E350 15 passenger Van Questions

[SparkandFire]

I've got an extended body van with a huge fiberglass cap, i run 235/85R16 E rated BFG All Terrains and love it.
Number one thing that took care of my body roll issues was replace the front sway bar bushings with the clear MOOG poly bushings. Real PITA to change but worth every smashed knuckle and penny.

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[RedTruck]

Sharp looking rig, Justin. Sorry I didn't respond sooner. I've seen a couple of those extended tops for sale. That would make things a lot easier! I'm a little over 6' and have to duck everywhere, but really like the van so far. When I get older, I'm going to be looking for those few extra inches.

Thanks for sharing!

Paul

 

[Danielle]

I can add to the child seat comment. At least with my experience using current car seats with my bench seat 1991 truck as a daily driver lately with two car seats.

These older seat belts do not have the newish locking feature: when you pull seatbelt completely out it clicks, so using the adapter is a must!! I comfortably fit three big bulky car seats in a single bench.

For older kids I would recommend captains chairs, kids fight. But the benches it most likely has in it will be fine.

I prefer using my truck to my 2012 minivan due to much more interior room and the seats in truck do not dip down towards the back of the seat, which then requires a rolled up towel or wacky noodle.

I can post pictures if you want.

 

[RedTruck]

Thanks Danielle,

Right now I've got four captains in the front and a 3 person bench behind that. Except for the front seats they are all lap belts...Not optimal for a 4 and 6 year old, but I'll tell ya the extra room sure is nice. I can separate them when they are fighting and put them together on the bench when they're working together.

Have you seen those new Sienna reclining seats...boy are those nice.

Picture about third up from the bottom here:

Clicky

Thanks much and enjoy those little ones.

Paul

 

[DOE-SST]

Sharp looking rig, Justin. Sorry I didn't respond sooner. I've seen a couple of those extended tops for sale. That would make things a lot easier! I'm a little over 6' and have to duck everywhere, but really like the van so far. When I get older, I'm going to be looking for those few extra inches.

Thanks for sharing!

Paul

If you're anywhere near the southwest, I will be selling a 24" fibreglas raised roof for E350s soon. All my vans have them, makes a HUGE improvement in utility, not just being able to stand up instead of crouching, but massive increase in storage space.

I'd rather an oilburner get it than someone off craigslist.

 

[RedTruck]

Thanks much for the offer. I'm going to have to pass though. I've got way more projects than time right now. I can totally see the usefulness of one though.

Thanks again and good luck with your sale.

Paul

 

[RedTruck]

Another thing that helps stability is to install the factory ambulance steering damper. You have to get the ford part that mounts to the actual frame, not the aftermarket crap that mounts to the suspension. This will make driving the van much smoother, especially down the highway. If you buy the aftermarket mount then it's really useless as when you hit a bump the damper is bumped on both ends not helping stability at all.

Does anyone know if the steering damper for the 92 and up will work on the pre 92 rigs? I've done a bunch of internet searching and called a couple of Ford dealers. I've read through this thread a couple of times: http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1035634-a-real-econoline-steering-fix.html. It looks like a fellow there used the 92 damper for an older van.

Any chance someone here has these on a parts rig?

Thanks for any help or suggestions,

Paul

 

[yARIC008]

Does anyone know if the steering damper for the 92 and up will work on the pre 92 rigs? I've done a bunch of internet searching and called a couple of Ford dealers. I've read through this thread a couple of times: http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1035634-a-real-econoline-steering-fix.html. It looks like a fellow there used the 92 damper for an older van.

Any chance someone here has these on a parts rig?

Thanks for any help or suggestions,

Paul

If i had to guess, I'd say yes, a 92 damper would work on an older rig. I'm not 100% sure, but i know a lot of the frame was kept the same from 91 to 92.

A good site to get parts I have found is.

https://www.silverstatefordparts.com/oem-ford-parts.html

It's basically the same search engine/listings as fordpartsonline.com but at half price usually.

Another good say is get the part number and search on ebay. A high chance it'll all be on there. I don't have the part numbers handy, but if you can't figure it out I can look back and find them probably. Keep in mind too, the non ambulance vans have the holes for the damper in the frame, but they're not threaded. You'll have to tap them yourself.

 

[RedTruck]

Thanks for that.

Before I started searching I looked at my frame. I think the '92 and up frames have the holes, but my '88 doesn't. I happened to be at the bone yard today looking for some other stuff and stopped by the Econolines. I found three or so dual rear wheel vans with this damper, so I pulled the brackets off one of them. I think they billed me $5 for everything, plus I got the hardware. I just eyeballed everything up on my frame tonight. There will be some mild tweaking, but it seems to sit very similar to the ones I saw today. It appears as if the mission is to get this damper as near to parallel to the drag link as possible as well as to have it at approximately the same height. I also noticed that the bracket that mounts to the drag link sits on a small bend. Though I do have a bend similar in my drag link, it doesn't appear that the 92 and up drag link is interchangeable with the 91 and older...at least according to Napa Online. It may be a while till I get it mounted, but I'll post results.

Thanks again for your information. Very much appreciated.

Paul

 

[IDIoit]

A year later, I have found myself in the same position.
2 kids, and 2 on the way, although I will be transporting the clan mostly in my 87 F350,
I found myself in the need for a van.
I scoured craigslist, and with not much cash to spend, I found a 98 E350.
7.3, auto, and it has a posi. I bought it of a kid, that won it at a company auction.
The company had written it off due to the fact that the mechanic claimed that it had rusted out fuel lines.
And the kid didn't know any better. He never messed with it.
I saw it on craigslist, and went to check it out. It was from IL, the entire rig was rust free, minus the "fuel lines"
Plugged it into my scanner, "NO CODES PRESENT"
So we talked and this kid being so frustrated with craigslist and this van told me, "just give me $2,000and get it out of my life"I couldn't come out of pocket quick enough.
Got her home, and looked at said fuel lines, and they turned out to be rear heater core lines!
The van does have 300k, a worn out air pump that squeals, but it did come with bran new E rated tires!
The van did get it on the riverside taking out the 1/4 panel, door, and fender.
I've bought a new fender, went to my local yard and cut off a 1/4, and I will be buying both forward doors, and converting to electric windows.

What's have you done to the interior? I was thinking about taking the stock seats out, replacing the rubber floor mat with some insulation and some shag carpet, installing a leather couch sideways opposite of the barn doors, and a bronco bench seat behind the buckets for the newborns. I'll still have loads of room for gear and the dogs.


I've thought about putting in a 5 speed, but I have 86'd that idea on the basis that I too, have too many damn projects and I will address this again when the auto trans dies.IF I don't decide to slap my spare AODE in it. Lol

I've been building a project with this same exact engine, so I have parts for days.

Can ya post some pics of your van?

 

[RedTruck]

IDIoit,

Sounds like you've got quite a rig there. The previous owner of my rig used it once or twice a year for fishing trips. He took great care of it. he moved the two back seat brackets back for more leg room. I have 4 captains chairs in it now with 8' behind the two back seats. I can get over 12' of wood trim between all 4 captains chairs. I never thought I would be a van guy, but I really like this thing. I also have the 3 person bench that can mount behind the 4 captains chairs, and I can mount another 4 person bench behind that one. I've got young kids, but I'm hoping some day this thing will be hauling around their friends to and from sporting events. I'll try to get a few shots of the interior.

Good luck with your rig and take care of that family!

Paul

 

[RedTruck]

I mounted the front stabilizer brackets and put new shocks and stabilizer on. I haven't taken it on any long trips to know for certain, but it does act better. It drives more like a heavy pickup now and the steering seems tighter. I need to get some weight in the back and go for a drive. I hope to be hauling a trailer in a few weeks I'll post back.

The one other mod I would like to do is get rid of the rag joint. Calvin mentioned once that the intermediate shaft off a 94-96 will fit the older 80-86 pickups. I did that to an older pickup of mine and it made a world of difference. the '92 and up vans do have a U joint there instead of a rag joint, but they don't appear to have a removable intermediate shaft. If I figure anything out here I'll post results.

Thanks for all the suggestions fellows,

Paul

 

[RedTruck]

One other thing,

A few years ago I talked to a locksmith about some home locks of mine. He mentioned that no door locks come with lubricant from the factory. He recommended TriFlo once a year. It has worked nice on my home locks. So while I was cleaning my van up this last weekend I shot all the locks, door handles, latches, and hinges. I'm sure any lube will do, but they sure work nice!

Paul

 

[79jasper]

On the rag joint, 94 trucks still have them.
IDIoit may be able to give you some pointers on that.

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[IDIoit]

some call it dangerous,
i call it slick.
ive only done this on custom builds,
i delete the rag joint, and steering rod completely.
you can get inexpensive u-joints from summit, i replace all of that crap!
but its usually with a fixed, welded together unit.
the column has to come out to install it.
kind of a PITA, but when youre doing a custom, its nice when its all said and done.
if you're looking for a rag joint, i have a few of them in polyurathane that are in good shape.
they are off of trucks, but im sure they are the same.

i dont have any detailed pics of my van yet, mostly because i havnt done a damn thing to it yet.
it needs lots of attention, i have a few projects to do before i can start this one.