I'm wondering how the E150 and E250 differ in the way they feel, or if they differ at all.
I am considering getting one to build out into a camper, I read somewhere that the E150 will have a softer ride, is this true?

 

Welcome to the forum! You will find and lots of great people and articles here to help you out here.

I don't know about the difference between the ride of a 150 vrs 250 ford. I do have a 85 e150 which is 1/2 ton and a 95 3/4 GMC, both conversion vans. It may be the old springs shocks on my GMC but I like the ride of my 150 better.. But allot might depend on what year van you are thinking about, the engine size, and what you are going to put in your build, how much weight.

My mother has a 78 e100 with a 351w in it. It's a shorty and has a sink, water tank, stove, vent hood, generator, ice box, bed, fold out table, and small closet. It does great for stock springs and that year van.

I think part of what makes a difference is the wheel base and amount of weight you plan on adding in your build, maybe the type of materials you will use in the build. The 78 e100 was done like the retro vans with the floor being 4" foam covered by tightly stretched carpet over it and the walls carpeted. The cabinets are framed 1/4 plywood so very light. Being a short bed the weight is more centered and the wind doesn't seem to cause it to sway as much as my longer vans. My GMC is much heavier then my e150 and while the ride itself feels a bit smoother, the wind pushes it around easy and it sways in curves. i think it is more top heavy too.. So those are maybe some things to think about from my experience. I am not sure about the 4th gen vans..


how are you going to use the van? Living in it weeks at a time or short trips, towing something behind it, ect? Maybe allot of mountain lands or flat lands.. What are you thinking about adding in to your build?

 

This is very similar to my mom's e100 set up except her's is not a high top.
http://www.adpost.com/classifieds/up...s.587637.3.jpg

I was thinking too, how many people will be traveling with you and how much storage space will you need? Will you need an extended van? Notice in this pic it only has the two front seats.. I'm not sure the rules on seat belts in the back seat set up like this. When my moms was build there were no laws for seat blets!

 

Just don't forget the E250 not only has heavier springs it has much better brakes. So if you are going to be adding a lot of weight doing a camper conversion I'd lean towards the E250.

 

Depending on the year E150 you'd potentially buy its not the chassis to begin an RV-ish vehicle upon. A E250 later than 2001 gives you rear disc brakes and from '08 onward they have upgraded front brakes too---essentially E350 parts.

Your main consideration will be the finished chassis build out, its weight when completed and loaded for a trip; ride "comfort" should be one of the least aspects considered.

For some reason this favorite song popped into my head:

 

But, with a thousand pounds or so of added interior modifications and supplies, , the ride on my E-250 is actually pretty good. Oh sure, it has its moments, and its not a Cadillac, but it IS comfortable, not harsh normally, except on really rough sections such as crossing non-level railroad tracks, and on washboard dirt roads.

 

Empty an E150 will ride much better than an E250, but by the time you install everything involved with a camper conversion the E150 will be overloaded. In contrast the E250 will now ride better and the heavier suspension and larger brakes will make the handling and stopping better. Every company that builds conversion vans starts with a 3/4 ton truck or better.

 

In Club Wagon form 4 aboard an E150 is a Lincoln, 8 aboard reminds you why the suspension has bump stops.

Sixto
93 E150 Chateau 5.8 191K miles

 

Yep like the others have said a loaded down E250 will ride smoother then a E150 riding on the bump stops.

So a lot depends on how much weight you are actually going to add to it converting it into a camper van.

 

Yeah, year makes a big difference. Weight classes changed a lot around 2007 or 08. I think Ford realized the E-150 was no longer being bought as a family hauler and that minivans and SUVs had taken that category over so they made the E-150 into more of a heavy duty truck. Our 06 E-250 has the same GVWR as our 2010 E-150. Our 08 E-250 has higher GVWR and bigger tires than our 06 E-250s. An E-150 after 07 or 08 is basically an E-250 from prior years. The difference between E-350 and E-250 is minimal after 07-08. Anyhow after 2007 or 08, you could probably do alright with an E-150.

 

Del is right about the 150 becoming a big 8-lug van in 2007. Before that, like my van, they are 5-lug wheels and much less GVW. For a light camper, the 5-lug E150 would be fine; I prefer the P rated car tires for a better ride but I do not carry heavy most of the time.

It all depends on how much weight you will be adding with the camper conversion and how much cargo and/or people you will be carrying. Pre-2007, the GVW of a 150 was 7200 lbs, and an empty box was a bit under 5000 lbs. Leaves you about a ton of room for your conversion and your cargo. In 2007 and later, the GVW was 8500 lbs or more for an E150, which pulled it out of the CAFE (corporate avg fuel economy) averages...

George

 

Yes, i've had both and the E250 drives like a tank, it also sits much higher and has stiffer suspension..
E150 for me any day of the week..

 

Sure but for what purpose? Those are two different chassis (depending on year) and intended for two very different uses, most notably FINISHED weight of the vehicle.

If "ride comfort" is the only concern go with a soft sloppy feeling ride--forget stability and control of the loaded vehicle, gotta keep the butt happy. OTOH if maintaining control during panic stops or evasive maneuvers due other fools sharing the road are a bigger concern matching the final weight of the van to its chassis ratings is the wise move.

Not only is the proper weight rating important for control its necessary to prevent over loading suspension components enough to greatly reduce their life or have unexpected and somewhat dangerous breakage.

There's a reason vehicles are built with varying load ratings, none of which are meant to have living room comfort while hauling any sort of load on the roadways.

 

JWA--if you look at pickup trucks, the F150, which has P rated tires, is by far the most common truck that Ford sells. A well equipped F150 has a payload between 1000 and 1600 lbs and they are driven by a lot of people who use them to carry stuff and tow (and probably often overload them). My E150 has a payload of 1600 lbs and is not that "soft and sloppy". Like many F150's, my vans are not work vehicles but personal recreational vehicles and have served me in that role for years.

I have had 5 vans since 1986 and all of them have had car-type tires; the first 3 were 200/250/2500 rated vans which had car-type tires. In the older unit-body styles, vans were light enough that P rated tires were used on these "3/4 ton" vans. My last 2 vans, A GMC Savana and my current E150, were separate body/frame vans where the 250/2500 versions would move you up to LT tires and 8 lug wheels--and van converters who used to build on 250's moved over to 150's for their conversion van platforms.

I can think of only a couple times that my van may have been overloaded; the E150 works for me. I once put 60 lb LT rated tires on my van and HATED the harder ride and skittering around bumpy turns. For me, the E150 works the best, with 42 lbs of air in the Michelin LTX tires. I have never once wished that it was an E250; the situation would be different if I carried 2500 lbs of tools or equipment with me all the time. I don't want or need more payload than what I've got.

Hope your weather is as nice as ours this week,
George

 

I use to own a mid 70's E250 high top camper van. And it road smoother then a lot of the cars I've owned.

But my current 96 E250 cargo van is down right jarring when driving it empty. But the more weight you haul in it the smoother it rides.

So like it's been said many times the ride is going to depends on how much weight he plans to add during the conversion. And what age van he starts with. Since it sounds like the newer 150's are built heavier. And the OP never stated what age vans he was considering.