My family is outgrowing my '02 Ex, so I've been looking for a conversion van to up the interior space. As it would replace the Excursion, I'd need it to be able to tow an occasional enclosed car trailer, about 8500-9000 pounds. Hence, the need for some opinions of people with experience with these trucks. My specialty is Mustangs, but I've done a lot of work on my Excursion and a couple of F150 pick 'em ups, but . . .
I've found a candidate '06 E350 Extended. Although it has the 6.8L, it came without the tow package. Adding a hitch and wiring is no biggy, but my question is how well the rest of the platform would work as a hauler. The van I found has the semi-floating D60 rear, would this be a problem over the D70 full float? Would the PS cooler and engine oil cooler be necessary, or would the truck do reasonably well without them? Extra battery and higher amp alternator? Were these components upgraded for a "dealer installed" tow package?
I can do all these, but the added costs would weigh against the van I'm looking at (it has a couple of other small issues as well.)
I missed by a day a 6.0L that had everything I'm looking for, but E350 conversion vans seem to be few and far between, and hauling the car trailers is important to me, so . . .

 

Sorry no one's yet replied or offered any advice---so unlike most of us here!

I'd check the Towing forum, maybe post your same question there---has to be someone who'd know something more specific to your needs on a tow vehicle.

Best of luck!

 

Thanks for responding. I'm hoping for someone with a dealer installed tow package on an E350 will chime in. Kind of an oddball, I know. The tow side is pretty straightforward, my Excursion works well in that role. I'm hoping that someone with an E350 who has added a tow capability can provide their experiences, i.e., the semi float rear (which I think is a weight capacity/longevity issue more than anything) can say whether they've had any problems with the ear, or cooling issues.

Carl

 

E-350 with the V-10 in standard or extended length can be an excellent towing platform, even heavy.

Best advice I can give is go over to RV.net forums do a search for user carringb. IIRC, he has over 300,000 miles most of it towing heavy and loaded with passengers in an extended E-350 with V-10. He did convert the rear wheels to a dually as well although not necessary for your case.

I agree should have had some decent replies here, but since you asked specifically about towing, E-350 and V10, the above is your man.

If I ever need to upgrade my setup...it will be some variant of that. based on experiences shared here and others, V-10 is a more reliable and lest costly tow platform than the 6.0, at least until the 6.0 gremlins have been eliminated. Now find a good 7.3 diesel van and I'll have to re-think my opinion...

Btw, here's an older discussion on the subject:
http://http://www.rv.net/forum/index...print/true.cfm

Just found this from Ford 2008 guide, ought to apply to yours as well:
http://www.ford.com/assets/pdf/towin...TTgdeMay07.pdf

E-350 V10 wagon 3.73 GCVWR 15,000- 9,200 std, 9,000 extended
4.10 GCVWR 18,500- 10,000 std, 10,000 extended

Upgrade the factory hitch, change rear gears, should be able to safely increase capacity if needed.. You'll need to verify it, but I remember reading that on the newer E-series, passenger and payload was no longer deducted to calculate tow ratings?

Not in my budget, but sometimes these guys have dually vans for sale, and an occasional V10.
http://http://www.adventurevans.com/

I also considered Excursions at one point, but the room to move around in the van, lower prices, and the extra storage possibilities are nice. Really easy to pile our 4 kids in/out. I got over the "lack of cool" look issues with the van a long time ago.

This ought to give you some homework to do.

David

 

Thanks David, I'll see if I can catch up with CarringB.
I think we've found the break point between vans and Excursions, I have a wife and three kids, the Excursion worked well. I'm adding my mother-in-law, as well as a second dog, hence the van concept. At three kids, the Excursion works, at four (or three kids and a mother in law) its van time.
CarringB's mod to the dually rear set up is where my concern is. Will the semi-floating (D60) rear handle decent tongue weights, or will that wipe the bearings. I can swap to a D70, but its an expense I'd rather avoid. For a hitch haul, I'd think the D60 would be fine.
I wouldn't think the dealer installed tow package would include the D70 rear, so I'm guessing the D60 is fine, but would prefer to hear it from someone who has been there and done that. Same with the oil and PS cooling. I can add them, just an expense to add into the purchase price. Second battery/upgraded alt seems a bigger worry, as it looks like a bunch of wiring needs to be replaced.
I'm not real worried about the van not being as macho as an Excursion, if I start feeling a bit less than macho, I'll just say all my other cars are only V-8's, this one is a V10!

Carl

 

Lay down and look up towards the engine. I'm willing to bet the oil cooler, power steering cooler, and of course the trans cooler is there, even without the tow package. My dad's '08 and my '12 with only the 5.4 and no tow package both had the coolers all there.

 

Did you run the van through FordEtis home page

to check and see what it is equipped with and not equipped with?

 

Yeah, no tow package. Who buys an E350 conversion van without the tow package? If you're not going to tow, an E150 will give a better ride. I don't know sometimes . . .
On a positive, the van has a 4.10:1 rear, everything else was added by the conversion company.
Since it started life as a cargo van, no oil cooler or ps cooler, I haven't gotten underneath it to check for the wiring points, but its definitely going to need a hitch. I PM'd with Bryan (CarringB), for my uses he doesn't see a major problem with the rear.

Carl

 

In the last couple of weeks I have come across 3 - 2005/06 350 XLs with no towing packages. 2 of the 3 trucks were pretty clean, and sort of a shame that the extra $$ and work would have to be invested now if someone wanted 1 of them to tow with.

 

Ford's use of oil coilers ( trans, motor, and ps) had to do more with the vehicle having upwards of a 10,000 lb GVWR.

Ford's website for the current cargo van has the engine oil cooler and transmission oil cooler standard in all sizes with all 3 engines.

 

cars.com reports that "for 2006, a transmission cooler is standard on E-250 models."

I would think that applies to the E-350 as well given it has a higher GVWR.

If I remember correctly the V-10 was only available with the Torqshift 5-speed auto with Tow/Haul mode. The Torqshift comes with a trans cooler.

 

In your van that did not come equipped with the trailer towing package, did you find any wiring just taped up or anything where a 7 pin connection could be installed in back - including the power wire feed to trailer?

 

Neither the 08 or 12 had any trailer light circuit or trailer brake wiring past the man harness under the floor board about where the driver's seat is.

Up to 08 the TBC harness was under the dash, and had full power to it, a good ground, and good BO/O signal. You need to run the 10 guage to the rear from the brake controller, though.

The 09 and newer has no power to the TBC harness. But the BO/O signal at the TBC is good to tap into. You have to do the old school install of the rest of the brake controller wiring, including circuit breaker.

On the 08 a standard T-One trailer light connector set was called for. On the 12, the books call for the more expensive set with a module and a power wire to be run up to the fuse box post.