought. I assumed there was a problem with the port. I haven't had a chance to dig in to it. I'll be interested to hear if there is an issue specific to the 7.3 PSD you mentioned.

 

[sakurama]

So the things we didn't get to do before we took the van cross country were mostly electrical. The rear locker, the front hubs and some gauges to monitor the situation.

Towing made the need for boost, EGT (Exhaust Gas Temp), and Trans temp quite obvious so I ordered an A-pillar gauge package from Auto Meter that included the mount and gauges all together.

I took the van down to MG as he needed to see the van in order to start planning the new harness. The dash of the van really doesn't have much room on it for anything and the places that might have room (under the steering wheel) don't make sense for switches you need to see to use. The only real logical place was the ceiling in the center but the pod there (for my Satisfaction light!) is too small to fit the switch panel that I'd ordered.

So while I have plenty of aluminum sheet metal tools it seemed more like a project that would be made from wood. I watched a few dozen YouTube videos and tried to find some tutorials but for the most part the process seems like: make a box, smooth it out, spray it with contact adhesive and glue on some leather or vinyl. So that's what I went with.

I made it out of MDF because I hate MDF and it would be a good way to get rid of it. I thought the MDF would make a decent test part and if I liked it I'd remake it out of Baltic Birch. I'm not sure if I like it yet and I don't know if I'll bother to remake it but it does fit. The corners are rounded to match up with the interior shapes of the van and it seems perhaps a bit boxy but I'm going to reserve judgment for the moment. MG has the switch pod and we're going to do the wiring on Monday so for now I'm just going to leave it there and see on Monday how it works.

Gregor

 

[motion]

I've done some fairings and door panels by building the face and base out of MDF or BB, stretching speaker cloth over the structure to be a shape I want, and laying up fiberglass on that. Easy way to avoid the box if that's what you're after.

More, more, we want more.

 

[Bikersmurf]

If I was wanting to play I'd: shape it out of plaster, pull a pva sheet over it, layup Fiberglass / cloth / carbon fibre over it, a pva bag, and use vacuum to pull some resin through it (with a touch of black so it won't yellow over time).

After it cures, cut it out and break out the plaster. Any visible hardware I'd use polished stainless. It could be super thin and almost any shape.

 

[sakurama]

I've done some fairings and door panels by building the face and base out of MDF or BB, stretching speaker cloth over the structure to be a shape I want, and laying up fiberglass on that. Easy way to avoid the box if that's what you're after.

More, more, we want more.

If I was wanting to play I'd: shape it out of plaster, pull a pva sheet over it, layup Fiberglass / cloth / carbon fibre over it, a pva bag, and use vacuum to pull some resin through it (with a touch of black so it won't yellow over time).

After it cures, cut it out and break out the plaster. Any visible hardware I'd use polished stainless. It could be super thin and almost any shape.

Man, you guys are worse than me! I have plenty to do on the van without doing custom layup work and this experiment was to see how the wood looks and works. I'll try to cover it and see once we confirm that it will work. MG has the panel so I don't want to go farther for the moment until we test fit it on Monday.

Gregor