Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum and I need some advice here. Long story short, for many years, we've worked on the water delivery business and we've used from F-700 trucks to rangers over the last decades. But we currently just have some older 3/4 econoline vans, a few f-450s and 2 rangers. We urgently need another van and I was thinking of getting an e150 that I saw for sale, can't beat that price nor its condition. When looking at vans, we usually go from e250s and up just because of the axles. I really like this van but the idea of having a lighter duty axle worries me. I'm talking about installing a 550 gallon tank that fits perfectly inside, but again, I'm concerned if the axles are able to hold that much weight. I can also install a 250 gallon tank, but I'm going to have a lot of dead space for a lot less capacity. I saw another high mileage e250 with the 5.4, but I haven't been lucky with these engines, I'm leaving that van as the last of the very last of my options. What do you guys think? Do you know how much weight can the e150's axles handle? Thanks everyone.

 

Thats almost 2 tons. Think about it.

 

The info you're looking for is typically listed on the door jamb sticker.

It should list the weight limits of front and rear axles along with total recommended vehicle weight when loaded to its safe capacity.

 

What year E150 are you looking at? Anything pre-2007 will be a lighter duty van with 5 lug wheels, 8.8" axle and P rated tires, and a max GVW of 7000 lbs (meaning the max payload will be about 2000-2200 lbs). That sounds like the 250 gallon water tank plus driver.

If you are looking at 2007 or newer, the E150 is really an 8 lug E250 with a GVW of 8600 lbs and a payload of ~3500 lbs--and that seems fairly in line with your needs although a full 550 gallon tank will still be an overload when you consider the driver, weight of the tank, and any other stuff you may be carrying.

The 4.6 and 5.4 engines in the E150 and E250 are the same, and are fairly similar to one another as well although the 5.4 seems to be a bit more prone to spitting out spark plugs due to the longer stroke and higher power/vibration.

George

 

The van I'm talking about is a 2002 e-150 so yes, it is a 5 lug, I was looking at the door jamb labels just like JWA mentioned earlier, I honestly forgot about those labels. Anyway, I just noticed that I'm going to need to forget about a light duty van and just get an e-350 hopefully. I don't care about the van's age (has to be 99 or newer) I'd rather get a 2000 with 85,000 miles than a 2010 with over 200,000 miles, I've seen quite a lot of these, they tend to be quite expensive, but they look pretty good with that newer front end. What matters to me is their mechanical condition mainly because the workers here abuse the hell out of these vans, and those 5.4s don't like to be abused. On the other hand, the older 5.8s are meant to be abused, but the latest year model with these engines are almost 20 years old. It's a bummer. An older low mileage e-350 will be my best choice then.

 

My E150 is a 2002 with the 4.6. It gets great gas mileage with light loads. GVW is 7200 lbs--mine is a conversion built on the recreational version of the cargo van. I don't remember if cargo vans were limited to 7000 lbs and I don't remember if there was a lighter version as well.

The 4.6 is definitely a tight engine and there are millions in fleets of police/taxi Crown Vics, Lincoln airport cars and limos, and '97 and up pickups. But the 5.4 is solid as well--engines after 2005 had a couple extra plug threads I believe.

I would say you'd want a 250 or 350 for sure and I'm guessing your water tank will be a bit rear biased so the extra capacity of the 350 would serve you well.

You need to read this guy's website if you have doubts about the 5.4. Almost 1.3 million miles on his 1997 E250 with 5.4 until the engine finally gave it up. Home

Good luck,
George