I am considering checking out the following van tomorrow:

06
E350
Chateau
V10
4.10 gear
65k miles

Anything in particular I need to look out for?

I am not totally sold on a van yet (vs Excursion) but with the better value I can get from a van, it is worthwhile at least checking out.

This van would be towing my 30' Coachman camper.

Any tips you guys can provide would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

I know these vans are heavy duty. I have owned and 1988 E350 and currently own a 1995 Clubwagon E350. I needed to haul a family and still be able to pull. I like them for the same reason, you get a big bang for your buck when you need to tow heavy compared to the same year Excursion. Never have owned a V10, so can't help you there. They are comfortable to drive and sit you up higher than most lifted trucks. Makes it nice in traffic. My 2 cents.

 

Whats the weight on your 30 footer? The E350 may have a pretty high towing capacity, but that capacity gets diminished very quickly when loaded. The excursion suffers from the same issue.

The payload is actually fairly small and eats from the R.GAWR pretty fast.Load more than about 2100lbs in stuff and people over the rear axle and you will be eating into your towing capacity.

 

2007 Coachmen Captiva RS

tongue weight around 800. Total weight around 6800 fully loaded.

 

Sounds like it would work fine for your purposes. If you have not owned a van before, make sure whoever is your usual front seat passenger (mine is my wife) can deal with the lack of left leg legroom. Any long trips in our van are out of the question these days because my wife has a knee problem and can't take sitting in the passenger seat for more than an hour or two. (For what it's worth, I go nuts myself sitting in that seat for the same reason.)

Otherwise, it will be a great tow vehicle and will have a LOT more cubic footage inside than any Excursion.

The extended van would probably not be as good for towing due to the extra leverage on the back with the long overhang.

George

 

Well we went and drove the van and it was very nice. I had the dealer work up a price on my trade in and we are little ways apart.

Time to do some measurements and see how it would fit in the garage and get an insurance quote to see what the difference would be.

Seriously considering making a counter-offer but time will tell.

 

Good luck, Cherokee. Ford vans are definitely a staple of the truck world. I have owned my '02 for 10 years now and it has been one of the most trouble-free vehicles I have ever had.

It's gonna use some gas with the V10, but the price going in is probably pretty low compared to so many other vehicles, so the depreciation cost won't kill you.

I'm guessing insurance will be pretty cheap--I have had big vans since 1986 and they never carry a surcharge. As for garage, height could be an issue but big vans are way shorter than most trucks.

Good luck on the deal working out for you,
George

 

Thanks guys for answering my questions.

I am really divided on whether to keep on looking for a 4x4 Excursion or make an offer on this van.

The van was CLEAN! It had 1 small dent in the back and 1 stain in the rear cargo area, otherwise clean! Original window sticker was in the manuals pocket folder and it MSRPd around $36k. Also it ran great and rode great. The wife was actually liking it as well. She says it is so much better than her dad's mid 80s dark brown van she grew up with! :-)

If we are to get a van, this will be the one.

 

Excursion is probably going to be older (2005 was the last year), more expensive, and way harder to find.

Not sure what kind of limited slip or posi you could get for the van, but I put an Eaton posi in my '02 E150 when it was about a month old and have never had problems getting thru Michigan winters with it. Also put an Auburn limited slip in an old GMC van and again did fine on the road in the winter. Decent tires with a limited slip will get you thru most road conditions.

If you need 4WD for off road stuff, go for the Excursion (or maybe an Expedition XL) but those will cost you some money and add the complexity of 4WD. An E van is a pretty basic box with a solid drivetrain. Service access is gonna suck, but it should not need much engine work. I believe that in 2005 the heads were revised on the 2 valve mod motors so that blowing plugs is not as common an issue.

George

 

This truck was purchased with the limited slip and 4.10 gears so that is also a bonus. Also has other goodies!

You guys are getting me closer to making this counter-offer!

I do have concerns on working on the engine in the van in comparison to an SUV. But sounds like this drivetrain is pretty solid.

Have been doing some more price comparisons with Excursions and it would equate to an older truck with probably at least 50k more miles.

 

Good luck on your purchase! These E-vans are a great buy when it comes to towing. Plus they offer so much room with or without the rear seats. That V-10 will really pull but a little tough on mpg. You'll find a sweet spot for mpg on towing, somewhere arround the low 60's mph. Besides restricted engine access, changing the rear shocks is a PITA. Get a set of Bilsteins. they work great and last a long time. Also, the front suspension can wear out and/or feel sloppy, lot's of good info here on the board on how to fix or enhance. Here's a link to the Ford Towing guide, says your set up is good for 10K. Good luck, Mike

https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/...06_default.asp

 

Something to keep in mind is that even though the Excursion was the largest SUV ever made, interior volume isn't that impressive in the grand scheme of things. My daughter requires lots of medical equipment when she travels, and we are far more comfortable in my wife's Sienna than we are in my Excursion! Actual distance from the rear of the front console to the back door seal is within 1" between my mini(!)van and Excursion.

Clearly the E-van will have MUCH more interior room than any Excursion or Expedition. E-vans also depreciate much faster and therefore, as you've already seen, can be had for much less than a comparable Excursion. The V10 is identical between the Excursion and the E-350, and you get the benefit of the much better 5R110 transmission that the gas-powered Excursions never got. The V10 is an animal, I used mine(with older, weaker 4R100) to drag 15,000 lbs from Wisconsin to New Hampshire and then down to Connecticut without any issues, and with my 4.30s I was able to stay locked in overdrive for the vast majority of the trip, cruising at 62 MPH @ 2,000 RPMs.

As YoGeorge said above that long rear overhang isn't going to be good for towing stability, but with adequate sway control and WD hitch you should be just fine. How much are they asking for the van?

 

A counterpoint to the cavernous van is that bulky seat brackets remain after you remove the seats. A bit annoying for the garage sale armoir the Mrs. can't be without. I don't know about the Excursion but the Suburban has a flat bay after a couple of flips and tumbles. I wish Ford offered bench seat backs that folded all the way forward for a flat deck aft of the driver row.

Sounds like this is your first foray into Econoline ownership. What did you think of high speed stability? The steering must feel good enough when new that people buy these vans new but down the line it becomes difficult to keep the van going straight and folks resort to fixes like this - https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ering-fix.html

Get the dealer to throw in the next major service (75K? 90K?) even if the van only has 65K miles so you get to enjoy it that much longer without messing under the dog house.

Sixto
93 E150 Chateau 5.8 185K miles

 

Simple fix for that, have her move to the middle row when her knee starts bothering her.

 

We have done that, but it's not my favorite way to travel. It's easier conversing, sightseeing, navigating, etc. with my honey in the front seat.

Our next van will likely be a minivan (waiting to see the new long Transit Connect) or maybe even a big Transit, which hopefully will have room for someone who is not a left amputee to ride shotgun comfortably. We've had big vans since 1986 and the only one with a decent right front seat was a GMC Savana, which was the Van from Hell in terms of reliability... (Our first van, a Ford flatnose, was kind of humorous in terms of ergonomics for both front seats.)

George