I am building a 1999 E-350 right now. I am doing a 4x4 conversion on it, and doing some upgrades to the motor. I am also swapping the front sheet metal to a 2008 style front end. I have a 6.0 intercooler in my hands right now, and was wondering if anyone has successfully installed an intercooler on 1 of these vans? It appears that I should have a little more room up front once I do the 2008 frontend swap.

I have the 7.3 intake spider, and I know that I will need to fab up new intercooler tubes.

Steve S.
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If you are doing the Front clip swap you should be OK ....You should also move the batteries to the frame as well ( I think yours only has 1 battery in the engine bay ..not 2 like Me )

 

Thanks, that was what I was thinking. Yes, 1 battery in the engine bay, and other on the frame. I will keep it in mind about moving the other battery.

Steve S.
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if you are towing , intercooler is a good improvement .
if you are only running empty you will experience the "turbo lag" instead of the quick spool of the "normal" Eseries turbo. something to consider when you are fabricating your intercooler mounts and plumbing.


hours of fab<<> fuel mileage/acceleration gains...............


more grey matter fodder

 

This van is being built as a tow rig. It will have a trailer attached 90% of the time. We are doing a dually conversion, along with a 4x4 conversion at this time.

Steve S.
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Pics required!!

 

Photos a definite must---we'd all be very interested!!

 

Ok, Pictures are here. I have to tell you now, I am bad about taking pictures and I really need to get into the habit of taking more. I am building this for someone else.

This van is as clean as anything Ive ever seen before. I wish all vehicles I worked on were this clean. It makes work so much easier.



Here is the van and trailer in use.



This is the rear. The wheel well has been opened up and the rear air ride suspension has been installed.



The rear part of the side door has been "shaved" and this is the fitting of the rear fenders.



Removal of the front suspension.



Installation of the front axle. Front axle is a Dana 60 from a 2001 F-350 Dually. Springs and hangers are from Ujoint Offroad. Very quality pieces. I will use these again.



Transfer case in place. We swapped the transmission and transfer case from the same donor truck that the axle came from. The transmission crossmember has been lowered by 2"




New dual shock mounts fabbed up and installed.

This is where I am at right now. The front is done. I am removing the Dana 60 rear axle and installing the axle from the superduty. Then it is on to the engine mods!!

Steve S.
To many to list.

 

looks awesome, same colour even as my daily 2003 E350 ext clubwagon . mine is VERY rusty.


why did you go with the air ride in the rear and the leaf springs in the front? or was this just how it panned out?


I have a dana 60 front for mine from a front wheel drive wheel chair bus, but all the bracketry has been removed. I have been toying with a superduty front as they seem to be pretty easy to find here in Ontario, but the dually rear I have is from a 2000 E450 and has the old 8bolt pattern.


I would definitely figure in the intercooler for a 90% towing application. are you going to drop your trailer hitch or just use a large drop receiver?


love the build pics, keep it up.

 

I'm curious if the rear portion of the side barn doors is inoperative will that reduce its utility as a hauler---has to be a bit inconvenient if rear seating will be part of this refit.

Maybe that question would be was there no other way to cover the rear wheels and retain that door's function?

Either way very interesting build!

 

The air ride is because of the weight swing of the trailer. He loads this trailer up with all kinds of different stuff. The air ride system is automatically leveling. It is very similar to a semi rear suspension. When he first brought the van home, the trailer would drop the rear right on the ground.

The plan is to make a rear bumper/ hitch similar to a F-450/F-550 style. Big plate with Class 5 hitch sticking thru. The plan with the van is to keep it as low as possible so a big drop hitch wont be required.


The interior plan is for reclining bucket seats for the second row, and the rear will be open for cargo, so rear seat accessibility isnt an issue. The most that might happen behind the second row is a fold down bed.

Steve S.
To many to list.

 

So how involved was the front axle install using the parts from Ujoint Offroad? I have been looking around there website. I have been day dreaming about converting my '88 e250 to 4 wheel drive since last winter's super snow fest....

 

The front axle install is pretty straight forward using Ujoints parts. It does require some cutting and welding. The amount of cutting depends on the amount of lift you run. Since we are only lifting it 4 inches, there is a little more crossmember cutting. The front spring mounts are bolt in. You need to drill some holes, but that is it. The rear shackle mounts require cutting a hole thru the frame and welding in a sleeve. I have configured the sway bar mounts and steering a little different than Ujoint does theres, but this is not going to be a rock crawler, so 8" of suspension travel is more than enough.

We cant wait to get this van back on the road and see how it handles. I have to swap the rear axle out, do some engine mods, and swap the front end to an '08, then it can go back to the owner for the interior. Then it is time for paint.


Steve S.
To many to list.

 

Great job. Chris at UJOR is great.

 

Ok now I fallow