I think everyone is interested.
Not So Subtle E350 Shuttle - 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
- Thread starter sakurama
- Start date
I think everyone is interested.
locrwln
Expedition Leader
Trade secret!
Just kidding... I plan to do a write up about it. I can do a write up of the factory E-locker too if anyone is interested.
Excellent. Thank you very much.
.
Jack
Very happy to have found this awesome build thread! Amazing rig you have going there! Keep it up and thanks for sharing!
We've had our 7.3 for about 8 years and regularly use it as our weekend camper/adventuremobile here in the Colorado mountains. As well as daily driver, road tripper, utility around the house and the occasional day at the drag strip and tractor pulls. They are amazingly reliable and long living engines, but sure do require a lot of care and love to extract maximum lifespan and performance. A great thing is that the aftermarket has continued to develop technology for these as the following continues to remain strong, smart upgrade strategies can be combined with good long term maintenance strategies to vastly increase power while extending the lifespan and bettering fuel millage and drive ability, but it can be hard to sort through all the flak online.
Our is over 300,000 miles now, making well over 500hp/1000lbft and driving better than ever before. we recently hauled our kayak/camping/shuttle setup (see below) over the passes to the upper colorado and had no trouble casually cruising at 75mph while keeping the EGT's under 1,100 while pulling the brutal eastbound hills at the tunnel and vail pass. As i've so thoroughly enjoyed your threads over the years i'd be more than happy to discuss anything 7.3 specific as the need arises. to keep from cluttering up your thread, feel free to shoot me a note at euroford at gmail.
We've had our 7.3 for about 8 years and regularly use it as our weekend camper/adventuremobile here in the Colorado mountains. As well as daily driver, road tripper, utility around the house and the occasional day at the drag strip and tractor pulls. They are amazingly reliable and long living engines, but sure do require a lot of care and love to extract maximum lifespan and performance. A great thing is that the aftermarket has continued to develop technology for these as the following continues to remain strong, smart upgrade strategies can be combined with good long term maintenance strategies to vastly increase power while extending the lifespan and bettering fuel millage and drive ability, but it can be hard to sort through all the flak online.
Our is over 300,000 miles now, making well over 500hp/1000lbft and driving better than ever before. we recently hauled our kayak/camping/shuttle setup (see below) over the passes to the upper colorado and had no trouble casually cruising at 75mph while keeping the EGT's under 1,100 while pulling the brutal eastbound hills at the tunnel and vail pass. As i've so thoroughly enjoyed your threads over the years i'd be more than happy to discuss anything 7.3 specific as the need arises. to keep from cluttering up your thread, feel free to shoot me a note at euroford at gmail.
sakurama
Adventurer
Sorry for the delay. Once we picked up the van from MG we loaded up the trailer and took off for Crater Lake. We were having such a good time on the road that we decided to not come back after Crater Lake and took the long way home up the coast. We just got back and I'll have some photos to share along with a full report but right now I'm wiped out.
Anyway, the van has a false ceiling that I don't know if it's the same as stock vans but I suspect not. The headliner is 1/4" fiber board of some kind that is wrapped in the upholstery fabric. There a hole in the center where the wires come down and the previous pod used a tongue at the front that engaged the board and then screwed into the headliner. I mimicked that making my box tongue with 1/4" plywood and then screwed into the ceiling from the inside front edge.
So there's the "tongue" and I added a shim to offset the vinyl. The screws that hold it to the ceiling are behind the switch pod opposite the tongue.
Gregor
sakurama
Adventurer
Pretty well and much better than before. I'm going to post up later with a bit longer report but I think the 4.30's were the right choice.
Thanks! I didn't match the A-pillars and my boy, a very detail oriented 6 year old, noted that immediately and suggested that I paint the other side black. I think that's a good idea and I'll put it on my list.
Honestly your numbers are incredibly impressive. I like my build threads to be a bit of a community free for all so I'd love it if MG detailed his lockers and hubs here (as well as his own thread) and if you can offer advice for the 7.3 here I'm all ears. The van towed much better than before but in my mind I imagined it running like yours - 75mph up the passes with no trouble at all. It's far from that but a great improvement over my pickup. My pickup, a 2003 5.4L F150, gets about 6-7mpg towing the trailer and barely manages 25-30mph on grades of 6-7%. The van is getting 10mpg and can pull the trailer up the same grades now at about 40-45mph so it's a real improvement but nothing like what you're getting.
Mileage so far has only been recorded towing as we've not really had much time in the last few weeks without the trailer. We got a best tank of 12.5mpg on the highway at 65-70mph towing the trailer and considering that's about double the pickup we're pretty happy. I'm going to do another post to detail the last week or so but we've put in some serious driving and the van has rocked it. Here's a teaser for the moment...
Gregor
mr_magicfingers
New member
Man, that last photo! This is what comes from having dreams and turning them into memories.
sakurama
Adventurer
So we only got a few hundred miles in after the differential swap before we hooked up the trailer and hauled off. Not enough to properly break in the gears (according to internet wisdom) but then again the shop didn't give any recommendations. Theoretically you should put 500 miles on them before towing but we had camping reservations at Crater Lake and 6 months previous our dates were the only ones available all summer. As the only National park in Oregon it's very popular. We at least took the highway down and that worked well.
Camping with a trailer is hard for me to call camping, although everyone calls it that. Camping, to me, involves being immersed in nature. Sleeping on the ground, sitting on logs and making dinner in a single pot. Camping with a trailer is pretty much like living in a small NYC apartment with spectacular views that change every few nights. We lack for nothing. Hot water, well, water out of a faucet first of all, kinda amazing. There was a water ban in effect at the campground due to the fires and the single bathroom sink was the only option for everyone else. We have a furnace for heat, a stove for cooking and since I broke our refrigerator we stuffed it with dry ice that lasted almost a week. We're pretty spoiled and I can't bring myself to call it camping. Glamping is a stupid word (and idea) so I don't know what to call it.
After our three days at Crater Lake we just didn't want to go home so we headed to the coast. My wife and I are both freelance and while that often can mean financial uncertainty we feel that right now, with our kids at the perfect memory making and travel ages, it is worth it so we are free to pick up and go whenever we want. And to stay longer when we want as well. After stopping at the Wildlife Safari in Winston we took a small road to the coast and saw a sign for an RV park. We generally loathe RV parks, they're ugly, crowded and unappealing. We also were almost out of water in our tanks and our batteries could use a charge so we investigated. Turns out Umpqua Riverfront RV Park is actually on the riverfront. It was amazing.
If you're traveling with a trailer you will drain your water tank and fill your gray and black tanks. Batteries drain and you can't run AC unless you're hooked up to shore power - not like we ever need it. One night at an RV park and we're ready for another 4-5 days of "boondocking" - that's camping with no services. Good news for our plan to hit the coast where every single campsite and RV park is booked for the eclipse. But we know something no one else does.
And that is this little secret: Every single pull off or view point in all of Oregon is legal for a 12 hour layover. The campgrounds are full but we always find a stunning pull out on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean and we get it all to ourselves - there are hundreds just on highway 1 and 101 alone. We pull in just before sunset, make our dinner and watch the sun go down from our little camper.
You seriously can't get better than this. We've never been hassled and have never had trouble finding a spot.
Laying in bed the traffic pretty much stops at 10-11pm. Out the windows you can see a million stars and we are so happy and grateful. And lucky. This shot was made from several exposures and the trailer was lit by a small headlamp walking around it painting it with light.
The next morning we headed up the coast to Cape Kiwanda where you can drive on the beach. This was our big moment. Would all the time and money of building this van be worth it? Would the van work on the sand? We unhooked the trailer and left the tires at street pressure. Locked the hubs and locked the rear diff. And drove out onto the beach.
It was a bit scary on the soft stuff. You could feel the van dig in and sink and I got on the throttle and did a quick circle to get out of it and gather my thoughts. I have no winch, no MaxTrax and no on board compressor. The last is what I've now determined to be the single most important thing we need to address. From rocks to sand lowering the air pressure is key and sadly most gas stations are just that - gas only. If air is available it's in one of those weak quarter operated machines that take 10 minutes a tire and a roll of quarters. That is what keeps me from dropping the pressure when I know I should.
Despite this the van did great. A bit of speed and we were soon sailing over the soft sand to our own private little spot. Chairs and lunch on board we enjoyed the air and the sun before driving out and hooking up the trailer for the drive home.
The van is awesome. MG did a killer job. It was fantastic to have the A-pillar gauges to keep track of the vitals. On the highway we were running 65-70mph and the EGT was at 800°, the trans stayed at about 180° and the boost was steady around 4-6lbs. On the steepest climbs we'd slow to 40mph and see the EGT climb to 1100 and sometimes 1200. Boost was 10-15lbs and the trans at the hottest was about 220°. Where the gauges paid off was the discovery that dropping down to second and letting the engine rev actually dropped the EGT to 1000 with the boost at 15-20lbs. It would raise the tranny temp but never too an alarming number. Before the gauges I thought it was better to let the engine lug thinking that's what a diesel does best. After I discovered that the engine is most efficient when it's pumping a lot of air. Still a lot to learn but now I know what's happening under the hood a lot better.
After a week on the road we came home tired and relaxed but the eclipse was happening on Monday. We'd planned on camping with our friend Ben but family visiting changed his plans and we were left not knowing what to do. I'd washed the salt and mud off the van and trailer, we'd cleaned them up and recharged and filled the tanks. Seemed a shame to miss being in the "totality" so I spent about 2-3 hours scouring topos and satellite images to find a place near water, off the beaten path and accessible. Once I'd found what I thought was the place, Horseshoe Lake in the Mt Hood National Forest, we loaded up again and headed off.
Have you ever had that moment when you do something and suddenly realize that it wasn't a good idea? But that you can't undo it? Like jumping off a bridge? I had looked at this road from every angle and it seemed like a simple dirt road to a lake. I'd ridden most of the forest service roads around there and they're often small but paved or gravel but smooth with plenty of pull offs.
This was not that.
Within a mile this road became a trail. There were no wide spots and some of it was narrower than the van much less the trailer. There was no way I could back this rig down a mile of narrow double track and suddenly I was mid air, off the bridge with no way to go back and getting more nervous with every foot. The lake we were headed to had a loop - we just had to get there and we could turn around. In five more miles. Oh boy, what have I done? We continued on, my wife getting madder with the increasingly narrow and rocky trail. "What were you thinking! This is insanity!" she helpfully remarked. The transmission is hitting 250° and I'm hitting redline as well.
Finally we came to a place wide enough to pull over but there was a tent already set up. A lifted FJ came down the mountain and pulled up, "Nice rig!" he says, "How the hell did you get that trailer up here?" I ask if we can make it to the lake. "You can make it no problem but the trailer doesn't stand a chance - it gets way worse just around the corner"
At that point the owner of the tent shows up. I ask if she wouldn't mind if we left the trailer there while we checked out the road to the lake. She cautiously agrees but clearly thinks I'm an axe murderer. We unhook and drive up a road that gets far, far worse. Nothing for the van but there's no way we can get the trailer up to the lake. With my wife about to blow a gasket we turn around and go back to the trailer. I'm at least relieved that I've found a place to turn the whole mess around if nothing else. To do so requires unhooking and rehooking but I don't care.
We meet Javier and Sabrina and I ask as nicely as I can if they wouldn't mind sharing their space as we're stuck and it's almost evening - the night before the morning of the eclipse. They agree and offer to move their tent but I back the trailer over as fas as I can. We settle in.
In the morning we make our neighbors breakfast and coffee. They're traveling from Maui and brought minimal supplies and this helps us give back for their generosity. Sabrina does face paint for the kids and we are best friends in no time. Our blankets are all pulled together and we wait for the eclipse.
It does not disappoint.
It is magical, surreal and otherworldly. We share it with our new best friends and what started as a disaster has become the best possible conclusion. I am forgiven by my wife and hailed as a genius by my kids. Our camp spot is a short hike from one of the most perilous and amazing water falls. In the morning Javier and Sabrina leave ahead of us to warn any upcoming traffic that we're coming down and to find a place to pull off. We make it without trouble and take a slow, meandering and stop filled drive home.
This experience, using the van as intended, has helped greatly to define the way I want to build it. Firstly is an on board compressor. Nothing else is more important right now than the ability to change tire pressure without having to rely on a service station. When you need to air down you're not near anything. Next would be to build a rear bumper that serves as an air tank to the compressor. It would also get the tire out of the back and on the bumper. A winch would be nice but a roof rack would be better. I want the ability to stand up and use that as a platform for taking photos. Next would be more seats on tracks and someday a pop top. We are drawn to places that the trailer can't tread - we clearly learned that lesson. We need a smaller contained camper van that will allow us to have most of the luxury of the trailer but fully exploit the capability of the van.
All in all though I'm happy. I've turned this neglected airport shuttle into a full on adventure rig and we've put it to good use. Success.
Gregor
Camping with a trailer is hard for me to call camping, although everyone calls it that. Camping, to me, involves being immersed in nature. Sleeping on the ground, sitting on logs and making dinner in a single pot. Camping with a trailer is pretty much like living in a small NYC apartment with spectacular views that change every few nights. We lack for nothing. Hot water, well, water out of a faucet first of all, kinda amazing. There was a water ban in effect at the campground due to the fires and the single bathroom sink was the only option for everyone else. We have a furnace for heat, a stove for cooking and since I broke our refrigerator we stuffed it with dry ice that lasted almost a week. We're pretty spoiled and I can't bring myself to call it camping. Glamping is a stupid word (and idea) so I don't know what to call it.
After our three days at Crater Lake we just didn't want to go home so we headed to the coast. My wife and I are both freelance and while that often can mean financial uncertainty we feel that right now, with our kids at the perfect memory making and travel ages, it is worth it so we are free to pick up and go whenever we want. And to stay longer when we want as well. After stopping at the Wildlife Safari in Winston we took a small road to the coast and saw a sign for an RV park. We generally loathe RV parks, they're ugly, crowded and unappealing. We also were almost out of water in our tanks and our batteries could use a charge so we investigated. Turns out Umpqua Riverfront RV Park is actually on the riverfront. It was amazing.
If you're traveling with a trailer you will drain your water tank and fill your gray and black tanks. Batteries drain and you can't run AC unless you're hooked up to shore power - not like we ever need it. One night at an RV park and we're ready for another 4-5 days of "boondocking" - that's camping with no services. Good news for our plan to hit the coast where every single campsite and RV park is booked for the eclipse. But we know something no one else does.
And that is this little secret: Every single pull off or view point in all of Oregon is legal for a 12 hour layover. The campgrounds are full but we always find a stunning pull out on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean and we get it all to ourselves - there are hundreds just on highway 1 and 101 alone. We pull in just before sunset, make our dinner and watch the sun go down from our little camper.
You seriously can't get better than this. We've never been hassled and have never had trouble finding a spot.
Laying in bed the traffic pretty much stops at 10-11pm. Out the windows you can see a million stars and we are so happy and grateful. And lucky. This shot was made from several exposures and the trailer was lit by a small headlamp walking around it painting it with light.
The next morning we headed up the coast to Cape Kiwanda where you can drive on the beach. This was our big moment. Would all the time and money of building this van be worth it? Would the van work on the sand? We unhooked the trailer and left the tires at street pressure. Locked the hubs and locked the rear diff. And drove out onto the beach.
It was a bit scary on the soft stuff. You could feel the van dig in and sink and I got on the throttle and did a quick circle to get out of it and gather my thoughts. I have no winch, no MaxTrax and no on board compressor. The last is what I've now determined to be the single most important thing we need to address. From rocks to sand lowering the air pressure is key and sadly most gas stations are just that - gas only. If air is available it's in one of those weak quarter operated machines that take 10 minutes a tire and a roll of quarters. That is what keeps me from dropping the pressure when I know I should.
Despite this the van did great. A bit of speed and we were soon sailing over the soft sand to our own private little spot. Chairs and lunch on board we enjoyed the air and the sun before driving out and hooking up the trailer for the drive home.
The van is awesome. MG did a killer job. It was fantastic to have the A-pillar gauges to keep track of the vitals. On the highway we were running 65-70mph and the EGT was at 800°, the trans stayed at about 180° and the boost was steady around 4-6lbs. On the steepest climbs we'd slow to 40mph and see the EGT climb to 1100 and sometimes 1200. Boost was 10-15lbs and the trans at the hottest was about 220°. Where the gauges paid off was the discovery that dropping down to second and letting the engine rev actually dropped the EGT to 1000 with the boost at 15-20lbs. It would raise the tranny temp but never too an alarming number. Before the gauges I thought it was better to let the engine lug thinking that's what a diesel does best. After I discovered that the engine is most efficient when it's pumping a lot of air. Still a lot to learn but now I know what's happening under the hood a lot better.
After a week on the road we came home tired and relaxed but the eclipse was happening on Monday. We'd planned on camping with our friend Ben but family visiting changed his plans and we were left not knowing what to do. I'd washed the salt and mud off the van and trailer, we'd cleaned them up and recharged and filled the tanks. Seemed a shame to miss being in the "totality" so I spent about 2-3 hours scouring topos and satellite images to find a place near water, off the beaten path and accessible. Once I'd found what I thought was the place, Horseshoe Lake in the Mt Hood National Forest, we loaded up again and headed off.
Have you ever had that moment when you do something and suddenly realize that it wasn't a good idea? But that you can't undo it? Like jumping off a bridge? I had looked at this road from every angle and it seemed like a simple dirt road to a lake. I'd ridden most of the forest service roads around there and they're often small but paved or gravel but smooth with plenty of pull offs.
This was not that.
Within a mile this road became a trail. There were no wide spots and some of it was narrower than the van much less the trailer. There was no way I could back this rig down a mile of narrow double track and suddenly I was mid air, off the bridge with no way to go back and getting more nervous with every foot. The lake we were headed to had a loop - we just had to get there and we could turn around. In five more miles. Oh boy, what have I done? We continued on, my wife getting madder with the increasingly narrow and rocky trail. "What were you thinking! This is insanity!" she helpfully remarked. The transmission is hitting 250° and I'm hitting redline as well.
Finally we came to a place wide enough to pull over but there was a tent already set up. A lifted FJ came down the mountain and pulled up, "Nice rig!" he says, "How the hell did you get that trailer up here?" I ask if we can make it to the lake. "You can make it no problem but the trailer doesn't stand a chance - it gets way worse just around the corner"
At that point the owner of the tent shows up. I ask if she wouldn't mind if we left the trailer there while we checked out the road to the lake. She cautiously agrees but clearly thinks I'm an axe murderer. We unhook and drive up a road that gets far, far worse. Nothing for the van but there's no way we can get the trailer up to the lake. With my wife about to blow a gasket we turn around and go back to the trailer. I'm at least relieved that I've found a place to turn the whole mess around if nothing else. To do so requires unhooking and rehooking but I don't care.
We meet Javier and Sabrina and I ask as nicely as I can if they wouldn't mind sharing their space as we're stuck and it's almost evening - the night before the morning of the eclipse. They agree and offer to move their tent but I back the trailer over as fas as I can. We settle in.
In the morning we make our neighbors breakfast and coffee. They're traveling from Maui and brought minimal supplies and this helps us give back for their generosity. Sabrina does face paint for the kids and we are best friends in no time. Our blankets are all pulled together and we wait for the eclipse.
It does not disappoint.
It is magical, surreal and otherworldly. We share it with our new best friends and what started as a disaster has become the best possible conclusion. I am forgiven by my wife and hailed as a genius by my kids. Our camp spot is a short hike from one of the most perilous and amazing water falls. In the morning Javier and Sabrina leave ahead of us to warn any upcoming traffic that we're coming down and to find a place to pull off. We make it without trouble and take a slow, meandering and stop filled drive home.
This experience, using the van as intended, has helped greatly to define the way I want to build it. Firstly is an on board compressor. Nothing else is more important right now than the ability to change tire pressure without having to rely on a service station. When you need to air down you're not near anything. Next would be to build a rear bumper that serves as an air tank to the compressor. It would also get the tire out of the back and on the bumper. A winch would be nice but a roof rack would be better. I want the ability to stand up and use that as a platform for taking photos. Next would be more seats on tracks and someday a pop top. We are drawn to places that the trailer can't tread - we clearly learned that lesson. We need a smaller contained camper van that will allow us to have most of the luxury of the trailer but fully exploit the capability of the van.
All in all though I'm happy. I've turned this neglected airport shuttle into a full on adventure rig and we've put it to good use. Success.
Gregor
Last edited:
mgmetalworks
Explorer
What do you expect from a van with a light up sign in it that says "100% satisfaction guaranteed"!?
AWESOME photos and great storytelling!
AWESOME photos and great storytelling!
VisionxOrb
Observer
I wonder if a more advanced turbo would give more towing performance your looking for. KCTurbos is making a drop in dual BB for the 99-03s that is designed after a new 366sxe but is reverse rotation for the drop-in vs switching to T4 Mount. Supposed to spool much sooner/easier and flow alot more up top.
https://kcturbos.net/collections/7-3-powerstroke/products/kc-7-3-stage2-turbo
https://kcturbos.net/collections/7-3-powerstroke/products/kc-7-3-stage2-turbo
another_mike
Adventurer
Love your pictures and this thread.
Back when I was camping off my dual sport and a friend of mine had some huge diesel pusher RV he would use the term camping and id give him the stink eye. He chuckled and introduced me to the word "glamping"
Petrolburner
Explorer
I put a big Puma air compressor in my Motovan, it's been great. I've run it a lot, I've probably aired back up 30+ times. I use Trailhead deflators, they screw on like a valve stem cap and bleed the air down to a preset pressure, 25 PSI for me. It takes 10-12 minutes to air back up to 50 in the front and 60 in the rear, that's what I run in Baja. When I am going to be back on the highway for a long time I go to 80 in the rear and 55 up front.
onemanarmy
Explorer
awesome pics, as usual, and great write up
dig the FX4 sticker too.
dig the FX4 sticker too.
nick disjunkt
Adventurer
great rig and awesome to see you out using it already. Reminded me of the look my wife gave me as the road into the Henry Mountains in Utah got so steep that if I was in first gear, and the truck started to bog and stall because I let the rev's drop below 2,000. Ended up having to reverse to a flatter spot, thrash the engine near to redline, and bounce up the road until I could find somewhere to turn around.