I am currently looking to buy a travel trailer and tow vehicle, with budget in mind. I'm looking to get a lightweight travel trailer - something like 24' - 26' weighing around 4K dry (6k loaded). We decided this would be a pretty good size for us.

I currently drive a 2009 Ram 1500 3.7l v6. It's tow rating is only around 4K, so I am looking to get something else on a budget.

After doing quite a bit of research, my first choice would be a 1994 7.3 turbo idi f350. I would like to stay away from a powerstroke because I value the simplicity and low cost of maintenance of the IDI. With that said, there are very, very few available in my area for a reasonable price. The few that are cheap enough are mostly junk trucks that have be sitting in a pasture for a few years. After that, I would be happy with a non turbo 7.3 f350 - still difficult to find though.

In all my searching, I've seen quite a few e250 and e350 vans with the 5.4l V8 for much cheaper than any trucks. There seems to be a lot of these and I can get one several years newer than the truck I'm looking at.

After looking around, I have found that the towing capacity of the 5.4 e250/e350 is around 7500lbs.

In some ways, I really like the idea of the van because of all the enclosed space we would have for during travel and when we were parked - it would be nice for myself or my wife to be able to stretch out in the back while the other drives. I also like that this seems to be a pretty reliable and cheap to maintain platform.

After sifting through lots of threads here and other places about towing with this van, I've found there are two polar opposite opinions about it - 1) it's makes a great tow vehicle for this size trailer and will do great or 2) It's a complete dog and will barely make it anything with more than 3,000lbs behind it.

Here are my goals/thoughts about it so far:
1) I don't need to win any races pulling. I just want to be able to keep my speed around 60mph without struggling too much. I know that this speed will be reduced on steep inclines.
2) I know NOT to get the extended version of the van that has the extra hangover on the back end.
3) We are not full timing with this, but we would be using it several times a year - at minimum, we would be doing 200mile trips (one way), but would also like to be able to drive out west on some very long trips at some point too.
4) Low cost of maintenance
5) I would be using an anti-sway hitch and trailer brakes in this setup

Lastly, I'm fully aware that they put the 7.3 in the vans as well, but those are even harder to find than the trucks here. That would probably be the sweet spot for me. The only one I found was only $2,500, but it had 450K miles on it - I know these engines last a long time, but I'm a little unsure about that many miles. Maybe someone can shed some light on that.

I'm hoping to get some insight from anyone that's pulled with this setup? Keeping a realistic mindset about the capabilities of this engine, would it be a good tow vehicle for our needs?

Thanks in advance

 

I have owned two factory passenger vans, a '95 Clubwagon XLT (E150, 5.0) and a 2001 Clubwagon Chateau (E350, 7.3 Power Stroke), both used for towing.

The '95 was used to tow an open car trailer and haul support equipment. The loaded trailer weighted approximately 4000 lbs and I put approximately 1000 lbs of equipment, luggage and people in the van. The motor itself was stock. I did a cat delete and a K&N air filter. It was an amazingly good tow vehicle. I bought it new and sold it with 342,000 miles on it to a friend that uses it in the same manner. The open car trailer has considerably less aero drag than a camper but it handled the weight just fine. Its primary purpose was long distance towing, 200 to 1000 mile trips (each way) and thus spent most of its life on the interstate at cruise (75 mph).

The E350 7.3 PowerStroke was also a great van. I bought it to tow a 24' enclosed car hauler that weighted about 9K lbs fully loaded. It towed that trailer beautifully. I bought it with about 150K miles on it put nearly 200K miles on it. I sold it (coincidentally with approximately 340K miles) it to another racer to pull his similar trailer and its still going strong two years later.

In all cases I would recommend the 7.3 powerstroke for your application. The IDI is rare and very slow. Performance and mileage are poor at best. And its loud. The 7.3 Powerstroke is probably close in reliability and both performance and mileage are excellent. It would tow your 4K lbs travel trailer effortlessly and get pretty good mileage doing it.

The 5.4 is a good towing motor _if_ its geared correctly. The standard 3.31 final drive gear is NOT going to work very well for towing. The tow gear for an E350 with that motor is going to be either a 3.55 or 3.73. For towing a 4K lbs travel trailer at the speeds you want I would highly recommend the 3.73 gear. I am sure some will say the 4.10 is better. Perhaps. I know a number of people who tow car trailers with these vans and the 3.73 is known to do that very well with the 5.4 motor.

 

Thanks very much for the reply.

I would love to find a 7.3 PSD van for all the reasons you stated - I know it would tow like a champ while remaining pretty reliable and efficient.

There are a few things about the powerstroke option though:

1. Cost to repair - This is pretty important to me since I'm already looking to buy a used, budget friendly tow vehicle, I don't like the idea that I could be paying what I paid for the van to get the injectors replaced or something like that. I know that I will be replacing parts on whatever I buy because I'm buying it used, but I'm having a hard time swallowing the cost to replace parts on a powerstroke. I'm willing to give up a little bit of performance if it's significantly cheaper to maintain, which is why I was considering the 5.4 gasser. I know the 7.3 psd is a very reliable truck, but things do break on any vehicle eventually.
2. Going off #1, I've seen several people mention that mechanics usually need much more time working on a PSD in a van vs a truck because it's so crammed in there, which drives the cost up for the extra hours. I am not afraid to get in there and work on the van myself, but my mechanic skills are limited, so there will be times that I just have to pay for a mechanic
3. This van will also be my only vehicle. With that said, I work from home, so I don't drive a whole lot. I drive a couple times a week, and mostly just to make sure my vehicle is being run. I know that it's bad for any engine to sit or only run occasionally, but I've seen many people say that the powerstrokes really don't like it. We would work the van plenty when we were on a trip, obviously, but I'm a little unsure about how well it will do when we aren't traveling. I'm thinking I would have to intentionally get out and drive the 7.3 on the freeway once or twice a week just to maintain it. I forgot to mention this detail in my original post.

Most importantly, there are basically no 7.3 psd vans available within a 300 mile radius of me listed, and note much more stretching outside of that. After searching A LOT - the only 7.3 van I can find is close to me, but it's got 427,000 miles on it. I know these engines are great and can last a long time, but I'm pretty nervous about that many miles on one. I haven't looked at it, but the van looks to be a in pretty good shape. The ad says that it "needs suspension work" and they're asking $2,000 for it. I love the price, but not sure about that kind of mileage, even for a 7.3 diesel. Would you even consider a van with this many miles?

I'm still definitely open to the diesel option - quite frankly, I've kind of always wanted one, for many reasons. I'm ok with the slightly higher cost of general maintenance, but not sure about the significantly higher cost of parts for the PSDs. I'm wondering what your experience with the PSD van was like as far as that goes.

As for the 5.4, that's good to know about the standard gearing - for some reason I was thinking most of these came with the 3.55:1 gearing. Does anyone know if it's difficult and/or expensive to have the gearing changed on one of these? I know that it can be done, but want to know if it's even worth it. If i found a great deal on a van with the 3.31, it would be great to know whether I could get the gearing changed or not.

Thank you for all the input so far.

 

OK, I understand your situation.

I do 95% of my own maintenance. The only thing I sent out was AC work, since I don't have the equipment.

My 7.3 PSD van was the model of reliability. Before I bought it the PO replaced the fuel pump. I replaced the fan clutch, the serpentine belt and idler pulley, the starter and alternator. The engine itself was virtually flawless. It is important to note that diesels require more scheduled maintenance than a gas engine and I kept up with that so as to avoid inducing bigger problems.

The 5.4 will have its own problems. Spark plugs can be an issue although there are known methods of dealing with them. They are typically good for 100K miles so its worth the investment to pay somebody who is experienced with the job. I have heard about cam phaser problems but I have never known anybody to have that problem. And I know many people with these engines in truck/SUVs and vans.

As for that IDI van with 400+K miles. The motor might be OK but the rest of the van still has 400+K miles. So its value is directly based on how well it was maintained. A well maintained van can be a very good vehicle regardless of mileage.

Suspension work: at 400+ miles I would assume it needed the front end rebuilt. Most you can do yourself without too much effort. Ball joints, tie rods, radius arm mount bushings are all pretty standard. I would plan on doing that list, complete. And probably the I-beam pivot bushings. Put a fresh set of shocks and you will have basically a new front end. Use quality parts and they will last another 100K+ miles.

Transmission: An IDI could have either an E4OD (Electronic 4 Speed Over Drive) or a C6 (Heavy Duty 3 Speed) automatic. The C6 is very strong and durable but mileage and performance will suffer. The E4OD provides better performance but is not as durable. If its an E4OD assume the lifespan is 100-150K miles. And cost $2K to replace/rebuild.

At 400+K miles the rear end is likely to need bearings if they haven't been done already.

Then there are the little stuff like rear and side door release cables that break at 20 years of age.

My vans were used only for towing a racecar. So it sat unused quite a bit. For 7-8 months of the year they were driven every other weekend but sat unused in-between. In the winter, off-season, I tried to drive them every week somewhere. Sitting for a week unused isn't that big a deal. A few weeks, and only short occasional use, they don't like. The reason is diesels are slow to get to operating temperature because of the large oil and water capacity. They are designed to run for long periods of time at high load. Occasional short trips don't get them hot enough, for long enough to purge the condensation from the oil and fuel systems. Or burn off the soot buildup from low temps and low loads. So if your lifestyle doesn't provide for the opportunity to drive it for an hour + at a time every other week or so, I would suggest that a gas engine is the better fit for you.

 

It looks like I didn't mention in me last post, but the van with 400k miles is a 2001, so it's actually a PSD. I assume most of your response as the this mileage would be about the same though? The fact the it's a Powerstroke for $2K is one of the only reasons I have even opened it up.

 

Yeah, pretty much the same. Yes, its a little confusing because the IDI and PSD are both 7.3s.

My PSD was a 2001. Great van. I know a couple of people that have more than 500K miles on 7.3 PSDs. One is in a van he uses for his business. I see this van regularly and it runs great. There is a big PSD specialty garage in the Atlanta area that has one with over 800K miles on it.

 

At the risk of anyone cringing for me to bring this up, overnight, a 2006 e350 cargo van with a 6.0 PSD and quigley 4x4 with only 109,000 miles was posted locally for $2,600.

I haven't seen it and there are no images of the inside, but the photos of the outside look good enough. Through all my research, I've mostly seen people talk about the 6.0 being a complete money pit because of the "bulletproofing" that needs to be done. However, I've also seen that a lot of people are very happy with the 6.0 when it's running well - it seems to offer really nice power and efficiency.

I prefer the 7.3 platform, but I like the mileage and price of this 6.0 a whole lot.

Would you consider looking at this? Anyone have any experience with a 6.0 e350?

 

IDE love to find an E250/350 conversion van with the V-10.

 

I haven't had a van with a 6.0 but I did own an F350, CCLB, 6.0. Its a great engine, once its bullet proofed. Oil cooler and EGR coolers are the primary issues. A failure in either can be very expensive.

I loved my 6.0. The engine and transmission are both a big improvement over the 7.3 and E4OD in performance.

If you are of better than average in mechanical skills you can do the work yourself. Otherwise, pay a pro that is experienced with the 6.0.

My assumption would be that for $2500 it has some issue. Likely, 6.0 related. It might need head gaskets, or a turbo, or worse.

I would take a look and if its in good condition, have a pro, with 6.0 experience, do a PPI.

 

A turbo IDI truck (6.9 or 7.3) would tow your trailer just fine. You could look at both f250 or f350 models. As far as the IDI vans go.....I have a '88 e250 IDI with 240K miles on it. It has no issues pulling an open car trailer weighing upto about 7000lbs, but a TT will have a lot more drag. Also, keep in mind that there were no factory turbo IDI vans. That were all NA. Hypermax does still make a kit for them which works well. Finding a used kit for the van is like winning the lottery......finding one for an IDI truck isn't that difficult.

Now as far as the IDI being being slow and getting bad mpg. This is sort of true depending on what you compare it to. An NA IDI is going to be slow. It will tow what you are asking, but will slow down up steep grades and high altitudes are going to affect it a bit. If you turbo it then you will have no issues. The ting about the IDI is that it is reliable, simple to work on and parts are cheap. IT is a work horse motor. The saying in the IDI community is "You won't be the first one to the top of the hill, but you will get there every time without any issues".

As far as an IDI and mileage. What mileage are you looking for? My van is a c6 with 3.54's and an auxiliary DNE2 OD. I track all my mileage and with everything combined I average about 15-16mpg. On the hwy I get anywhere from 16.5-19mpg depending on speed, terrain, fuel quality etc etc. IDI vans with an e4od can get in the low 20's on the hwy. Trucks with the same setup usually get 2-3 mpg better than the vans. If you have an updated e4od and a large trans cooler you should do fine towing with one. If the e4od has not been updated and you don't have a good trans cooler I would invest in doing this.

Now as far as the IDI vs the PS. Even though they are both 7.3L and both diesel, they are different animals. The 7.3 PS is a great engine and I wouldn't hesitate to get one, but from what I have found is that they are much more expensive any unnecessary for my needs......but I kind of like driving odd ball stuff.

 

I have owned and towed with a 7.3 na, and a 2000 f150 5.4. No comparison, get the 5.4.

 

Have you towed with a turbo IDI?

 

No, my truck is a 93, pressure turbo. Bought it new, still have it.

 

Should say pre turbo. Dang autospell.

 

That one isn't a bad one. I have sent some rather inappropriate emails due to auto correct.....

My van does fine without a turbo where I am at, but I don't tow exceptionally heavy and there are not any mountains in my area. I do have some plans to travel a bit in the future, so I am glad I was able to source a turbo kit for it. Should be going on this spring.

Hoping it makes mountain passes and elevation easier to deal with. Maybe even with a trailer in tow,,,,,,