Living in a van down by the river

I've got an '88 extended body van I used for work yrs ago ,, it's a storage unit now,,, the 351 was a slug , slow as hell .

 

Mine pulls 7.5k trailers alright (although that may have more to do with the C6), but the brakes are only a suggestion and the gas mileage is a solid 9-10mpg regardless of how heavy it's loaded or whether or not I am pulling something (also probably more to do with the C6; you can't get good fuel economy with a 3-speed transmission, I dun care what anyone says heh).

I bought it because the mileage was so low and the body was in such good shape, but if I had a do-over I'd probably look for an E-350 with a 6.9 or 7.3 IDI. Yeah, also a slug, but I like 'em. Can run 'em off used motor oil and the like.

 

I pulled one of those construction dump trailers one time full of dirt and bricks ,,, was really surprised that it pulled it as good as it did ,, I was impressed . But it was still a slug . I used it for a work van ,, I just hate riding in a work van ,, there's always something rattling around and the noise bouncing off the metal walls .. it was just always noisy .
A buddy of mine has an old full 4 door, long bed F350 , 7.3L truck ,, he said he'd like to take the van body and put on his truck frame . That would make a cool ride . I told him he could do it if he wanted to ,, but I don't think he will.

 

Living in a van down by the river was a joke 30 years ago. Now it's a reasonable life goal.

 

Yeah just watched a utube with a kid from wyoming, big kid, bought a 8' toy hauler and converted it to a camper. Ended up with 2 windows, solar, a double bed, tv, lights, diesel heater, and put a custom wrap on it as well by all by himself while road tripping. Cost ~$6500. He wasn't livin' in it though he just likes road tripping. Boy was I envious.

 

Pretty redneck I guess, but it hasn't caught on fire yet.

 

that looks familiar. nice job. somehow i had a 22gl main tank in my e350. i got a 45gl main and 50gl reserve here.
f-350/e350 is same tanks. nice guy, cool shop. 95gl goes way farther then 22.

Shop – Aero Tanks Enterprises

 

love to find an old early 2000's E-350 with 4WD, they just aren't any to be had in these parts.

 

I think mine has an 18 gal. It doesn't get very far! I have a 38gal to put in it but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

I missed out on an 82 E350 Pathfinder 4x4 conversion for $1500 not long ago. It had the 7.3 IDI (my favorite diesel engine), but the body was pretty bad and the engine needed work. I hesitated a day and someone else bought it. D:

I should have bought it, pulled the body off, fixed up the engine nice, chassis-coated everything, and put the body off my E150 on it. Imagine a 4x4 E350 diesel 7" lift on like 38s or something with an ox locker in the back and a lunchbox locker in the front..... You could climb trees and sht.

 

at this point my only hope of saving the 97 e350 ext box i have is to swap body's. same from 97 to 2008 i think. if i find one with power door locks, windows that's a plus. there is a kit to put a 6bt cummins in the e350 also. not doing any of that in the dirt at 8 degrees. the more you lift a e350 the more prone to death wobble it is. quiggly welded the 4x4 2" lift in and it eats ball joints, control arm bushings,ect. im replacing the steering gear box and pump with the next rebuild. 5k on the last front end rebuild before it got wiped out by a internally separated bf goodrich ta. shit tires. i put the 2-8d batts and charger inverter in the trailer for hunting.

 

I'd love to do the conversion from the 2 wheel drive to 4 wheel drive with my extended body Van ,, to a diesel frame,,, but I believe it may be a little above my knowledge,, and pay grade,,, pay grade , meaning the expense.
But if there's someone on the east coast that wants the thing ,, I'll donate it to ya ,, if close ,, may even help on the build ,, if my time permits ,,, I'm a hoarder ,, I hate trashing something that has potential.

 

Yeah, I think a 4x4 van would be cool, but it's not like we'll actually be rock crawling or chasing dogs down overgrown forest service roads in bear season in these things.

My opinion is that the point of the off-road mods is to get you in to where you want to camp, not for super crazy stuff. To that end, I think that season-appropriate tires (mud tires in the 3 seasons, studded snow tires in winter), a selectable rear locker (you don't want to be running an autolocker in the snow IMO), and a receiver hitch on both ends to fit an electric winch, is good enough for 99% of the time and a lot more attainable and less complicated than a 4x4 conversion.

3" suspension lift on that E150 is plenty for me so far. Any more than that would be too much for the radius arms and the camber would be way too far out. Some of the wheelchair vans came with a 2" body lift from the factory and some stuff that made the steering work with it. I'd like to find a clapped out one of those for cheap and swap in all the body lift stuff and get a total of 5". I think I could probably get at least 36s on it then. But the 3" is plenty for me. 5" would me more about just being a hooligan.

My camber is kind of screwed up. Apparently it's non-adjustable on the pre-92s. The front tires wear more on the outside so when I rotate tires I have to pull the front ones off the rims and turn them around, which is a pain. And the snow tires are directional, so they just have to wear unevenly. :/