Why is twin I-beam the worst of independent suspensions?

[Eddo Rogue]

I liked the hell out of mine. A 73 Econoline E300 Super Van with a straight 300 Six I bought in 1978.

It had 10 ft from back of drivers seat to inside back door. For years I traveled around with an easy chair behind the drivers seat and a box spring and mattress back there somewhere.

The steering was a TIB and after a few years it had gotten rather loose. I was closer to home then but it was still full of tools and such

The coils were easy to break loose and release with a floor jack under them.
I took them to a machine shop and had the bearings and maybe kingpin too, I really can;t remember it well, all pressed in. I put some 50 year roofing rubber everywhere anything touched tight enough to hold it and bolted it all back up.

Not a major chore at all, I really guess thinking about it was the hardest part
.
Not long before I made it back home after dad had began to lose his memory a scrapper came by and talked my father out of it, knowing my father had no clue what he was talking about :/

If only that mattress could talk....

 

[Eddo Rogue]

IIRC, that woman was an inexperienced (new) driver, had put some heavy load on the roof, and had not properly inflated the tires when she rolled the Corvair. That came out after Nader's book appeared.

And so began the shift in advancement to making everything idiot proof. The demise of progress. Idiots human masses, ruining it for the rest of us. Earth humans could have been so great....sad.

 

[Josh B]

I liked the hell out of mine. A 73 Econoline E300 Super Van with a straight 300 Six I bought in 1978.

It had 10 ft from back of drivers seat to inside back door. For years I traveled around with an easy chair behind the drivers seat and a box spring and mattress back there somewhere.

The steering was a TIB and after a few years it had gotten rather loose. I was closer to home then but it was still full of tools and such

The coils were easy to break loose and release with a floor jack under them.
I took them to a machine shop and had the bearings and maybe kingpin too, I really can;t remember it well, all pressed in. I put some 50 year roofing rubber everywhere anything touched tight enough to hold it and bolted it all back up.

Not a major chore at all, I really guess thinking about it was the hardest part
.
Not long before I made it back home after dad had began to lose his memory a scrapper came by and talked my father out of it, knowing my father had no clue what he was talking about :/

I actually left out a bit of that. Prior to replacing the kingpin bushings the steering was loose as a goose, but still I drove it over three states.
It would still do good for me whether it was dirt roads or open highway. I was probably much better off having that TIB in any condition than any alternative with excess wear. And I drove a lot of dirt roads and a lot of highways

 

[Roert42]

I always wanted a Van, but they are just too expensive. They are so useful they hold their value too well.

Guy near me was selling an E-250, it was one of the last ones before they switched to the Transit vans. Body was in good shape, but the engine had a rod knock and they still wanted $16K.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I actually left out a bit of that. Prior to replacing the kingpin bushings the steering was loose as a goose, but still I drove it over three states.
It would still do good for me whether it was dirt roads or open highway. I was probably much better off having that TIB in any condition than any alternative with excess wear. And I drove a lot of dirt roads and a lot of highways

That is partially why im also so in love with the older stuff....they are much more friendly to neglected maintence

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I always wanted a Van, but they are just too expensive. They are so useful they hold their value too well.

Guy near me was selling an E-250, it was one of the last ones before they switched to the Transit vans. Body was in good shape, but the engine had a rod knock and they still wanted $16K.

Thats insane. Ill nose around at conversions every now and again, seems there are nice ones everywhere with decent miles for 6-8k.

Id love to have a clean like...88-91 ford conversion. Preferably with a 351. Be awesome for camping in up north and pulling the quads, and not as obnoxious as an actual motorhome

 

[Roert42]

I haven't seen a running econoline van that I could legally drive on the road for less then $10K in the past 10 years.

I also haven't been searching them out regularly.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I haven't seen a running econoline van that I could legally drive on the road for less then $10K in the past 10 years.

I also haven't been searching them out regularly.

Hit up CL or probably facebook marketplace too. They are definantly around for good prices. Atleast the E150's. I dont see alot of 250/350s for sale and im usually looking at conversions not panels....i did run across a sweet mid 00's E250 conversion with a V10 and like 100k on it for 11,000.

Might depend on your area too. Around here the big conversions arent popular because most would opt for an expedition or something to have 4wd.

 

[Roert42]

Hit up CL or probably facebook marketplace too. They are definantly around for good prices. Atleast the E150's. I dont see alot of 250/350s for sale and im usually looking at conversions not panels....i did run across a sweet mid 00's E250 conversion with a V10 and like 100k on it for 11,000.

Might depend on your area too. Around here the big conversions arent popular because most would opt for an expedition or something to have 4wd.

There are some E150s, but they are all 200,000+ mile 4.6s with rusted out rockers for like $8k.

If I'm paying that much for a beat to hell pos.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

There are some E150s, but they are all 200,000+ mile 4.6s with rusted out rockers for like $8k.

If I'm paying that much for a beat to hell pos.

Yeah i done blame you. Thats was one thing i didnt care for on my 94, it had the 302 and 3.31 gears. Was a good cruiser and got decent mpg on the freeway, but damn was it weak.

 

[19Walt93]

IIRC, that woman was an inexperienced (new) driver, had put some heavy load on the roof, and had not properly inflated the tires when she rolled the Corvair. That came out after Nader's book appeared.

I don't doubt that for a minute. Nader really wanted to be famous but didn't have any skills.

 

[19Walt93]

I always hated vans, the 67 and earlier ones that were all six cylinders weren't too bad to work on except that the long column shift linkage was a constant problem and the engine had to be pulled out the passenger door using our wrecker as a motor crane. The later ones with V8's had less engine access and still the column shift linkage problems. I did a valve job on a 65 Econoline with a 289 transplanted in it- the alternator live in a box bolted to the side of the doghouse- with white fir all over the interior. I had every fender blanket in the shop tied up trying to keep it clean. We took a fleet customer away from our flat rate neighbor and found a bunch of 460 E350's with 5 new spark plugs and 3 old plugs in cylinders 1,2,and 3 because they were tough to get at.
Conversion vans sucked worse, they'd have a bunch of aftermarket trinkets added on, quite often in a way that required demolition to get at the Ford stuff. The added weight would require extra load tires, when people would buy replacement tires they'd get what the vehicle specs called for and the vans would wander all over the road. The problem couldn't possibly be with the tires, it had to be the alignment we did.
Vans are good if you're a plumber or an electrician, or if you need a chicken coop and don't have building skills.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I always hated vans, the 67 and earlier ones that were all six cylinders weren't too bad to work on except that the long column shift linkage was a constant problem and the engine had to be pulled out the passenger door using our wrecker as a motor crane. The later ones with V8's had less engine access and still the column shift linkage problems. I did a valve job on a 65 Econoline with a 289 transplanted in it- the alternator live in a box bolted to the side of the doghouse- with white fir all over the interior. I had every fender blanket in the shop tied up trying to keep it clean. We took a fleet customer away from our flat rate neighbor and found a bunch of 460 E350's with 5 new spark plugs and 3 old plugs in cylinders 1,2,and 3 because they were tough to get at.
Conversion vans sucked worse, they'd have a bunch of aftermarket trinkets added on, quite often in a way that required demolition to get at the Ford stuff. The added weight would require extra load tires, when people would buy replacement tires they'd get what the vehicle specs called for and the vans would wander all over the road. The problem couldn't possibly be with the tires, it had to be the alignment we did.
Vans are good if you're a plumber or an electrician, or if you need a chicken coop and don't have building skills.

I always thought standard procedure for van engine removal was pulling the front clip/core support and sliding it out forward

 

[Roert42]

I always thought standard procedure for van engine removal was pulling the front clip/core support and sliding it out forward

I think he was talking about the COE vans with the flip up panel between the seats.

 

[Chapap]

I think he was talking about the COE vans with the flip up panel between the seats.

I've never given these old vans with or without that panel even half a glance. They just look like a nightmare to work on. My dad had a 90s Caravan and our preferred mechanic flat out refused some fix it needed. maybe a timing belt. He ended up ignoring it and it ran to 250k. Was such a piece of junk by then that he quit maintaining it (no oil changes, plugs, bearings...). At 350k it developed a brake leak that bleeding wouldn't fix so he wanted to scrap it. I convinced him to sell it for what the junk yard would pay for it. Was still a great running van. Original tranny and engine and still ran and shifted perfectly.