What to do?

[haywoodphoto@mac.com]

New member and I have been reading as much as I can over the last week. Great information and much appreciated. I have read bits of what I am looking to learn but I am hoping for a more clear path/answer.

I bought a 2006 E350 Quigley. It's stock from what I know. I drive it daily and the ride is like any other 4x4 I have owned. Before I lift and do some of the great stuff I see and read about here I want to know if I have the smoothest platform to start adding to. It sounds like the Sportsmobile has a smoother ride from the start? If I understand that correct can I make mine drive like it with mods or just sell what I have and switch over?

95% of the time I drive the street but plan on making that ratio closer to 50% in the near future. I know it will never have a car ride but on side streets it's very rough but ok on the freeway. I carry a lot of photo gear and it takes a beating.

I recently had the shocks, steering stabilizer and front bushings replaced. Drives the same. I don't think they put great shocks on as a replacement though.

Ready to get this van looking like some of the great examples here.

 

[Scott Brady]

glad to help.

To be more specific, is the ride harsh? Stiff is likely a result of the vans load capacity, but the ride should not be that harsh.

There are many things that can contribute to harshness, including shock valving, tire pressure, broken suspension components, overtightened suspension components, etc.

If you could provide a little more detail on how the ride feels know, and how you would like it to feel.

Improved ride quality can be achieved in many ways. We can start through a few simple ones once we have more info to work with.

A few quick questions:

1. Does the van have any modifications to the rear suspension?
2. Was the front modified beyond the Quigly conversion, like for a plow, etc.?
3. What shocks did you install?

Can you post a picture of the rear suspension?

Thanks

 

[haywoodphoto@mac.com]

Scott, thanks for the reply! Just took a few quick photos. Hope you can see what you need.

No mods that I know of. Sounds like it came straight from Quigley like this. The shocks look like they say KYB GR-2 on them. Never heard of it myself. I know the previous owner put a Harley inside. Maybe he had it beefed up?

Unloaded E350 probably has a lot to do with it?

The van sways back and forth severely going over even small bumps in the road. Usually all roads except the freeway seem to be a problem. If I don't have everything tied down just right it gets thrown around. Even entering and exiting regular driveways have to be taken slowly.

Again, I know it's never going to be a car and after putting all the mods on it may get worse but I would like to go for what I can.

Thanks for your time!

 

[ujoint]

Nice van!!!! And welcome to the Portal.


Looks like the rear is stock, and you may be suffering from the standard Quigley lack of front suspension up travel. KYB is a pretty good shock, unless the wrong application and/or valving was selected.

Quigley vans aren't easy to lift, what's your plan?

 

[haywoodphoto@mac.com]

Chris, looking to have a nice all around off road/street van. I really like your setup but it's not practical for my line of work. Something between what I have and what you have....if there is such a thing. Probably something like the van on the first page of the Post Your Pics by Adventure Duo. Looks like most of the Sportsmobiles come stock that way? Rims, tires, bumpers, lockers, winch etc....like to be able to go most everywhere for my photo business without go crazy.

Brent
www.BrentHaywoodPhotography.com

 

[ujoint]

Yea, my van isn't quite ideal for most, but there are options out there....

 

[dsw4x4]

Brent,
Welcome to the portal!
4x4 van is extremely subjective because there are so few on the road most people have only ridden in one or two 4x4 vans in there life. Where everyone has ridden in dozens of 4x4 trucks so everyone has an opinion.
Again it all depends on what you consider a great ride a lot of people have not figured out that you CANNOT have a 4x4 vehicle that rides like a trophy truck at speed in the desert and handles like a Porsche on the freeway.
The first easiest thing to try is remove your front sway bar and drive it around see if you like that better. If it seems to be better for you in the right direction then you need to get a smaller diameter sway bar. If that is worse for you than you need to get a sway bar for the rear.
Tires and pressure can ruin a trucks ride on or off road. What tire pressure are you running on and off road? The best suspenision in the world running tires with 70 psi will ride horrible off road and drift all over the wash board.
And just the opposite on road not enough air your van will sway to much and it rattle your fillings out. I know people that run a lot of air on the road even though they are not hauling any thing heavy, ever. Because they do not want to accelerate tire wear. I would rather live my life a little more comfortable and buy a couple extra sets of tire over my life time so I like to run low air pressure when not loaded down. For me loaded is two motorcycles in the back and towing either a bronco or a boat behind. That is when I am fully aired up. Empty and wheeling on the trail I am running under twenty psi.
There are a few things you ned to research before you make a drastic decision to sell your sweet van. First is ride in a couple of sportsmobiles (not a easy task due to the lack of them around) if you really think the ride and handling is better than yours figure out how much that one ways most likely between ten and twelve thousand pounds. Then throw that much weight into the back of your van probably 3 or 4 thousand pound difference. That will tell you if the difference in ride quality is in the suspension or in the weight.
I hope to have a system out on the market for these vans in the next two months that will lift the van to your desired height and give you the adjustability in ride quality that your looking for. Coil springs are the easiest and most affordable suspension setups to dial in to your personal likes. Be patient and play with your suspension and you will find balance that fits your needs.
Derek

 

[haywoodphoto@mac.com]

Derek, thanks or the info. I am going to check into some of these things. I run the recommend pressure in the tires based on the weight of the van. It's been awhile but I weighted it and used the tire mfr. website to determine pressure. Thought about putting a pallet of bricks in the back to check suspension possibilities.

I noticed the biggest difference when I weighed my dually with the truck camper on and adjusted the tire pressure to mfr. specs for those tires. Made a world of difference.

Thinking about a trip to Sportsmobile to check out their product so a test drive may be in order. Another thing I have been thinking about is selling my truck camper combo and going Sportsmobile style for size considerations but the wife if fighting me on that one. Need to check them out.

If I keep and tweak what I have what tire/rim setup would you recommend to give the van the right setup for off road use. Not hardcore but I would like to be able to do most of the Moab trails.

Do I need to lift the van to get what I am looking to do or is the stock 3" lift plus larger tires workable? I think Quigley states the van is 3" higher?

 

[Scott Brady]

The SMB suspension is quite a bit better than the Quigly, in almost every way. The ride is more compliant and certainly more effective on the trail.

I think you are simply experiencing the negative side of too little compression travel in the front axle and too heavily sprung in the rear for the current load.

The SMB suspension uses Old Man Emu springs and shocks.

 

[dsw4x4]

I ran poison spider, chicken corners, and Cain creek trails to name a few in my bone stock quigly 7.3 eb van with no lift and the stock rims and tires. Pretty much with no issues other than the occasional tree pinstriping, a gouge in one plastic hubcap, and I did rip off that stupid little plastic spoiler on the rear bumper playing on some obstacles I probably should of went around. Last time I was there over Easter I blew a rear cv on my box style bronco so I wheeled the van the last two days. Stock quigly suspension front fenders and front bumper are cut I run 35-12.50-16 on a 10 inch wide rim with 5 inches of backspacing and I still run the sway bar in the front. The problem with these vans and backsacing is the front fenders are so close to the tire if you run to much backspacing they rub the back of the fender due to the scrub radius. Everyone that rides in mine is blown away by how good it rides and wheels off and on road. If you ask me I would say it is a ok ride it flexes great but is a little mushy on windy roads. Not bad I let my girlfriend drive it through the mountains towing the boat while I sleep, so I consider that pretty good. Sportmobiles are compliant because they are heavy put 10 thousand pounds on anything and it will flex. Old man Emu leaf springs have a pretty good reputation and a lot of people like them. I have not been impressed by them other than they usually ride good and flex well they do not seem to last much longer than the two year warranty if you use them on a regular basis. But that is just my experience. Expeditionwest is right on with the up travel thing that is for me the biggest problem with quigly's they only have about 2 to 3 inches of up travel I bottom my front end out all the and I mean all the time. The suspension system I am working on for quigly's will cure this and if you are really serious about baja type wheeling there will be an option for nitrogen charged bump stops.

 

[T.Low]

Where are you located?

Seems to me Brian complains about 2" up travel on the SMB also.


For some reason, I get the impression you are southwest.

For comparison sake, if at all possible, I know Railvan Sportsmobile Brian

would be more than glad to compare his van's ride with yours, although he is

in the PNW, and a loaded RB50 floor plan.

Brian's my friend, i don't mind volunteering him.:ylsmoke:

 

[shawn_nj]

Don't judge the quigley's ride without putting Bilstein shocks on the front and back!!! I just bought a brand new 2009 E250 extended quigley a few months back and it rode HORRIBLE when I first got it. I mean, HORRIBLE... just like you are describing. Really is a mandatory upgrade...quigley should be installing these as part of the conversion and I sent them a letter saying just that.
After 500miles I was so annoyed I swapped the shocks out.... and its a completely new truck all together! I swapped just the back shocks out the first time because I ordered the wrong fronts. That alone made a HUGE difference in cutting down side to side shimmy/sway. Then I swapped the fronts and this eliminated 90% of the side to side sway you are experiencing, and eliminated 95% of the bump steer at highway speed. Please do yourself a favor and go get the shocks ASAP! Then make a descision, its really make that much a a difference. I am not saying its ready for blasting down very rough trails @ 40mph, but it did completely transform the van's road worthyness/comfort. And I have not bottomed the suspension out since doing the shock swap and that was 4000miles ago. I have done a few 25mph runs over the deep sand beach here in NJ, and the shock soak up the hits perfectly. That is loaded up with 4 people, and (2) jetskis IN the van...lol

Call quigley and get the part numbers of the bilstein, then go on the web and order them yourself. You'll save big $$$ doing that.

 

[haywoodphoto@mac.com]

Interested in what you have coming out for the suspension Derek. Any details yet?? Great info from you Scott. Should I wait to put the larger wheel set on until I make suspension mods or put them on and work suspension second? I would like to get the wheel set going asap. Tired of looking at the pizza cutters on there.....

 

[haywoodphoto@mac.com]

Shawn, missed your post before my reply just now. I have heard the Bilsteins work great too. I suggested it to the shop I had the work done at last and they said they shocks were just as good. Your description of my current ride quality is exactly what I am talking about! I should have insisted on them putting on the Bilsteins. If it helps, I'll never be flying through the desert with this van as it will always have photo gear in it. I am usually looking for photo opportunities on the side of the road.

Shawn, do you or anyone know if the 09 and 06 suspension set up is the same?

Not sure if you can see the fiberglass running boards in my first photo but should I take those off for the larger tire fit or just cut them to fit the tires. I have taken them off before for comparison and like the vans look either way.

I would like to bring the wheels out flush with running boards if I keep them and it sounds like I need spacers to do that correctly? Is that something a local off road place will understand and install correctly when ordering new wheels?

 

[shawn_nj]

Shawn, missed your post before my reply just now. I have heard the Bilsteins work great too. I suggested it to the shop I had the work done at last and they said they shocks were just as good. Your description of my current ride quality is exactly what I am talking about! I should have insisted on them putting on the Bilsteins. If it helps, I'll never be flying through the desert with this van as it will always have photo gear in it. I am usually looking for photo opportunities on the side of the road.

Shawn, do you or anyone know if the 09 and 06 suspension set up is the same?

Not sure if you can see the fiberglass running boards in my first photo but should I take those off for the larger tire fit or just cut them to fit the tires. I have taken them off before for comparison and like the vans look either way.

I would like to bring the wheels out flush with running boards if I keep them and it sounds like I need spacers to do that correctly? Is that something a local off road place will understand and install correctly when ordering new wheels?

No, the 09 and 06 is definetly setup differently. I think after 08 they lifted them more, because the first set of front shocks I got (recommended from bilstein) were too short for my van. My 09 looks higher then my buddies 05 quigley. The 08+ looks a tad beefier in the frontend, I think this was to help cutdown on DW that alot of quig owners had. The rear shocks are the same from pre 08 to 09+. I would not steer you wrong, for a few hundred $$$ you will completely transform your vans handling. Night and day difference with the annoying sway. The first time you drive your van with them you will have a giddy smile one your face....or atleast I did..lol Biggest example how much better they are...I could go full speed (35mph road) over a railroad crossing that I would have to slow down to less than 15mph before, not even having to tap the brakes. The shocks just soak it up...amazing difference.

I still have an extra set of the pre 08 bilstein recommended 5100 series front shocks, that I have not returned yet.

Cant help you with the tires, I kept mine small (31") for the gas mileage savings.

This will probably interest you...
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29219

Here is another member on here's 06 with the bilstein part # I ordered incorrectly: