Hi folks,

Over my head with this one. I bought a 2013 E 350 about 5 or 6 years ago. 5 years ago i had a Colorado camper top added and in Dec 2017 had Quad Van in Portland convert to 4WD and lift a bit.

I have had it shipped to Patagonia twice now to live and travel for over a year. The moved gas tank (due to conversion)

strap has broken, I have dropped a rear bumper, and recently a transaxle. The folks that have looked at it have said that Quad Van did not appropriately upgrade the suspension. I have gone through two sets of front Bilstein shocks. I upgraded the back to Fox with bags. I am not doing heavy off-road. Mainly just washboard and hiway driving. It is my only vehicle. New tranny too at 120k miles.

Please help a novice. I cant seem to find answers on suspension upgrades. My ride has always been rough and it seems it is causing unusual wear and tear. The van weighs in at maybe 10,300 lbs.

Any thoughts would be appreciated! I have original springs.

Thanks!

 

You'll want to obtain the actual weight for both the front and rear axle independently as would be driven daily or on a "normal" trip. You'll want to find and perhaps join the Sportsmobile Forum where this sort of converted van is the entire site's specialty. I'm confident you'll find someone who can help or advise you.

 

Other than the shocks what unusual wear it happening?
a 4x4 setup is not going to give you a smooth unrattled ride especially if you have 4400lb springs up front with dual shock absorbers? How many miles have you put on the front shocks? I don't know anything about Bilstein shocks but Fox are some top of the line and usually rebuildable. If it's a softer ride and more stability you're looking for you might want to think about bagging the front. I am not familiar with Patagonia, but also from what I've read they have a lot of 4x4 specialty shops all over down there.