I’m going to pontificate a bit. Hell, it’s my thread I can do what I want.
What we have on this forum is a somewhat schizophrenic population. There are those who want an absolutely go-anywhere vehicle, that they can also sleep in for days at a time. There are also those who want to live in a vehicle for weeks and months at a time, that goes nearly everywhere in all weather, and can actually come back when needed.
We look at the videos and images from the first group, as they bound over and around boulders the size of the Jefferson Memorial – or drop of the 1000’ cliffs around East Mungchung, Utah – and most of us just stare. For us, it’s a come-to-Jesus moment every 15 minutes. I, at least, am constantly blown away; i.e. my brain explodes. I love watching it but, even given my background, can’t imagine me doing it. (To be fair, I used to work with some guys that are probably doing crazy sh*t like that yet tody.) I suspect this crowd is by far the majority of Ford E350 vehicles. Usually the vehicle's road manners are a little barbaric, but by God, they go where they want.
On the other hand, there’s a population on here that simply wants to live someplace yet can move on whim or by necessity. Today this is the stealth camping/tiny house crowd (I think we were called “homeless” and “vagrant” back when I was doing it.). Don’t like living in Lower Jabip? Move on down the road. Need to work for a week or a month or even a year in some other town? Drive on over and find a parking space. At the same time, these folks may actually have to be able to make the move at any time in any weather; hence four-wheel drive. I’m guessing many of the Mercedes, Transit, etc. folks fall into this category.
My van is obviously something of a hybrid. First, it was built before there were a lot of viable choices. Second, when I did have to move it, I had – and still have – the deplorable habit of finding the most unlikely route in whatever area I am in. For me, the ground clearance, crawling ability, and overall “toughness” of the E350 would still be my vehicle of choice. I’ve done my best to civilize its behavior (and it is a dream to drive these days) but there’s no doubt it’s still a truck and, given the necessary additional investment, it would probably provide the rock crawlers with an acceptable vehicle.
Now for you stealth campers and tiny house people, here’s what I would change in my van to enable you to live in the Bay Area for a few years. First, there is still room on the roof to install a pretty adequate solar charging system. Change all the bulbs to LED and you’re set to go (or stay, in this case). I would also upgrade the refrigerator to a condenser version such as
https://www.engelcoolers.com/sb70f.html. I will probably do that myself if it doesn’t sell. Next, assuming you might find a job in Missoula or the mountains of Colorado, I would wrap the entire plumbing system in heat tape. Remember, heat tape doesn’t care if it gets AC or DC and it's not really that pricey. It wouldn’t take much, and they even have “mittens” to go over the pump. Next, and you probably already know this, join a health club. They’ve done more to keep vagrant America clean than all the rescue missions combined. Finally, and I am only half kidding, I would get a magnetic sign to put on the side of the van. The van is black (obviously) and was designed to disappear in National Forests and reservations; it was never a good idea to be totally conspicuous in the north woods. While this is great in the woods, it scares the bejesus out of your good neighbors in an urban/suburban setting; it’s ominous. Some friends of mine call it the "Death Star". While the most natural sign would probably say SWAT or Air America (that’s perhaps a Viet Nam joke) you probably want something to say Acme Plumbing or something similar. Consider getting some orange cones to put around it when you’re parked.
OK, end of pontification. I probable talked some folks out of the van with that last paragraph, but at least they won’t be disappointed.
Death Star
AWOL
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