Quote:
Originally Posted by Mavrick300
Lot's of good info in there thank you! Are there many people on here with pre 1991 SMBs? When I have tried search I only find for sale ads and not much talk about them. I guess that means they don't have many problems?? lol Thanks for all your help with a newbie. I have been camping all my life in my parents 94 Bounder and have always liked the thought of the the ease of a camper van!
|
While a 1990 Econoline might *look* like it's a lot older than, say, a 1995 Econoline....it's not really the case. There's a lot more "the same" than different, at least where it truly counts (under the skin).
True, the Econoline went through what is acknowledged as a "major redesign" in 1992 (the introduction of the body style that carried through, with a front-end redesign in 2008, all the way until 2014)......
but those first "redesigned" fourth-gen Econolines in 1992 were still remarkably similar, mechanically, to the third-gen ones they replaced.
Same Chassis (Ford "VN" platform)......Same engine (5.8L 351W) .....same transmission (E4OD, a transmission that saw continued refinement and use for quite some time)......same axles (more or less).....same "twin I-beam" front suspension.....
Great reading here --- (quick overall understanding of what made a third-gen (1975-1991) different from a fourth-gen (1992-2014) E-series van.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_E-Series
In short -- I don't think your potential 1990 Sportsmobile would be any different in overall issues/reliability than one built as late as 1995 (or 1996), the last years for the 5.8L engine. (In 1996, Ford switched over to the more modern "OBD2" engine computers; older vans use the simpler OBD1 systems.)