What series what to buy

[radorsch]

Thanks for the breakdown on the engines. Its nice to have comments from someone with experience with all of them. A diesel would be cool, but it is realistically not for me (particularly the 6.0 and the risks associated with it). I'm not doing enough towing and would be doing a lot of DD short trips, which I hear is not good for a diesel. I was leaning towards the V10, but there are so many more V8s out there I was wondering if it'd do the job. Sounds like you found notably worse performance comparing the V8 to V10. Was that just towing/hauling, or in general?
Thanks a lot
-Rob

 

[tgreening]

Thanks for the breakdown on the engines. Its nice to have comments from someone with experience with all of them. A diesel would be cool, but it is realistically not for me (particularly the 6.0 and the risks associated with it). I'm not doing enough towing and would be doing a lot of DD short trips, which I hear is not good for a diesel. I was leaning towards the V10, but there are so many more V8s out there I was wondering if it'd do the job. Sounds like you found notably worse performance comparing the V8 to V10. Was that just towing/hauling, or in general?
Thanks a lot
-Rob

It's all my opinion of course, but to me the 5.4 is a fine engine in the right application, and that right application doesn't include much more than an F-150 series truck if you're talking a load hauler. As I said a loaded out E-series is a bit of a load in itself. Add a trailer and it's load and things start to get tight power wise. At least I thought so. The 5.4 was sweating where the 6.8 motored along without effort. If I were to buy an F-150 I wouldn't mind that motor, knowing I'm not going to be comfortably towing any significant load. Anything 250 series on up and I wouldn't give it a second glance.

It really depends on what you intend to do, but for me the 5.4 is just bit too much on the light side power wise. Not much room for expanding your load hauling capabilities.

 

[mgmetalworks]

We recently did a 1600 mile road trip in our 5.4L EB. All highway miles right around the speed limit most of the time. Not loaded at all other than me, the wife, two youngin's and a couple bags. 13.4mpg. If I were sticking with a gas engine, I'd probably opt for the V10. As long as you're getting bad fuel mileage, you may as well have some power to work with. I would buy a 5.4L van again...but only because they're cheaper base to start with for a Cummins swap.

That mileage is pretty typical for our van. I think my best to date is just shy of 15mpg.

 

[tgreening]

We recently did a 1600 mile road trip in our 5.4L EB. All highway miles right around the speed limit most of the time. Not loaded at all other than me, the wife, two youngin's and a couple bags. 13.4mpg. If I were sticking with a gas engine, I'd probably opt for the V10. As long as you're getting bad fuel mileage, you may as well have some power to work with. I would buy a 5.4L van again...but only because they're cheaper base to start with for a Cummins swap.

That mileage is pretty typical for our van. I think my best to date is just shy of 15mpg.

I averaged about 14.5 highway with a V10 Excursion, no lightweight by any stretch. Best I ever did in that, and I was babying it, was a tad over 17. Loaded up and pulling 8,500 lbs of camper I averaged about 8.5 on the highway. Not bad for a gasser I guess but for comparison I average about 9 mpg with my 6.4 pulling almost exactly double the weight.

 

[workerdrone]

I'm currently searching Econolines with a U-joint conversion in mind and a basic interior build for two - a few questions for the board here -

E150 vs E250 vs E350 - big difference in ride comfort between these? If the van isn't going to have a ton of weight inside, but we might want to be able to tow a travel trailer in the future, what are the pros and cons of each?

2WD or 4WD - though we have the budget to be able to do a gee-whiz-bang pull out all the stops conversion, ideally we'd save as much of the budget for extended travel and experiences rather than 37 inch tires and $7k pop tops. I don't intend to do any serious offroading in a big van but my wife's #1 want is to be able to camp on the beach if we have the opportunity. Wouldn't the 4WD be strongly recommended in this case, or does anyone feel that LSD / Locker / some decent tires aired down a bit might accomplish this? I've done a bunch of four wheeling in the past so am pretty good at managing momentum and not digging in once I start to slip, but zero experience driving on the beach.

Thoughts on conversions of units with larger utility bodies and fiberglass bodies on them? The extra space and/or loads of nice lockable exterior storage compartments from the git-go looks really nice (I am 6'3" and she's tall too). And a lot of them have pass-thrus. But why don't we see more folks converting these?

 

[ujoint]

Thanks guys for reply.

Bikersmurf thanks for the input but I really want a 4x4 Van whit a new conversion that starts whit me .

After some email to Chris/Ujoint I got convince that the 7.3 is the way to go so we got one 01 E350 7.3 XLT 12 passenger It's Awesome WE GOT A VAN :smiley_drive::sombrero::sombrero: dirty as hell inside
but that's no problem now it's ours now. Now we need a 4x4 conversion not in a hurry but getting quotes to have an idea of how much it's going to cost.

mikracer I looked up Agile Off-road looks good and it's close I live in the Bay Area and also found "Quadvan" is close to.
It's hard to know what to get sense Ujoint, Quadvan and Agile are so different but they are all Off Road conversions would like to try some conversion but that's not possible
and that leaves us to get as much info as possible an figure it out what cover our needs i guess.

If there are some grammatic error English is not native to me

Congrats! Lots of good info in this thread, glad you went with the 7.3. Here's a super nice 03 we're finishing up this week, will have better pics soon.

In a few weeks we're yanking the body on one to do a massive job. Engine overhaul, suspension, everything. Going to be nice too! If you need to talk to some UJ owners please let me know. I've got several customers that have owned different conversions and have real world experience with them.

 

[ujoint]

I'm currently searching Econolines with a U-joint conversion in mind and a basic interior build for two - a few questions for the board here -

E150 vs E250 vs E350 - big difference in ride comfort between these? If the van isn't going to have a ton of weight inside, but we might want to be able to tow a travel trailer in the future, what are the pros and cons of each?

2WD or 4WD - though we have the budget to be able to do a gee-whiz-bang pull out all the stops conversion, ideally we'd save as much of the budget for extended travel and experiences rather than 37 inch tires and $7k pop tops. I don't intend to do any serious offroading in a big van but my wife's #1 want is to be able to camp on the beach if we have the opportunity. Wouldn't the 4WD be strongly recommended in this case, or does anyone feel that LSD / Locker / some decent tires aired down a bit might accomplish this? I've done a bunch of four wheeling in the past so am pretty good at managing momentum and not digging in once I start to slip, but zero experience driving on the beach.

Thoughts on conversions of units with larger utility bodies and fiberglass bodies on them? The extra space and/or loads of nice lockable exterior storage compartments from the git-go looks really nice (I am 6'3" and she's tall too). And a lot of them have pass-thrus. But why don't we see more folks converting these?

250 or 350 is what you'l want. The ride will be changed once converted so the initial ride quality won't be around for long. With our 4" kit we do an add a leaf with block or can replace the entire spring pack. 6" & up get a new pack too. The front will obviously be changed.

I always tell guys that if we didn't need 4wd none would have 4wd!

Are you thinking of a Class C or similar?

 

[workerdrone]

Hi Chris,

I'm the guy that sent you the email on the one piece fiberglass moving truck body with attic on the E350 a couple weeks back - and thanks for the lightning fast responses, especially considering I know you have a busy business. Definitely looking forward to doing some business with you at some point. You seem to be doing everything right with running and promoting your product / brand.

^I don't see any pics above in your post #36

Not thinking much about class C's right now since I don't want things leaking or falling apart with a bunch of rough miles - not necessarily real offroading but certainly lots of potholes and mild exploring / dirt roads etc. And I'd like to be stealthy if needed. I'd rather have something I know intimately how it's put together, not an rv stapled and glued together with mystery methods and materials.

The interior build I'm thinking of is real basic - sleeping platform, stuff stored in a bunch of large action packers, portable fridge, already have solar and batteries and electrical stuff built up as a 24/7 home power backup system.

Wife is in love with SMB's and wants to keep total budget under $20k. Doubt that's gonna happen even though I have a friend with shop that can help me do the bigger mechanical stuff / welding, and already own the electrical stuff. We can afford more and I know resale value of a quality conversion will be good but I appreciate the motivation to keep budget down and save $ for travel and emergencies.

It would be helpful if folks would talk me out of the moving van idea but that one piece unit with pass thru and attic I sent you stuck in my head - so much space and not a ton of weight!

 

[ujoint]

No problem, I expect a quick response when I email someone so I try to do just that. The pic should be there now, I forgot to attach before I posted!

I agree that Class C's should be beach/street use with some light off road where it does't get twisted up much.

I don't see a problem with your moving van idea so I won't try to talk you out of it!

 

[Bikersmurf]

I can't imagine trying to explore much in a moving van... The Ambo I have is massive if you get off the beaten path in this part of the world. Bigger would be nice in some ways, but very limiting.

I'm sure I could stay under 20k with an Ambo build... There's a 1999 around the corner for sale for 4k with a 7.3 PSD. That'd leave 15k for a build. Personally I'd not bother with 4wd, but it's your money.

 

[workerdrone]

Would you venture onto the beach with a 2wd ambo and only a rear locker?

 

[Bikersmurf]

Yes. I've done all sorts of crazzy things with a 2wd open diff truck. A locker, winch, jacks, boards/carpet, and common sence would be all I'd need.

 

[radorsch]

I've driven a good amount on the beach and in soft sand in my F150 with LSD. I've never needed to put it in 4wd for that. I 100% agree with Bikersmurf. One of the reasons I am gonna do 4wd on my van is for the low range, as I often encounter steep grades with loose surfaces and I need (want) the control of 4low. If that's not in your future, you could start with a lift/lock and see if it suits you. Also, with the Ujoint conversion you can easily do the axle swap and lift, but hold off on completing the conversion. More expensive than a simple lift, but gets you half way to 4x4 and would probably increase resale more than a plain lift.

 

[ujoint]

Would you venture onto the beach with a 2wd ambo and only a rear locker?

Guess it depends on the beach!

 

[BajaSportsmobile]

Beaches I'm used to require 4X4 in 4Lo and aired down just to keep moving in a 9000 lbs van - we are talking dry sand, not the wet hard pack.

Getting stuck or worrying about going somewhere sucks.