Adventure Van on a Budget - ‘98 Econoline

[CLM]

We have been lusting after a way to travel easier, without reservations and at the drop of a hat, while still being able to easily take our 2 dogs.
For longer, planned out trips, we travel with a Ford Raptor and 1986 Avion 32S travel trailer.


But now we have jumped into the vanlife, or should I say vanlife lite, as well.


It has a 4” body lift, 6” lowered floor in the center section, high top, 5.4L, 103k miles. Plan is to remove running boards, build rock slider style steps down both sides, 33” tires, rear locker, modify the folding bed to make it a queen size, insulate, maxxair fan, 140 amp alternator, dual battery, led lighting, and a portable 100 watt solar panel.

When they lowered the floor, they lowered the gas tank, so I am planning on removing it, making a removalable rear cross memember and installing the pre-‘85 style gas tank behind the axle as high as I can get it.

 

[CLM]

We have started by removing the wheel chair lift and tv. While doing a lot of measuring and figuring. Will be walking the wrecking yards this weekend looking for seat swivels and a few other things.

 

[WVI]

Much potential there!
Wiah I could find a set of front seats like those.

 

[CLM]

Yeah, the front seats are extremely comfortable. They have a few seams coming apart, but we will pull the covers off and restitch them.

Got the running boards off, so we can now see how much room we have for tires. You can also see why I am going to move the fuel tank. The rear section of the van has 13.5” from floor to bottom of frame rail. Should be plenty of room to tuck a tank in there.

 

[WVI]

I've got a set of fake leather seats out of an 04 custom...they are ugly a dirt, but comfy....
What the plumbing under the van in that last pic??

 

[CLM]

Rear heat and a/c lines. The two with the 90 degree elbows are a/c, the other two are for the heater. I plan to rerun the heater lines. Not sure what to do about the ac lines and dryer that is hanging down. I may make a small skid plate that connects to the side steps to protect them.

Spent this afternoon installing a new clockspring so the airbag light would go off. Then 8 new plugs and 8 new denso oem coils. Now hopefully it passes inspection.

 

[CLM]

The van failed safety inspection because of 4 bad ball joints. Guessing the PO’s inspection in Dec was by a buddy.

So this was my weekend. Decided if I was doing ball joints, might as well do it all. Should drive like a new van.

 

[WVI]

That ought to do it.

 

[Corneilius]

The problem with a rear fuel tank is getting fuel into it. Many have tried, few have succeeded, even fewer have done it well. You have the best shot because of the body lift. Can probably go in through the wheel well. My personal opinion is to spend your time/money on a small lift. I too started with a conversion van and LOVE mine. The first thing I did was get a different dog house console. Those style SUCK. You can get new ones on eBay or junkyards.

 

[CLM]

Definitely no lift going on this van anytime soon. We are basically using this as a proof of concept van. With a few possible outcomes.
Option A - we love it and possible convert it to 4x4 down the road a ways after I wear out some of this new front end I just rebuilt.
Option B - the size works, but we still want to keep the Avion and buy an E350 with v10 or Diesel to convert to 4x4 and pull camper.
Option C - my 6’6” self, my 6’ wife and 2 - 75 lbs dogs decide we like van travel more than travel trailer, but need more space. We sell both van and camper. Then build out an extended, high roof, Ford Transit or possibly 4x4 Sprinter.

We purchased 5 acres to build on in 4-5 years. So I am trying to do this on a budget and before we build my shop so that I can plan the shop and rv storage accordingly.

Yes, new doghouse storage compartment is on the salvage yard shopping list. I’ve got a few ideas on ways to fill the tank and the 5” gap between the frame and body definitely help with that, but that project is way down the list and may never happen.

Front end is all back together. Drives great, put 60 miles on it last night and check engine light is back on. Bank 1 and 2 are both lean. Going to change the fuel filter tonight and look for a vacuum line issue. A/C blend door isn’t wanting to swap from defrost to dash, so I expect a vacuum issue somewhere. But the van sat a couple of years before the PO resurrected it, he said the fuel system was really dirty, so another new filter couldn’t hurt.

Also had the MaxxFan show up and my smoker rain guards. Need to start working on air flow. Planning to do a floor vent. Net over popout side window. And a screen of some sort where the rain guard will protect it from rain. Hopefully that with the maxxfan will be enough to keep cool.

 

[Raul]

Great job. You are not sparing any efforts.

 

[CLM]

She got an alignment and passed safety on Thursday. I have traced down every vacuum line I can find and replaced a ton of small connector hoses as well as several of the larger hoses. A/C is sort of working, but very dependent on the throttle position. Keeps going back to the defrost vent. Still showing both banks lean. So I have a vacuum control valve arriving tomorrow to try that. Going to grab about 20’ of vacuum line and start replacing hard lines of that doesn’t work. Also going to pull the interior so I can trace the vacuum lines back to the rear unit.

She got a bath, smoker shades installed and all of the blinds zip tied up so they will stop auto shutting. Lol

Still working on getting the rest of the rear seat bolts out. Managed to get almost all of the seat belt bolts, but the 4 main seat bolts aren’t budging with an impact and I’m afraid to apply heat with the wall to wall carpeting. Going to keep soaking them and try in a few days. If that doesn’t work, I will pull the interior around the seat and try heating the bolts.

 

[CLM]

Also found a nice surprise. Rear is a 3.55 limited slip. Played a little this weekend and it appears the LS is working. So I will change the oil, add some more friction additive and hope for the best for a while. Also leaning towards a 32” tire about 10.5” wide on a 16” wheel. Hoping that will sort of keep it happy on the highway with the 3.55.

 

[Corneilius]

Those tension shades are an easy fix. Couple of screws hold them to the upper window frame, once unscrewed you'll see they're just tied in a "loop". If the cords aren't broken, just shorten the length a little to tighten them up. If they are broken, replace with new cordage, being sure the follow the same path. I had mine zip tied for a while, when i finally fixed them it was amazing.

 

[CLM]

Good to know. I figured there was a way, but hadn't looked into it. Was tired of being able to look out my blind spot one minute and then 2 miles down the road I would turn my head and couldn't see. I need to pull the plastic surround down and paint them. Think I am going to tint the four door windows. Paint the surrounds, fix the blinds and make the new door panels as one of my upcoming projects. That is easy evening work that I can do each night.