In 2010 I assembled my first adventure van.<\/p>\n
It was a 1997 Ford E-250 that had been one of my companies construction vans since around the year 2000.<\/p>\n
It had been sitting in the yard with a dead engine for two years and the ex-ball and chain told me to get it running or scrap it.\u00a0 I spent the next few months installing a new engine, upgrading the suspension, installing larger tires, adding a custom rear bumper, solar panels on the roof and upgrading the living quarters. I also added a hitch to carry a dual sport motorcycle.<\/p>\n
That van saw numerous family vacations to Florida, Colorado and even two trips to California for the King of the Hammers races. I still own the van but it has issues that would be overly expensive to overcome. The number 1 flaw of this vehicle is that it has the slowest engine Ford ever stuck in a truck. The 4.2 L six cylinder. This engine howls if driven over 60mph. 60mph in Delaware is fine, as our speed limits are all 55 or less, but get it on a Western State expressway or put it in the mountains and it struggles. Gas mileage is also an issue. I don’t drive hard and at it’s best on long road trips it gets 14 mpg. 12 mpg around town is the norm. Lastly, although I purchased almost everything needed to convert it to 4 Wheel Drive, I never got around to installing it, primarily due to the small engine, but also lack of welding equipment, experience and funds.<\/p>\n
It’s now 2018, I’ve been dreaming of a new 4×4 van for the last 5 years and finally had the spare cash to buy one.<\/p>\n
The “New” van is a 2004 Chevy Express AWD.\u00a0 This van has a 5.3L LM7 Vortec LS Engine. Stock this engine is just under 300 hp, with some light modifications it can hit 450 hp, and with a turbo it can hit well over 700 hp. While not full 4×4, the AWD system should be good for most of what I’ll throw at it. I’m not looking to build a rock crawler, just a go almost anywhere vehicle. When the roads get too rough for the van, I’ll have a motorcross bike strapped to the back of it. I’ll probably add a winch in-case I slide off a road and get stuck in a ditch.<\/p>\n
Advantages to the Chevy over the Ford? 8 cylinder engine capable of better gas mileage and significantly MORE POWER. Did I mention, it’s an LS Engine? It’s already got AWD, so I won’t have to do much with that, maybe add an E Locker to the rear differential.\u00a0 If it drives on the sand on our Eastern Atlantic Ocean Delaware Beaches, I’ll be content. Again, I don’t need it to be a rock crawler, I just need it to get us to camp sites and ski resorts in remote places.<\/p>\n
What did I pay for this beast and where did I find it?<\/p>\n
I took a big gamble and bought it at an auction. The website said the engine ran but the van would not drive. I won the auction for $750. If nothing else I was getting a running LS engine for under $1000.<\/p>\n
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