Since this thread came up again now....
I had the complete front swap done at Quadvan a couple of months ago (1998 E-350, 60,xxx miles), so I now have a complete 2014 take-off front end/brakes. I went into it because I felt the vehicle was "under-braked." 1998 is the last year for rear drums, for whatever that is worth (OTOH, my previous 1997 E-250 SMB with the same brakes seemed fine -- but it was quite a bit lighter). The suspension upgrades/new parts were just a side bonus. I am more than pleased with the results (and the reasonable cost plus impeccable service at Quadvan). Wow, it's a whole new vehicle in the stopping department! Great brakes now.
While I was at it I put on a Roadmaster front anti-sway bar. Nice improvement. I also put on a rear Roadmaster anti-sway bar. UGH, that made the rear suspension super harsh and shook things off the walls that hadn't ever budged before (so not just my imagination!). Did some experimenting with various front/rear combinations and ended up keeping the front Roadmaster bar and removing the rear Roadmaster bar and replacing that with a stock Ford E-450 rear bar from a junkyard (IIRC, the Roadmaster rear bar is 1-1/2" diameter and the Ford one is 1" diameter -- my rig had no rear bar in stock configuration). This seemed to be the best combination of "more fun and better" handling without making the rear suspension harsher. It IS a lot better/more fun than it was in stock trim.
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Originally Posted by BrianW
I did the same upgrade back in May and now have 9,000 miles on the swap. I did a complete front swap though, brakes and suspension. So far so good. For wheels I got a set of OEM Ford 16" alloys from a 2012 van (same van I got the parts from).
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I had been thinking of going to ALCOA wheels (I have the stock 16" steel wheels now) and hadn't even thought of them not fitting with the new front end parts. Are the OEM Ford alloys ALCOA, do you know? I'm wondering if this means that ALCOA's would fit? (In case I could not find take-offs like you used.)
Actually the main reason (besides cost) that I put off going to aluminum wheels is that it sounds like it creates some complications with the Tireman extended valve stems I have (I have a dually now). So I instead bought two new/reconditioned Ford steel rims to try to cure a vibration that doesn't seem to be anything else (which is also why I was considering aluminum rims).
So anyway, not sure if I will go to ALCOA aluminum rims, but it would be nice to be able to "file away" the info on whether or not they *would* fit.
And to anyone considering the front end swap: I certainly had a good experience doing it at Quadvan and am thrilled with the very noticeable improvement in braking (btw, my previous brakes were all healthy and working properly, yet were still "meager").
Viva