Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 08-14-2014, 10:32 AM   #151
Senior Member
 
rockbender's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 800
Re: Accrete's AWD Chevy Van project

Thanks for the info!

Lndshark is spot on on the gears - if you went up to a 33" tire, it would feel about the same with the 3.73 as yours does with the stock tires. I actually have 4.10's in my work truck with the same drivetrain and it is great for towing but turns higher RPM's cruising down the freeway. The 5.3 has such a great torque curve I didn't think that the 3.42's would be an issue but wanted to make sure. I doubt we will go with oversize tires so that is a non-issue.

I believe you could order the 3.73's with the cargo if you wanted them. The RPO tag in the passenger door will have a bunch of 3 digit codes telling what factory options the van was built with (like the G80 code for the limited slip rear). I think GT4 is 3.73, and GU6 is 3.42.

We've been on a hunt for a clean sub-100k mile used express and they are hard to find! We are excited about the prospect of doing what you've done though and reducing the fleet and making the van a daily driver.

__________________
Josh
2009 Express AWD, CCV Top & 50-ish home build. Daily driver/camper/kid hauler
rockbender is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-14-2014, 07:57 PM   #152
Senior Member
 
accrete's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: The Sunny Southwest, USA
Posts: 427
Re: Accrete's AWD Chevy Van project

Quote:
Originally Posted by rockbender
...The RPO tag in the passenger door will have a bunch of 3 digit codes telling what factory options the van was built with (like the G80 code for the limited slip rear). I think GT4 is 3.73, and GU6 is 3.42...
Hey that was fun. I took a pic of the RPO tag (had no idea what that was!). Ours does in fact list the GU6 and G80 in the mix.

Thanks for the education
Thom
__________________
Greetings from the Sunny Southwest, USA
2017 RAM Promaster Conversion. SOLD: 2010 Chevy Express AWD
Van Build Thread @ SMBForums
accrete is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-14-2014, 09:32 PM   #153
Senior Member
 
accrete's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: The Sunny Southwest, USA
Posts: 427
Road track test of 2015 Ford Transit...

I thought this might be of interest to visitors. My wife and i attended the "Ford Transit Tour" in the Seattle Washington area on Thursday August 14th. Below are my notes that i shared over at the FT Forum. The bottom line for my wife and i is we are very happy with the fit/finish/drive of our current Chevy van over the FT we drove. The ONLY reason we would consider another van is if we truly felt that added interior volume was needed to obtain our long term goals with a rig like this. For she and I, in every area we could think of except sheer massive fourth dimensional interior space... Our Chevy van is a keeper over the FT. With that said, here is my post from the FTF in it's entirety:

--------begin FTF post:

Well my wife and i are home on the Oregon coast after a ~9 hour round trip drive to/from Seattle area. We spent about an hour at the event. We were actually the first round of peeps in the rigs on the track at the 1:00 event. It was the "Last session on the last day of the tour" we were told... The crew were cordial and responsive to questions, though really ? They didn't know any more (or were unable to share more) than what we all have been talking about here. I asked about some really simple things like rear door interior handle...he had no idea what i was trying to get at so i showed him the interior of the cargo van and gee, guess what? there's no handle/door exit thingy to open the rear door from the inside! Here was a guy that had been touring with the crew since who knows when and that was the first time anyone had apparently asked that question. It struck me as funny.

Please be kind. Your mileage may vary greatly!! Certainly the Transit is a high quality design/rig...the following is just our honest opinion hashed out during the 3.5 hour drive home.

OK, so i'll start with the summary. Background first. I'm 5'8", my wife 5'2", both regular build. We are not "Chevy people" but we do drive a Chevy 1500 AWD Express cargo van conversion.

Summary: There is no reason my wife and i would go out and buy the FT over what we have now if not for the sheer cavernous volume of the LWB EB HR. None.

OK, details.
Driver cockpit for us.
Me, I liked the dash layout, good view out the passenger front window to nice rear view mirrors with nice view of side. Didn't like the (more) limited view out the passenger side slide window (higher than our chevy window on slider and not as long...so less visibility when looking over right shoulder out the side window, which we do many times a day each drive.) The steering wheel angle was so school bus like i could imagine wanting to try to bend the angle down superman style. A real negative for me, but usable, just don't know for how long. I'm not into driving a school bus or class A.

Her. She too liked the overall look/feel of the cockpit viewing commenting similarly as i mentioned above. Seat to pedals was comfortable. Wheel placement/angle was all wrong. The wheel angle (like a school bus no mater how it was adjusted) was an irritant to her before she hit the second turn on the test track. This was honestly for her enough of a turn off that i hope Ford listens to the prospective buyers and makes a change in driver ergonomics, at least more steering wheel adjustment to vertical (again, we like the wide range of comfort/adjust-ability in our current rig, it is very sedan like feel behind the wheel, which to us is a positive.)

Egress front to rear:
Me: Wowzer, I thought i was going to have to brush up on some Yoga moves. Really a tight fit with my normal sized 10 Red Wings on my feet.

Her: Same. It was like... What the heck!?!?

Egress Cab-To-Back is WHY we have a van! Our current rig is spin inward and head on back.

Drive on test track with LWB RB HR EcoBoost with 2500 lb payload
Since we were interested in the EcoBoost that's what we jumped into. And since we were on a time clock (wanting to get south of the Seattle area before any rush hour traffic hit) that is the unit we spent time in. They did have the other two available, but we had no real interest.
The EcoBoost characteristics are everything any other test driver has shared; very responsive. The handling was well mannered. We were disappointed that the extended body vans were only for display and not available for test drive. That said, we were both happy with the characteristics of the van we drove. BUT... Our current rig a hundred pounds shy of its GVWR is just as peppy off the line and corners/handles easily as well as what we drove today. Also, egress into/out of the Transit (the step up) is noticeably more strained than our van even with our 3" lift kit and larger tires.

Fit and finish
Very nice. I've not really looked at a Ford. But this was one well fit-unit. The doors worked well and securely. My only gripe was the lack of egress out the rear door in the van. The wagon had a small plastic latch labeled "Pull for emergency exit". Really?? Our van has a fully functional door handle on the inside of the stripped cargo van. Also, honestly, while we both like the look of the FT, it certainly will need a whole lot of upfitment to look anything close to cool. Just sayin. It's well... mom and pop-ish. The class B retirees will luv it!


Interior rear volume
Fantastic for both of us! There is just so much one could do behind the cockpit in the LWB EB High Roof van!! And THAT is the one thing that will keep the Transit in our vans-to-watch list.

So back to the summary/bottom line. For my wife and I... We will continue to follow the Ford Transit development over the next few years. And again, the only real reason we would consider one would be for all the extra room we could fill with an all-in-one camping conversion where we no longer desired to pull our fun little fiberglass travel trailer and have two _rooms_. It certainly beats out the Sprinter in our opinion due to the great dealer network (like our Chevy). And we are thinking the Promaster will be somewhere in the middle between the two, though we haven't driven or looked closely at one yet (only the outside at a dealer lot after close).

So there you have it. My; "I'm not a Chevy or Ford guy but drive a Chevy Van" Opinion

Cheers,
Thom

Oh yea, we signed our life away so no pics during our event either.
__________________
Greetings from the Sunny Southwest, USA
2017 RAM Promaster Conversion. SOLD: 2010 Chevy Express AWD
Van Build Thread @ SMBForums
accrete is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2014, 03:02 AM   #154
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 16
Re: Accrete's AWD Chevy Van project

Hey Thom,
So i think this might be my first first post on this site and just wanted to say I been following this tread for awhile and i think its been a great resource! My van is where its at today cause of this tread started it all! Just wanted to share a couple of pics of what you inspired me to do to my van. Also I'm in the Portland area !

The First day I pick up my Port Angelas Washington.



The way it sits today after lift and new wheels/Tires.

koontek is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2014, 12:49 PM   #155
Senior Member
 
accrete's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: The Sunny Southwest, USA
Posts: 427
Re: Accrete's AWD Chevy Van project

Greetings Koontek and thanks for the visit, kudos, and sharing those two great shots of your new van. Those wheels/tires look great on there (& the lift!).

ENJOY
Thom
__________________
Greetings from the Sunny Southwest, USA
2017 RAM Promaster Conversion. SOLD: 2010 Chevy Express AWD
Van Build Thread @ SMBForums
accrete is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2014, 01:41 PM   #156
Senior Member
 
rockbender's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 800
Re: Accrete's AWD Chevy Van project

OK, koontek - you opened the can of worms! We expect a full report now - might as well get a build thread started!
Inquiring minds want to know year, options, gear ratios, new tire size, lift height, current interior, future interior plans... you get the picture.

Great looking van - welcome!
__________________
Josh
2009 Express AWD, CCV Top & 50-ish home build. Daily driver/camper/kid hauler
rockbender is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2014, 06:07 PM   #157
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 16
Re: Accrete's AWD Chevy Van project

accrete and rock bender i will start a build tread soon on my van. I do have a lot of other little things i have done just been trying to gather pictures and some time to start one. BTW do you guys have any info on air bags/shocks for the rear end for heavy loads ? I been looking around and most companies only list products for the 2500 & 3500. I did the Roadmaster active rear suspension but I might be switching to air bags if i can find a kit that will fit my van. Thanks for the warm welcome!
koontek is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-18-2014, 10:42 PM   #158
Senior Member
 
rockbender's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 800
Re: Accrete's AWD Chevy Van project

Regarding the rear suspension, I haven't researched too much yet. I know that there was a guy on expo that swapped in 3/4 ton suburban leafs and had good results. Since you've already got a lift, you'd have to see what would be compatible with your current setup to retain the same lift height. Airbags certainly have their place if you occasionally have heavy loads or are towing; otherwise I'd try to get the springs dialed in to the load if it is constant. We'll look forward to seeing more!
__________________
Josh
2009 Express AWD, CCV Top & 50-ish home build. Daily driver/camper/kid hauler
rockbender is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-19-2014, 01:36 PM   #159
Senior Member
 
accrete's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: The Sunny Southwest, USA
Posts: 427
Re: Accrete's AWD Chevy Van project

on rear suspension... I've not researched it much either.

As an FYI... You might recall we run a hundred or so pounds under the GVWR nearly all the time. And the main weight is under the platform bed as far as cargo goes. Even when we put the additional ~250 lbs of tongue weight on the van's hitch from our Parkliner there is no noticable sag.
__________________
Greetings from the Sunny Southwest, USA
2017 RAM Promaster Conversion. SOLD: 2010 Chevy Express AWD
Van Build Thread @ SMBForums
accrete is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2014, 01:14 PM   #160
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 7
Re: Accrete's AWD Chevy Van project

This is a great thread. I have been looking at used 4X4s, but I'm thinking the AWD option would suit my off-road needs for a camper-van - mostly forestry roads and desert washes/arroyos, no rock crawling. Thanks guys for documenting your builds!
Accrete, did you add the "rear handling kit" from BOR, or just the 2" lift?
Accrete and Koontec, I was wondering if you knew how large a tire would fit with the 2-3" lifts - I saw Koontec is running 265R70-17s?
I was also looking around and haven't been able to find info on what differentials these vans have. Sounds like the rear is a limited slip (G80)? Is the front open? (hopefully this isn't a stupid questions).
Awesome vans! I'm looking forward to researching and (hopefully) starting my own build.
-Rob
radorsch is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
aluminess, awd, promaster

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:25 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.