Reconsidering my RV setup

[snicklas]

On the van, with it being that yellow color and it being a repaint, was it started life as a Ryder Fleet Van.

Way back when these were new, I was a delivery driver for a NAPA. I delivered a bunch of parts to their big shop that was around the corner from us, here in Indianapolis.

There were a bunch of these vans there, some were rentals, but there were also ones that were service vehicles. The mechanic I always dealt with, had a van just like that one, same color and all. The only difference, was, his had the factory steelies on it, not the aluminum ones…. But that was also 30 years ago… so my guess is a PO put them on there to “fancy it up a bit”…..

 

[Cubey]

On the van, with it being that yellow color and it being a repaint, was it started life as a Ryder Fleet Van.

I thought Ryder was a bit more taxi cab yellow but maybe not back then. Seems like there'd be non-fading of where the lettering was if it was there for a decade or two then removed.

Ran across this in a search:

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[Cant Write]

It's too heavy for my RV's trailer hitch. RV trailer hitches are usually rated 3500lbs and the way miine looks, it's no exception. An IDI van is gonna be 5500-6000lbs. And I'd have to buy a tow bar and try to properly attach it to the van's front bumper for one time use. and I'd have to remove the driveshaft. By the time i do all that, I may as well rent a one-way car for a 24 hours and drive the van back

I mean drive the bug there to check out the van. If the van checks out, flat tow the bug back as it’s already setup for it.

 

[Cubey]

Seller just sent a couple of up close tire pics. Yep it needs a new set. So, about another $600 for that.

Also volunteered the info that it has hard starts but always does eventually. Probably return lines but could be glow plugs too. I asked if it's hard cold or hot starts or both.

Might have to just leave it running on the drive back to ensure I don't get stranded, if I can't easily see a bad return line hose like my RV had.

They also just said it got some bad fuel sucked in from the never used tank (got switched by mistake) and it's running rough. My RV was that way when I got it, the metering valve was dirty and it would stall at idle sometimes. Fresh diesel and driving it solved it.

eww .. they just said, as i was typing this, it sometimes stalls while driving. Thoughts on that? Bad lift pump maybe? or perhaps it's below 1/4 tank. they can't say if it's a too low tank issue or not.

i might have to just try to do vehicle transport for it, if it has these issues. or just pass on it.

 

[Cubey]

huh it must have an AOD, it has overdrive on the shifter. I missed that detail before. She said the below (dre=drive).

Might be an expensive can of worms that I don't want to get into right now, if I have to transmission swap.

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[Rdnck84_03]

My guess is that the shift indicator or possibly the entire column has been switched out. The aod only came for small block bellhousing.

James

 

[Cant Write]

Honestly to me it seems like a big can or worms that you aren’t ready or even wanna deal with.

It’s been neglected, and you can’t stand up, unless you can get it for an absolute steal of a deal, I’d focus time and energy on your pickup.

 

[DaveBen]

Leave it unless you want a life-time project...

 

[Cubey]

My guess is that the shift indicator or possibly the entire column has been switched out. The aod only came for small block bellhousing.

Ahh. That makes perfect sense and explains the transmission behavior she described. Sounds like she doesn't know a ton about old Ford trucks.

Honestly to me it seems like a big can or worms that you aren’t ready or even wanna deal with.

It’s been neglected, and you can’t stand up, unless you can get it for an absolute steal of a deal, I’d focus time and energy on your pickup.

My RV was a can of worms too and it's been decent. There's an advantage to not being able to fully stand: you go outside more. That's supposed to be a major point to the whole exercise of RVing. I spend far too much time indoors in the RV because I can stand up and move around. Room encourages me to stay inside and do nothing.

And I really do not like a truck camper set up. I've more or less ruled that out.

Leave it unless you want a life-time project...

Welcome to the world of old vehicles. I'm still gonna go have a look, if it's still available next week, since I'm driving the RV right near by anyway. It'll cost me a couple extra gallons of diesel (~$9) but i can make a day out of it, since it's only supposed to be about 90 degrees and there's a nice park there. Keep in mind, I can directly swap parts to it from the motorhome since it's the same generation van chassis, so I can save some money there.

Unless I see something major like a milky radiator or burned transmission fluid, it still seems decent. Go look up how much people want for Econoline vans anymore. It's insane. $6000 with 200k miles on a gas engine and e4od is pretty common place.

Sometimes you can find ones like this, $2000 with 216k miles (listed 40 minutes ago) but it has a dented rear bumper too, and it's far away in Tuscon. so again I'd have to travel a long way to fetch it. A bit further than 200 miles, as I would for the yellow IDI one. And in fact it would cost me more since it's far out of my way to even go look at. At least the IDI one is only about 16 miles extra driving to go look at. This blue one would be an extra 236 miles further, one way. So double that for round trip, JUST to look at it.

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Also saw a similar one with a high top for $3200 (185k) but it's WAY across Arizona over near New Mexico. So again, same problem with how to get it. And it would cost a ton just to look at it in person.

By the time I spend $1000 in fuel/rental cars to go look at half a dozen vans scattered around the entire southwestern US, I might as well just buy the yellow IDI and replace/swap parts, IF it looks like it has no obvious major issues.

 

[Cant Write]

1989 ford econoline e350 diesel for sale by owner - Montrose, CO - craigslist

1989 Ford E350 econoline van with 7.3L power stroke turbo diesel engine, banks turbo and exhaust, BFG KO2 tires with less than 5,000 miles on them, two fuel tanks, master switches on batteries,...

westslope.craigslist.org

If you want IDI, what about this one? It’s only $500 more. Is EB, has trailer hitch and higher top, banks turbo, E4OD and newer tires. Potentially a lot less issues, not neglected as bad, and offers lots over the yellow one. Just further.

Yes, not being able to stand forces you outside which can be looked at as an advantage. You had just mentioned you’d miss the space of your MH. I like your mental shift towards finding something smaller that forces you up and around.

If you have interest in the blue one. I will be in Montrose tomorrow and could lay eyes on it.

 

[Cant Write]

Looking closer, I think that blue van above is an ex national labs ****** vehicle out of Sandia National Labs most likely.

 

[Cubey]

1989 ford econoline e350 diesel for sale by owner - Montrose, CO - craigslist

1989 Ford E350 econoline van with 7.3L power stroke turbo diesel engine, banks turbo and exhaust, BFG KO2 tires with less than 5,000 miles on them, two fuel tanks, master switches on batteries,...

westslope.craigslist.org

If you want IDI, what about this one? It’s only $500 more. Is EB, has trailer hitch and higher top, banks turbo, E4OD and newer tires. Potentially a lot less issues, not neglected as bad, and offers lots over the yellow one. Just further.

Yes, not being able to stand forces you outside which can be looked at as an advantage. You had just mentioned you’d miss the space of your MH. I like your mental shift towards finding something smaller that forces you up and around.

If you have interest in the blue one. I will be in Montrose tomorrow and could lay eyes on it.

It's 360 miles from where I am sitting right now. So round trip, would be about $380-400 in diesel, just to go inspect it. Yeah you said you'd look but I also like to eyeball stuff if I'm forking over $4000. I won't buy sight unseen in case there's something I catch that someone else didn't. (I missed a major thing on the RV, brake fluid. had ATF in it. over $1000 instantly to address that)

Bringing it to where I am now is useless, I'm 550 miles from the LTVA across many mountains. I'm in an RV park in the middle of nowhere Utah. No rental cars here. Nearest are ~70 miles away across mountains. I made the mistake of buying the bug while here last summer and I also had my cargo trailer here. I had to drive over 1500 miles total (8.7mpg in the RV with diesel priced about like now) to move both the trailer and bug separately. So, I know how bad logistics is by yourself trying to move stuff.

So, how would I get it? I still have to go put the RV & bug somewhere (ie: LTVA), and somehow get myself back to the van to drive it back. It's about 725 miles from the LTVA, so I'd need a one way rental car for 2 or 3 days to get back to it after looking at it/buying it and leaving. And would I even be able to return a rental car there locally? If not, how would I get there from a city with a rental car place? See, it's the logistics that are extremely limiting.

 

[Cubey]

Oh and the massive windows would be detrimental to RV living. So much extra weight, more places to leak, more places to get risk getting broken, more places for heat to get inside. The yellow one has no side windows on the driver side, so you can insulate that whole side and put up custom shelves. And none on the passenger side, except the sliding door, and it props open so you can have it open in the rain, as do both rear door windows. Looks well tinted already too.

I have turbo I can swap over from the RV. I can save over $1000 in extra fuel/extra rental car days getting the yellow one. The blue one looks like it has E4OD (or something.. unless it's column was also swapped, shows overdrive) so I'd have a different transmission to worry about unless I swap in the RV's C6.

The yellow one is within 5 miles of an Enterprise rental car office, so, I can do a one way car rental and easily have them drop me off at the van, after I already dump the spare fluids, tools, starting batteries from the RV, and other bits in the van that I brought along before I return the car. No muss, no fuss.

 

[Cubey]

A 93 IDI high top van that is close to the yellow one ....but the listing says it needs "break work" (they type it that way several times) before it can be driven. And it needs batteries. They say both things twice. Listed a month ago. 250k miles. $4,500 Probably needs everything the yellow one does, if not more. So for $1000 more, it can't even be driven at all right now and probably has even worse rotten tire and needs major brake work.

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[snicklas]

I thought Ryder was a bit more taxi cab yellow but maybe not back then. Seems like there'd be non-fading of where the lettering was if it was there for a decade or two then removed.

Ran across this in a search:

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None of the ones here in Indy had that decals…. They looked just like that picture….