Rebuilder
Builder of Things That Interest Me
Yeah that will be interesting to see the difference. I look forward to seeing your build. You're off to a great start.
Red Cross ERV 4x4 camper build
- Thread starter motofreak0592
- Start date
Yeah that will be interesting to see the difference. I look forward to seeing your build. You're off to a great start.
motofreak0592
Member
She’s back from the shop! It’s much bigger that I could have imagined but I like it. Rock hound did a killer job. On the way home I noticed the rear tires rub when I hit large bumps so I’ll fix that with the sawzall but besides that it’s perfect.
motofreak0592
Member
Just got it back from alignment at cal suspension in Salinas, Ca. After many phone calls they were the only shop I could find locally to be able to get an alignment done on something as tall and heavy as my van. They were quick and super willing to answer any questions I had.
CaptainBuilt
Well-known member
Did you bring them flowers?
motofreak0592
Member
In case anyone else needs rear sway bar links to go along with their Ujoint kit the Skyjacker SBE305 sway bar end links worked perfect for me.
PlethoraOfGuns
Adventurer
Wow, looks like a great shop you went to! Good luck on the upgrades!
motofreak0592
Member
I figured out why my rear wheels were rubbing, according to Chris at Ujoint I ordered rear leaf springs for an E350 instead of an E450. In hindsight I should have specified that I had an E450 chassis when I ordered the kit. You can clearly see that the rear axle isn't centered in the wheel well like it should be. 
Oh well, I'll take this as a learning experience and hopefully someone can avoid making the same mistake as me. Luckily, Chris had some spare E450 springs sprung for my weight and they should be here by the end of the week. I'm so happy I didn't have to wait the 7+ months for Atlas to build new springs. One of my buddies has an E350 that he wants to convert in the future so hopefully the springs I ordered by mistake wont be sitting in my garage for too long.
In the meantime, I installed a Diamond Eye 4" exhaust, Bellowed up pipes, EGT and boost sensors for my Edge Insight CTS3 and I also put the interior back together. She's starting to look like a camper again.
Oh well, I'll take this as a learning experience and hopefully someone can avoid making the same mistake as me. Luckily, Chris had some spare E450 springs sprung for my weight and they should be here by the end of the week. I'm so happy I didn't have to wait the 7+ months for Atlas to build new springs. One of my buddies has an E350 that he wants to convert in the future so hopefully the springs I ordered by mistake wont be sitting in my garage for too long.
In the meantime, I installed a Diamond Eye 4" exhaust, Bellowed up pipes, EGT and boost sensors for my Edge Insight CTS3 and I also put the interior back together. She's starting to look like a camper again.
motofreak0592
Member
Yea, mine had a cat and the exhaust was old and beat up. Supposedly the 4" exhaust should slightly lower EGTs and increase fuel mileage but I haven't noticed anything to write home about. It definitely changed the sound for the better in my opinion but if my exhaust didn't need to be replaced I would have just kept it as is.
motofreak0592
Member
I got the proper E450 springs and had cal suspension install them and it looks so much better now 
billiebob
Well-known member
So you will be running 4.63 in the rear axle, 4.56 in the front axle..... ??
Maybe it can be done in low traction situations but that is a BIG spread. My 1970s F250s all came with a 4.10 D44 front axle, 4.11 D60 rear axle....
Off road, gravel, forestry road all was good. 90% of the time I was empty. But hit pavement or even tarred road surfaces and the transfer case would HOWL..... you knew you could not run in 4WD on a hard surface.
Given you will NEVER be empty. You will be at a full 100% of GVWR.... I would match both axle ratios. Fully loaded 4WD will kill tire life. Something has to slip when the tires are turning different speeds.
Ford Owners Manuals TOLD you to shift out of 4WD with 4.10/4.11 ratios you had to back up for 15 feet to remove the driveline bind on the transfer case. With 4.56/4.63 you'll need to back up a quarter mile to remove the bind.
You are doing awesome work but I worry about the axle ratio spread..... Technically in 4WD with tires turning different speeds in low traction like on ice,,,, 4WD could lead to a loss of control.
Last edited:
motofreak0592
Member
Good to know! I plan to replace the rear axle in the future and I’ll address this issue then. I don’t plan to use 4x4 unless it’s slick or loose so I think it’ll be manageable. Thanks for the heads up.
motofreak0592
Member
I've now been driving the van with this setup for almost a year and have yet to have any issues. Granted that I only shift into 4x4 when there's a lot of snow on the ground. Ideally I know they are supposed to match exactly but so far things have been working fine. After doing some research it seems that any difference less than .10 shouldn't be an issue, especially in slick terrain. Given that my difference is .07 I'm not as worried about changing the rear diff ratio as I was last year.
Last edited:
nyyankees588
Active member
Love the ERV builds - and appreciate you keeping things updated as you learn along the way! Looks like you're also in the general bay area (I'm in santa cruz). Will keep an eye on the thread for future developments!