94 Coachmen Class B

[jydog]

Viva, I started using 3/8 T50 staples because that is what I had on hand but they are little long. I noticed the existing fabric was stapled on with 1/4 so i did the rest of it with them.

hogasm I went with the MOOG CC880S springs and the comfort Bilstein RV shocks. It rides real nice and gave me about 1" lift. Had it aligned and it handles really well now. I scored this

Hellwig Sway Bar - 7085 - Ford E350 Cutaway Motorhome Anti-Sway Bars by Hellwig on ebay and it is going on next with a set of rear Bilstein Comfort RV shock and maybe a 1" block.

I have a set of F350 rear springs with the same dimensions as a E350 Van but they will probably end up giving me too much lift. They would be great for a 4x4 conversion. I'll probably just end up using the 1" blocks

[jydog]

Man, I so want to do this to my 351.

[shenrie]

drive something similar with that setup before you commit to the idea. any setup ive driven with the turbos that far away from the source were lacking the usual turbo umph that gets the adrenaline going. there was just too much piping and places to loose pressure. granted its been 8-10 years and technology has progressed a ton with turbos, but the ws6 and 454 ss with a big singles in a remote location i test drove were both far from impressive. the turbo 4 banger we had at the time would have put the hurt to both of them and it was only a 1.8. plus all those very expensive vitals just hanging there waiting to be damaged by rocks and stumps when out in remote areas would always leave me scared about messing them up.

not trying to discourage here, so please dont get me wrong. id love to see someone boost a campervan, just make sure you research thoroughly prior to dropping coin

[jydog]

All good points shenrie. I am just looking into ways of getting a little more umph out of this 351. It does ok but its no 460 although the gas mileage thinks so 10.7 mpg at 70mph. 8 mpg driving around town. Maybe I'll just stroke it to a 408 or 393 and put some aluminum heads on it.

[Viva]

jyydog,

I had missed your reply earlier about the stapes. Thanks for the info! Going to be doing similar soon and amassing my mental array of options, so it's helpful.

[jydog]

06 5.4 e350 SD Box van cutaway. Couldn't pass it up. Price was right because it had a rod knock. Now what to do with it? I've seen Ujoints v4 I think it is and that's giving me ideas of making a srw 4x4 box van rv conversion.



I need to find a 10-12 ft box like this one.

[JWA]

While cruising a few local scrap yards I've run across several ambulance bodies that would have been quite suitable for an RV-type conversion. One instance had them quoting me $650 for an older Horton ambo box only, they'd removed it undamaged from the existing frame and place it on a flat trailer for me no problems.

If visiting your local yards doesn't yield anything I'd contact truck body builders or refitters in your area to see what they might have in the pre-owned inventory.

The scrap yards where I've found the ambo's etc all seemed far more interested in the frames and drive trains than the boxes. I understand that and if its the same most other places its a huge advantage price-wise---we're helping them out after all?!

[jydog]

Thanks JWA, the ambulances looks pretty similar to that body style and are probably made better also. I think I recall seeing a few in a local salvage yard. Im heading out to take a look tomorrow . The engine is worse than I thought. It's locked up. It's a 5.4 with 175k miles. I pulled the dipstick and the oil is pretty clean but a quart low. No telling what happened. I wish those 12v cummins engines werent so expensive, Id give a swap a shot.

[JWA]

For a short while another member some time ago was doing a build out on a cube van, I'll look for that thread and post a link. It might trigger a few ideas for your project JYDog.

Just curious if you know the manufacturer of the body you show? Looks to be a nice starting point.

[jydog]

The body is a spartan supreme. I'm looking for a 10-12 foot. I actually found a 12ft ambulance body but it is not tall enough to completely stand up in and it weighs almost 5k lbs. But its only 500.