hello i was wondering if you can turn a e150 in to a e250 by swaping springs brakes ect from a donner e250. I am also wondering if there will be alot of modifications necessasy.

 

I would think the frame rails would be thicker in the 250.

 

I had a friend who converted an E150 to an E350 by buying a wrecked 350 (rollover) and transferring all of the suspension. Springs, axles, brakes, hubs, etc... It worked great but was a lot of work to accomplish.

Steve
'95 Clubwagon XLT

 

An E150 is 1/2 ton, E250 is 3/4 ton, E350 is 1 ton.

So I don't think the heavier suspension, springs, axles, brakes, etc make up the entire weight difference. The frame has to be heavier.

But, these are important parts and the vehicle would be stronger and more capable with E250/E350 parts in it.

 

If you really need the weight carrying capacity of a 250, I really don't think it's worth it, IMO. For the amount of work involved, you are better off selling the E-150 and getting the truck you need. One would need to check, but it's possible the entire braking system would need to be replaced from the master cylinder to the drums - lines included. Beyond that, there are other issues to consider: the transmission, rear axle ratio, the engine itself, plus, as mentioned before the frame is different...

I also use my E-150 for hauling stuff (mainly firewood), but only a few times per year. The last time we did this, we really pushed the load limit (rear doors to the front seats, wall-wall, 2' high) and she was riding seriously low. I kept speeds under 60 mph and kept the AODE in D rather than OD. Engine temp gauge never moved above 12 o'clock and the 110 mile trip through the Eastern PA mtns (bumps by Western stds) was uneventful. More than anything else, I was concerned about the tires as the max pressure is 35 psi and I stuffed in 40 psi and they were still obviously overloaded. I kept to back-roads and the speeds down mainly to avoid overheating the tires.

To this end, I plan to add rear overload springs, good shocks and the highest load rated tires I can find for the 15" wheels. Brake-wise, just keeping an eye on their condition and being conservative while driving should keep things in order.

 

the wheels are serios limitation of e-150. There is just no good choice of tires in P235/75/R15 size to match or exceed OEM 108S service descrioption. Going wider (there is 255/70/15 Firestone Destination LE with higher load rating then OEM)) is risky as the OEM wheels are narrow.
All high load tires are LT and 16"; but to go there aftermarket 16" wheels with 5 lugs will be required; or otherwise axel/hubbs need to be changed; big expense, not worth it.

The only alternative I found is LT tire Michelin 4-ply LTX M/S LT235/75/R15, but for requlatory reasons they stamped with even lower load rating of 1980 lb; however P-metric tire should be downrated to 91% in light truck application; therefore LT should be not worse but presumably better? But I did not find any evidence how much better.

I also was considering to improve load capacity of my E150; but after those considerations decided to stick to OEM Michelins LTX M/S P235/75/R15XL, 2215 lb capacity.
den25