Hi,

I'm new here and kinda new to vans. I bought mine a year ago and have been very satisfied with it. I would like to do some things to make it all the more better. My van is a '84 E150 5.8L ( I can't tell if its a W or C), 4bbl, C6 tranny. Has 190K. It is in fair shape and decided that is could be my car hauler and occasional offroad toy.

Is lifting a F150 and a E150 the same thing? I want to lift it 4''s, the reason for this is I found some Rancho springs from my Dad's old F150 and they are 4'' lift springs.
What else would I need? I am going to buy some longer and new shocks. JC Whitney sells lift blocks for the rear leaf springs (http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/P...ift+block+kits) and I think could handle the rear.
The ony thing I am not sure on is the trailing arm, who sells plates to drop those lower for more clearance.

Then the 4X4, would be as simple as buying a Bronco or F150 parts truck w/ 4X4 and just swap everything over?

All advice and opinions welcome.

Here's some pics:

 

Oh Boy...converting to 4X4 on Econolines has been done before by Pathfinder. I can tell you from experience that finding a draglink to work in an E-Van is almost impossible, especially from Ford parts bins.

Pathfinder folded after a couple of years leaving 100's stuck without a parts source. The manual that Pathfinder gave to customers of their conversion units had no refs on what parts went into the conversion.

Pathfinders used bits and pieces from F100's, F250's, early Bronco's. The owners would walk in carrying a suspension or steering part...most of the time it could be matched up. But I can tell you...nothing from Ford worked for a draglink...nothing. What Pathfinder used, I haven't a clue. It wasn't something welded together, either. I worked for 10 years (1975/85) at the largest parts stocking Ford dealer on the West Coast. We stocked every draglink for every Ford car and truck made for over 20 years. Nothing matched up.

Sorry for the rant...good luck with the conversion. If you make an attempt, record every part you use and what it came from.

 

Most will use the axles and springs from a 1 ton (F350) because (a.) they're stronger, and (b.) the front axle is a solid axle and allows for more clearance. The big factors are the drag link, steering box (usually causes an interference problem with the front driveshaft), and the trans mounts.

Pathfinder is not the only company out there. Quigley's still does them. Also a google search on this subject brings up a canadian guy's website. He lists what all he had to change to do the conversion. His was on a 15 passenger E350 though. It's a very doable thing.

 

> Then the 4X4, would be as simple as buying a Bronco or F150 parts truck
> w/ 4X4 and just swap everything over?

No, it is not as simple as that. The "simple" way is to convert it over to a straight front axle with leaf springs because you can then use almost stock steering components from the truck. Simple means cutting and welding skills. It is not as simple as just bolting it on even with a TTB front end.

The van front end is not the same and the van has a huge front cross member that produces clearance problems with a 4x4 front axle. Not to mention the engine pan itself.

The thing to remember is the E-150 van is heavier duty then the F-150 truck when it comes to brake and front end parts. If you put F-150 brakes on a E-150 you will find stopping compromised. Doing a 4x4 conversion you want F-250 brake parts. Hence, the best upgrade is a F-250 straight axle with dual piston calipers.

The best thing is to buy a 4x4 van and sell yours. You come out time and money ahead. If you rather go building it then search this forum for "4x4" and look at the galleries for more info.

You will find this link useful

http://www.glinx.com/~sbest/4x4van.htm

 

This isn't true. the pads and rotors are the same as the F150. I've researched it before, the springs are the same. The drag link is longer due to the van being wider. That's the biggest difference. From '92 to '96 I know this to be true, and the '88 van we have uses the same rotors that my '92 did. The truck chassis was virtually unchanged from 1980 to 1996.

 

Thanks for all the replies. Helped a lot. I think for now I'm going to lift it and mod the engine a bit. This winter will be a better time to do a conversion like this, gives me sometime to research and buy the parts I need for it.

 

> This isn't true. the pads and rotors are the same as the F150

I stand corrected

The 5100 pound GVW 4x4 F-150 rotor (others are smaller) is the same as the E-150 van. I had been using 1980 for the comparison since it was the last E-150 I owned.

When you posted what you did, I went to Advance Auto. I see in 1986 the E-150 and F-150 2x4 now have the same rotor too where before the 1980 2x4 F-150 rotor was smaller then the E-150 rotor. I think probably all if not most of the 4x4s were probably the 5100 GVW with the 2 7/8 pistons. It looks like the 4x4 uses the same sized rotor even though Autozone lists different rotors for the E-150/F-150.

So, I guess starting in/about 1986 any F-150 4x4/F-150 2x4/E-150 rotor is interchangable as well as the brake pistons vs. 1980s being smaller on the 2x4s or 4700 GVW trucks. Though I think all the 1980s 4x4s had to be 5100 GVW.

 

In the late 70s and early 80s ('til about 84 or so) the F150 used the same as the F100/ranger (think car rotor) brakes.

 

F100/150 Front Rotors are not the same as any Ford passenger cars.

D5TZ-1102-A Rotor, Front Disc 1973/79 .. F100/150 2WD

E0TZ-1102-L Rotor, Front Disc 1980/89 .. F100/150 2WD

 

That's odd, the F100/E100 share the 5x4.5 lug pattern. At least every one I ever say did... The rotors also looked an awful lot like the LTD/crown vic rotors.... I could be wrong on this on tho.. I'm repeating what I've read here from numerous sources.

 

That IS odd...

Wheels for F100/150's are: 15" with a 5 1/2" (5.50) bolt circle thru 1979.

However, from 1980 thru 1983 the F100's ONLY (not the F150's) have a 15" x 4.50" bolt circle. The rotor p/n's are not the same as passenger cars..(E0TZ vs D9AZ). 1983 was the last year for the F100's.


1980's F150's retain the 15 x 5.50 bolt circle.
---------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: The bolt pattern for Bronco II's and Rangers from 1983 are 15 x 4.5 But here again, the rotors for passenger cars will not interchange.

Original 1983 Ranger front rotor p/n: E3TZ-1102-A
Original 1979/1991 Crown Vic front rotor p/n: D9AZ-1102-A

 

Bill, is it possible that the are the same but have two different part numbers? I've seen that happen before. Where they have one item and use it twice, so they put a different part number on it for the new model.