possible 6.9 transportation issue

[jrisingmoon]

Okay, here's the deal:

My wife and I partially moved from Atlanta to Pensacola and left the van in Atlanta. In the next few months, we hope to move the rest of our stuff to Pensacola. My father-in-law agreed to store our stuff, including the dead van, at his house until we can come pick it up.

I guess my chief concern is how in the hell am I going to get the damn thing down to Pensacola?!??! I've thought about just pulling the engine in Atlanta, driving it down to Pensacola, rebuilding it, driving it back to Atlanta and then drive the thing down to Pensacola, but that seems like a lot of work. There's the option of having the van towed down to Pensacola but that's a pretty hefty bill I'm looking at.

I guess it would make more sense to store it at a storage facility until I move it once and for good, until it can run on its own, but I figured I'd throw it out and see what anyone says first. The van needs to be moved one way or another since I doubt my father-in-law "generosity" will last anymore than what it has to. So that's the situation.

 

[apextrans]

Okay, here's the deal:

My wife and I partially moved from Atlanta to Pensacola and left the van in Atlanta. In the next few months, we hope to move the rest of our stuff to Pensacola. My father-in-law agreed to store our stuff, including the dead van, at his house until we can come pick it up.

I guess my chief concern is how in the hell am I going to get the damn thing down to Pensacola?!??! I've thought about just pulling the engine in Atlanta, driving it down to Pensacola, rebuilding it, driving it back to Atlanta and then drive the thing down to Pensacola, but that seems like a lot of work. There's the option of having the van towed down to Pensacola but that's a pretty hefty bill I'm looking at.

I guess it would make more sense to store it at a storage facility until I move it once and for good, until it can run on its own, but I figured I'd throw it out and see what anyone says first. The van needs to be moved one way or another since I doubt my father-in-law "generosity" will last anymore than what it has to. So that's the situation.

If you have a hitch on that F150, go to uhaul & rent a car trailer, one way. Or am I missing something?

 

[jrisingmoon]

Um, it's a pretty big van. That's the primary reason I haven't considered renting a uhaul car trailer. I'm not entirely sure how much it weighs but it's enough to concern me. I had a hard enough time with the 5x8 trailer from Atlanta to Pensacola so anything more than that I'm hesistant to try, at least for the time being.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

How far do you need to move it?

Why is the van not running?

 

[jrisingmoon]

Ideally, I need to move it from Atlanta to Pensacola, but I think the more realistic option will be to move it to a storage facility. I won't have a problem moving the van with a car trailer on the f150 for a short distance, it's the long haul that bothers me.

Blown head gaskets is the initial reason but I'm not 100 % sure about it. I haven't really had time to make an accurate assessment due to financial reasons and time restrictions. There is a LOT of oil leaking down the block, right where the heads meet with the block, as well as some oil leaking around the valve covers. Most of the oil is leaking where the heads meet the block, though.

 

[IDIeselman]

Forget the trailer and rent a tow-bar if you don't have one, Your half ton will pull just the van much easier.

 

[69oiler]

yeah just pull the driveshaft off the van and flat tow it. or rent a heavy duty tow dolly. better that than rushing a rebuild if money's tight

 

[jrisingmoon]

How much weight do you think the half-ton could handle without problems?

 

[h2odrx]

I used my 81 F150 Excab with 351w and C6 to tow an 92 F250 Excab 4X4 on a tow-dolly it would have worked great if i had left the steering unlocked that was a mistake unhooked the drive shaft and got it on the dolly it towed nice took a while to get up speed but did get me more than half way back themn tire blew on dolly had to use a rollback the rest of the way.

 

[jrisingmoon]

Just so I know, why is unhooking the drive shaft important and how do I keep the steering unlocked?

 

[Camarogenius]

You drop the driveshaft so you don't hurt the transmission by having the gearset spinning without fluid being pumped through it by the engine spinning the torque converter.
You keep the steering unlocked by putting the key in the ignition and turning to the "run" position.
So, if the van is broke, is it really worth dragging across the country? especially if money is that tight? Just asking.
It had better be one cherry van.

 

[Freight_Train]

I might be of some assistance in a few weeks/months depending on how the current repairs go on the Enterprise........Hee hee hee.Why do I have a bad feeling my idea might turn out to be a total cluster......errrr disaster.

 

[jrisingmoon]

It's a pretty nice van. Other than the engine needing to be rebuilt, I can't really complain about it. Interior is clean, plenty of room, RV hookup, loft storage, can't complain about it. One of my "friends" suggested pulling out the diesel and putting in a gasser but if I'm going to pull out the diesel, may as well put it back in rebuilt. If it was a standard econoline, I doubt I would bother with this much trouble but since I think it's worthwhile, it MIGHT get trucked around.

Hurricane Ernesto might be heading straight for Pensacola so whatever plans we have depend on where Ernesto ends up.

 

[Darrin Tosh]

how do I keep the steering unlocked

Tow dollys are designed to have the steering wheel locked, I use one all of the time, and it has to be locked.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Tow dollys are designed to have the steering wheel locked, I use one all of the time, and it has to be locked.

It depends on the dolly. The better ones have swivel tops, the cheap ones do not and you have to let the front wheels turn. I used my Stehl brand tow dolly quite a bit till I got my wrecker.