Starting Our Family Rig - 2001 E350 7.3l

[A-Rock]

Hi All

I'm posting to get advice and share ideas as I begin my journey to building my family adventure rig. I am primarily looking for advice on who to perform the 4x4 conversion on my unicorn. This will be used for winter skiing expeditions, remote exploring, and towing my crawler here in Northern California.

Base Vehicle:
2001 E350 Super Duty Club Wagon XLT
7.3 L Diesel engine
2WD
38,000 Miles
California Origin




Plans:

Phase 1: Engine Programmer and Towing Accs.
Phase 2: 4x4 Conversion (6" Lift, solid axle, t-case, 35's, front coils, bags)
Phase 3: Custom Interior/Exterior Accs.
Phase 4: CCV Pop Up

 

[polomasta]

congrats on scoring such a low mileage 7.3! I'm on the hunt for one myself... have a line on a '91 Pathfinder but not sure if I'm going to pull the trigger on it yet. Will be keeping an eye on your build! Cheers.

 

[snowgroomer]

I'll be watching your thread I am currently in a similar spot. I just purchased a 2002 E350 conversion van that will be used for family trips planning on taking it to Alaska in the summer. We will be pulling a 25ft travel trailer as a base camp and using the van for expeditions. So far the only thing I have done on it is added towing mirrors and removed the wheel chair lift that was in it. Headed to U joint soon
This is what is planned so far

2002 E350 7.3 Diesel 27,000 miles

Phase 1

U Joint 6" Leaf conversion
ARB locker front
Zip Locker rear
4.30 gears
35 Toyo AT2
SSBC Brake upgrade
DP programer
Diamond Eye exhaust
On Board Air
Gauges
S Pod wiring system
Rear Air Bags

Phase 2
Front winch bumper
Aluminus rear bumper with box and bike racks
Roof Rack
Ladder

Interior upgrades as they become apparent

 

[A-Rock]

Snowgroomer, I like your plan. It sounds like you intend to a little more wheeling with yours, as I'll be pulling my wheeler and using the van as a basecamp :elkgrin:

Do you have a build thread? I look forward to watchin it progress.

Are you doing the U Joint 4x4 Conversion yourself, or having a specialized shop do the work?

 

[A-Rock]

congrats on scoring such a low mileage 7.3! I'm on the hunt for one myself... have a line on a '91 Pathfinder but not sure if I'm going to pull the trigger on it yet. Will be keeping an eye on your build! Cheers.

I know a guy in NJ who has a bunch of 7.3 Cargos with around 100k miles. He's constantly selling on e-bay.

 

[snowgroomer]

I haven't started a build thread. I plan on taking the van to U Joint in October and having them do the conversion. I would love to do it here in my shop but it is a little to busy this time of year.

 

[ujoint]

Wow, 38k miles! Unicorn find for sure. Get ready to have a TON of people ask you to sell it

 

[sakurama]

I looked for a year and wasn't able to find anything under 100k so you certainly did well there. My build thread probably has most of what you're looking for since I've covered your first two points and am about to start on the third and will be doing the fourth on my own down the road.

Look forward to following your progress.

Gregor

 

[A-Rock]

Thanks Chris - I was stoked to find one locally here in CA. You did a few quotes for me last month. I sent you an e-mail to catch up as I'd like to pick your brain on some build options. Cheers!

 

[A-Rock]

I looked for a year and wasn't able to find anything under 100k so you certainly did well there. My build thread probably has most of what you're looking for since I've covered your first two points and am about to start on the third and will be doing the fourth on my own down the road.

Look forward to following your progress.

Gregor

Gregor

I feel I was lucky to find it, but I definitely paid a premium ($15k) for the low mileage and near factory condition. I looked at your build thread - yours came out looking great and unique!