Not So Subtle E350 Shuttle - 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

[sakurama]

Did you get your speedo calibrator sorted? A 7.3 should be able to tow with 3.73's.

What are your RPM's at 65mph right now?

I wish I knew. I have no tach so I'm in the dark right now. Gauges are being ordered once I get to Colorado.

I have to say the van rides amazing. It rides so much better than my pickup. I can't wait to get it off road.

I'm still trying to put my finger on what it is that makes these vans so universally popular. I think it's maybe the hot librarian thing. You take something boring and unexpected and turn it on it's ear and suddenly it's twice as cool. It's like a good comeback story.

That's certainly this van.

Gregor

 

[dazdconfsd]

I wish I knew. I have no tach so I'm in the dark right now. Gauges are being ordered once I get to Colorado.

If what you want is available on Amazon there are Amazon Lockers available in Boulder/Denver, so you could order now and have it waiting.

 

[locrwln]

Me too!

I've worked my *** off the last week and the last two days in particular to get our trailer dialed in and I'm about 95% done so I hope to get out to the van tomorrow morning and see the shafts go in and hopefully see how MG hooks up the hubs. He's told me how it's done (vacuum line from the hub to a relay to a switch) but I want to see it.

Gregor

Excellent. Looking forward to the explanation.
.
And this is my favorite gear calculator:

http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html
.

It has the ability to give you pretty much any number you need to know when it comes to gearing and tires. Plus it does it side by side for easy comparison between old and new.
.
Safe travels on your trip.
.
Jack

 

[brianjwilson]

Excellent. Looking forward to the explanation.
.
And this is my favorite gear calculator:

http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html
.

It has the ability to give you pretty much any number you need to know when it comes to gearing and tires. Plus it does it side by side for easy comparison between old and new.
.
Safe travels on your trip.
.
Jack

That's my favorite calculator too. Personally I always run the numbers and still gear lower than stock, for additional performance and to help with the additional rolling mass and drag. Depending on the vehicle (especially diesel) a person may not want to follow that pattern though. You should consider what speed you expect to drive, elevation, towing etc. Gearing too low may end up resulting in driveline vibrations as well. But gearing lower definitely reduces the stress on the engine and transmission.

I'm running 4.56 gears with 35s on my v10 and it works great, buts it's a very smooth and quiet engine. I might be more inclined to consider 4.30s with the 7.3. If for nothing else, to cut down on the noise from that beast!

 

[86scotty]

I'm still trying to put my finger on what it is that makes these vans so universally popular. I think it's maybe the hot librarian thing. You take something boring and unexpected and turn it on it's ear and suddenly it's twice as cool.

Gregor

I've never figured it out either but I have to agree. I bought a basic looking stock Sportsmobile a few years back with only a 4" Quigley lift and stock (245/75-16") tires. It even had the plastic van hubcaps. I replaced the suspension with the RIP kit (up to about 6"), added wheels and tires and all of a sudden everybody I encountered loved it! I actually got pretty tired of people constantly walking up to me at campgrounds when I had that thing. Good problem to have I guess.

Looks great Gregor. Safe travels.

 

[sakurama]

So our next day sans trailer was pretty great. We made it to Vernal after almost running out of fuel - note to self that we have a bit less room in the tank. We almost made 500 miles and filled it on E with 32 gallons. Part of that tank was with the trailer.

The next day i knew a place outside of Vernal (just east) called Honda Hills by the locals. It's a moonscape of hills that people just ride on and up. I knew it would be the perfect place to try out the van.

That was the highest hill and to be honest I wasn't sure we should try it. It's steep. We came at it on a narrow path that when we hit it saw the entire contents of the van and the dog all slide back. To get this shot I walked back and it was so steep I could barely walk it. Out of curiosity I took out my phone and measured it with the inclinometer and it was 44° which is a fair slope to get up. The van didn't bog or hesitate but just dug in and crawled up. The short hood and aggressive approach help when you're cresting this stuff as you need to know if it's narrow or drops off the other side or what. The van is so high that we never scraped the rear on the departure. Color me impressed as I debated long and hard about whether to go EB or RB and I know now I made the right choice. Go big or go home.

The hill just behind and to the right was the one from the first shot.

When we went up my daughter just squealed with joy, "This is the most fun I've ever had!" which I have to agree with. I felt like a little kid as well.


Hopefully that video posts - I'm having a hard time connecting at motels.

At one of the first fuel stops I washed the windows which requires standing on the tire. My kids were fascinated and begged to do it so I taught them and it's now become their job - I pay them a dollar. Every fuel stop they race to get the window brushes and do the windows.

We had cooler temps and flatter roads early today and the van clocked 18mpg at 75-80. If you remember in it's stock form it got the best milage at those speeds before and honestly it really felt great at 85mph. In the mountains you could tell it needed gears as the spacing was too far but if I lived in Kansas I'd probably keep the 3.73's. As it stands I'll be getting 4.30's I think when I get home.

Hopefully we'll get the chance to head off road again now that we're in Colorado.

Gregor

 

[djbonsu]

Congrats Gregor...Very Nice!!

Re: Gearing, if you bought your axles used and have not touched the gearing, you dont have to break in you gears/axles. You definitely will have to break in the gearing once you switch. FWIW, I have 35s and 4.10 gear front and the torque from the 7.3 has no problem getting up the hills or towing (light) but I also have a tuner from DP Tuner which I would recommend as it really wakes the motor up but get your gauges first. Because you tow, I think 4.30 or 4.56 gears would work for you. For now, if you are still climbing a few hills, turn your overdrive off to help with temps and reduce bogging.

 

[onemanarmy]

digging the black wall out BFGs

 

[Bikersmurf]

4.30 almost doesn't seem low enough if you're going to tow. In stock form my rig has 4.11 with 29" tires and a 7.3... And it doesn't seem geared too low. That said, we rarely see hirer than 65 mph speed limits. So if yay plan to do 85mph a lot factor that in.

 

[sakurama]

We've been pretty off the grid the last few days but managed to get out and do one of the Colorado passes of my childhood. It's not terribly technical if you know how to place your wheels but that never stopped a lot of "lowlanders" from getting stuck on it. Regardless I was determined to take the van as far up Hermit Pass (in the Sangre De Christos) as I could go because the views were worth it.

First the trail has quite a few narrow spots. Here is where my plan to buy a van with a "pre-loved" body paid off as I wasn't deterred to simply fold the mirrors in and plow forward giving the van some needed pinstriping. We started in 4 High but quickly switched to 4 Low because the trail is entirely rocky and speed was not possible. I've always wheeled to the mantra, "as slow as possible, as fast as necessary" so we crawled along for a good hour and a half with my family loudly wondering what the appeal of four wheeling was as they bounced around the cabin. I just switched on the illumination to the sign, "100% Satisfaction Guaranteed"

Then we broke tree line and it got quiet in the cab save for the sound of the 7.3 chugging along at idle.

We took a few breaks for photos and my ever cautious wife wondered why we'd want to keep going - I mean, isn't this spectacular enough? Well, because there was still road ahead. We continued up to 13,000 feet but turned around before snow blocked the road. I parked the van at a switchback where I could safely turn around and we hiked up and took time to play in the white stuff.

On the way down we took a detour through a few muddy puddles at my kids request. That never seems to get old.

The van has proven to be a very capable off road tool. It's not a jeep but as I learned when I grew up in these mountains that being smart about where you put your wheels and planning your path for both axles can go a long way. I've done this particular road in an FJ, a Discovery and a few Ford pickups and the van was on par with the Disco. If I had an on board compressor I would have lowered the tires to 15-20lbs and it would have gone a long way to smoothing out the ride. Nonetheless the van has great traction - far better than I would have dreamed. Without a winch I'm going to be more cautious about what I attempt but so far I'm pretty impressed.

Gregor

 

[Backcountry Pursuit]

Nice Post! I miss Colorado passes like that. I did a ton of them on my Triumph.

Glad to see the van is working well!

 

[86scotty]

Great stuff. Thanks for sharing! My family feels largely the same way about wheeling. My wife likes to take pics of the pretty summits though, so she gets it a little more these days.

 

[4x4pair]

I run 4.10's on 35's but if I could do it over again I would go with 4.30 or 4.56 because I tow with it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[Jsweezy]

Super happy to see you out and about enjoying the van!

 

[sakurama]

I run 4.10's on 35's but if I could do it over again I would go with 4.30 or 4.56 because I tow with it.

I think I'd like to get a tach and be more scientific about it but I'm leaning towards 4.30's because they seem the better middle ground.

Super happy to see you out and about enjoying the van!

Yeah, that first break in drive from your place to mine was maybe a bit short but we've made it home safe and sound and with a solid 3500 miles under it. I need to get the gearing done ASAP and then address a few other small things but she's well and truly broken in I think.

Gregor