I need some suggestions for my 1999 ford e350 super duty extended passenger van, towing a 2012 jayco 32 bhds which is 34 plus feet long, here are the stats I have.

Van: 5.4L gas engine
auto
3.55 rear/axel go to 4.10?
hp 235@4250 rpm
torque 335@3k rpm
curb weight 6186lbs
max gvwr 9400 lbs (dealer paperwork says 9600 srw?)
max towing 10K lbs

base payload 3380to 2880 (dealer paperwork says 4900 srw?)

trailer:
2012 jayco jayflight 32 bhds

dry weight 7675/3481
payload 2525/1145

gvwr 10,200/4626

hitch weight 1055/478

I upgraded to the 12k lbs wd hitch with anti sway which was a hugh help ..

I am having a heck of a time keeping this rig at highway speed even on mild upgrades.

I would like to know if adding a dually rear, increasing the width of the tires would help?

I have seen some of the computer systems that claim to help with output but dont know if they are worth the $$

intake/exhaust mods?

better rear shock (right now its stock) options?

air shocks?

air bags?

I dont know where to start.
any suggestions would be very helpful!!

 

I would start with the rear end. Going to a 4.10 sounds about right. I've got a 6.8L V10 with 3.73 gears and I'm going to take it up to 4.56 for the towing that I do. But, I'm not looking for long haul highway towing. My towing it all local. I'm in the mountains, so I need the torque. I've also got a shuttle van unit that has the 5.4L V8 with a 4.10 rear end. It does ok with my big trailers, but not as well as the V10's do.

 

thanks for the suggestion! Like I said I have no clue where to start and we have 6 trips planned this summer the last one is 10 days at disney. Last year I dragged a 24 foot TT down and it was hell I can only imagine what its going to be like with another 10 plus feet and a couple of thousand extra pounds.

P.S. how do I upload an avatar?

 

Sorry, but I voted buying a new van. The 5.4 combined with the extended version is not a very good combo for towing that much weight. Sure, gears will help as will exhaust mods. However, the improvement will be marginal at best. If you really like this van and want to keep it, you might look into a eaton supercharger setup. I just installed an OEM Lightning supercharger setup on a customers F250 4x4 and it cured his low power towing issues.

 

Your are WAYYY over your towing limit. Big time. By nearly 2 and a half tons.

The 5.4L with 3.55 gears in a 1999 E350 15 passenger Club Wagon is rated to tow 5,700 lbs.

5.4L/4.10 is rated for 6700
6.8L/3.73 is rated for 8600
6.8L/4.10 is rated to 10000
7.3L/3.55 is rated to 9200
7.3L/4.10 is rated to 10000

Here is the other issue. You also have a GCWR rating, which is the weight of the van as loaded + trailer. The above ratings ASSUME THE VAN IS ESSENTIALLY EMPTY!

If your 5.4L van is loaded to its GVWR of 9400 its towing capacity is ZERO (your trailer puts 10-15% of its weight on the tow vehicle!). If you want to tow the full 5,700lbs your van is rated for, you have to account for the trailers tongue weight.

Lets set it at a pretty light 10% (careful loading of trailer, etc) tongue weight. This means that your FULLY LOADED VAN, fuel, people, everything, can clock in at 8830lbs loaded. COOL! Except, you also have a GCWR limit. how much the van + trailer is allowed to weigh. This is the actual weight limit of your engine/trans/brakes/suspension talking here. The GCWR of your van is 12000 lbs. If your van is 8830lbs loaded, you can only tow 12000-8830= 3170lbs.

Summary: Loaded, your trailer exceeds the capacity of ANY Ford E-Series van.

How to improve the situation:

• In terms of maintaining highway speed, forget it. You are probably 2.5 tons over weight.
• You can help your transmission survive by remove the ford factory aux cooler (if you have one) and installing a larger one.
• Have the van geared to 4.10. This has downsides too (lower top speed, worse fuel economy unloaded, inaccurate speedo) but would result in the greatest improvement.
• Free flowing exhaust, intake, etc actually don't do that much for the van engines. Ford did a decent job, as emissions goals are easier to achieve on large vehicles. You can replace the Y-pipe for notable gains in conjunction with a tuner. 5star sells a package.
• Tuner. Companies like 5-star change the torque converter lockup, fluid pressures, and shift points in the transmission as well. The whole package combined makes for notable improvement in feel and drivability when towing.
• Replace the van.

 

95e150CW

thanks for the info!

i had no clue i was so far over...
the dealer said nothing and when I called Ford they said its ok but not great and that was it.. wholly Cr@p !!!

so I do need a 15 pass ext van cant run without it , do you have a suggestion as to which ford van that can handle the load, trailer etc?



p.s. will a van set up like this with a dually help?

 

I'm sorry Drum Guy, 95e150CW is correct, you're way over your rated capacity. See below for the relevant segment from the '99 Ford Towing Guide which can be found HERE.

I've towed thousands over the rated capacity of my Excursion, but it's not something I would want to do again. Your problem is going to be power above all else, the suspension and brakes should be just fine for the job unless you carry a lot of weight in your van. So if you're willing to deal with going slow there are a few things you can do.

1. Upgrade to 4.10 or 4.30 gears. This won't do a lot for you on the highway, but it may keep you out of a pickle where you won't be able to get the rig moving should you happen to park on a hill.

2. More transmission cooling! It's a common mod for Super Duty and Excursion owners to upgrade to the massive 6.0L transmission cooler. I don't think that'll fit in the nose of a van, so you will need to do some research. You will also want to purchase an OBD-II scan tool such as a Scangauge to monitor your transmission temps. Another option is a that will enable your smartphone to display relevant data including the transmission temps. Keep it below 230° and you should have no problems out of your 4R100.

In the end all this is just a stopgap, I really think you're going to need more power, and that's going to require a new van. Don't waste the money on a tuner, you're simply not going to get the kind of power gains you're going to want. A 2000 or newer V10 E350 with 4.10 gears will gain you another 70 horsepower, 85 ft-lbs of torque, and 6,500 lbs of rated weight capacity.

 

Well I guess as they say, the fat lady has sung.

I found a van dealer in NC called adventure vans. They have a bunch of 15 pass etc some with dual rears but none with the larger motor. I will check ebay.

I cant thank everyone enough for all of their help and suggestions.

I did read about a member listed as carringb who has an e350 van but I cant seem to find him.

 

American Adventure has some nice vans, although most I've seen there don't have the factory tow package. (I think all newer E-350s already have wiring anyway).

CarringB can be found on RV.net or DieselStop...pretty much the guru regarding Ford V10 vans and towing with them.

When I have to upgrade, the search will be for a V-10 wagon, and at least 4.10 gears, but for now I'm still old school and small trailer, 5.8L, 3.55 I'm limited to about 5,500 lbs of trailer when the family is loaded up in the van.

Good luck in the search, hard to beat a properly equipped van for tow duties, not that I'm biased or anything.

 

do you know if the v10 was available for the 99?
maybe I can put one in and change the gears and go totally crazy and add a dual rear

.,.,.,.,.,.,.ugh

 

Yup, that chart I posted was from the 1999 Towing Guide. The V10 was available, and it's a bolt-in swap as long as you can get the electronics and mounts from the donor van. Trust me, you don't want the DRW. It would do nothing for you but decrease your fuel economy 1-2 MPGs on the highway, empty or loaded.

I can't get the spec sheet for your '99, but '00 models had a Dana-60 rear axle that was rated at 6,340 lbs at the ground, which permits about 3,000 lbs of available payload on the rear axle. You don't need more axle than that.

 

Message sent. Didn't know if I should post an ad link here...

David

 

The DRW option that Adventure Vans offers does nothing for tow capacity. It is simply a bolt on extension to the existing axle that allows dually wheels to be installed. It does not change the rear axle's weight rating. It is intended for stability control to prevent rollovers, that's it (not that that is a bad thing...just not a towing improvement).

The V10 was available in a '99...started in '97. BUT, the HP improvements didn't hit until the 2000 year models as Crazy001 said; +79 HP and +85 ft-lbs torque. Given your needs, I would focus my search on at least a 2000, if not newer.

 

Thanks again to everyone for their comments!
I had the left rear caliper lock up on me yesterday and the shocks are toast so I have been looking for a 2008 or newer standard length 350 super duty. Priced out the new ones and all I can say is ouch.
I am stuck with my 99 until may of next year so the search continues.

P.S. anyone care to suggest front and rear shock replacement ideas.
Van usually has two adults and 4 kids under 55 lbs each and some times 2 extra kids at 110 and 155 along with about 200 lbs of gear and the trailer of course. I have gotten in the habit of removing the two rear bench seats when towing to reduce the weight in the van.

 

I tow a 6500# TT (GCW of 14,000) with 3.73 and a 5.4L a lot and feel its perfectly up to the job. Even up some of the 8% grades we have in British Columbia. But I'm pretty sure that it is working at its reasonable limit.