90 E250 Camper Van: Make It Nicer to Drive

As some of you know I have 90 E250 Camper Van as a tow vehicle race headquarters. I am at a possible crossroads.

Background: We are looking at new vehicles for my wife and one of the considerations is towing the race cars. 

Before I go that route I thought that perhaps I should make the van a nicer place to be on road trips or just make it less cumbersome dragging race cars around.

My thoughts are some sound deadening for the front (It has curtains behind the front seats) and new door seals in an effort to cut down on the interior noise. 

For the drivability I was thinking some upgraded front shocks (rears are air shocks) and refreshing the bushings and possibly some sway bars. The sway bars I go round and round on because they are near $800 for the set (why yes, yes I am cheap). 

My trailer weighs 800lbs, the Datsun is 1600lbs, the F500 is 640lbs so I'm never towing more than 2400lbs. The van itself weighs 7300lbs 

Here is the vehicle in question. As always any thoughts would be appreciated.

That is a sweet van. 

2400 lbs is not a lot to tow. Even a modern minivan will do that pretty happily.  

It will be hard to make it truly quiet in there. Sound deadening, either a mass loaded vinyl or jute layer, will make a difference, but modern aero, triple layer door seals, flush front and side window glass, mirrors, foam filled pillars, etc all make a huge difference. I've had better luck trying make protrusions more aerodynamic (on a GMT400, late trucks had streamlined mirrors, wind deflectors for the wipers, new seals, making sure doors were aligned well, etc.) than I have with sound deadening, unless engine bay noise is the problem.

With the top heavy shell, I'd be trying to find the stiffest shocks you can get. Many cheap aftermarket options are soggier than stock, at least on the GM stuff I've had. TTB vehicles always feel wobbly to me anyway, but maybe I've just never driven one that wasn't worn out. 

$800 for bars is a lot. No junkyard options off of another model? On GM stuff the 1500s have a rear bar that can be adapted, and sometimes the 3500+ options are beefier as well. If there's nothing on the rear at all, I'd spend some quality time in a junkyard first since that will both make a big difference and usually solid axles are easy to adapt things to.

In reply to gearheadE30 :

I was also going to play with upping the pressure in the air shocks. I've been going with 15 PSI. Even that low the handing is much better than O psi.

gearheadE30 said:

$800 for bars is a lot. No junkyard options off of another model? On GM stuff the 1500s have a rear bar that can be adapted, and sometimes the 3500+ options are beefier as well. If there's nothing on the rear at all, I'd spend some quality time in a junkyard first since that will both make a big difference and usually solid axles are easy to adapt things to.

This was my thought too. Newer or older model Exxx may have what you want.

I would make sure the seats have arm rests  that sit at the right angle and height to be comfortable for long drives ,  I assume it already has Captain chairs.

Looks like a nice  Van  

PS :  would a front swap bar off a school bus conversion be thicker ?

In reply to californiamilleghia :

Yes it has captains chairs; they are 33 years old of course.

Not sure about the school bus bar.

I have a 2008 E350 extended with the 6.0 diesel. I feel your pain on the interior noise. I installed generic dynamat on every panel and then added additional sound isolation sheets. I stuffed it into every open space I could access. I removed the headliner and did the same.

I was surprised at how well it worked. My 11yr old daughter even noticed how it was quieter and easier to talk, rest, and listen to music. Don't go overboard with the dynamat. You only need to cover 25-30% of each panel. Adding more is a waste of $.

For driveability I installed a rear Helwig swaybar and it was worth every penny. I also replaced the steering bushings with ones that allow WAY more camber and caster. Increase the caster to the maximum available and the van will no longer wander on the freeway.

Shocks help as do airbags. Also consider installing a steering stabilizer.

While I love the Twin I-Beam suspension, it's never one I would put in any sort of "cushy" or "silky ride" category.  Its a workhorse. 

If you're ok with that, then what you have planned should work.  From my experience, I would stay far away from anything urethane for the bushings and just go with the stock stuff.  Also the unsprung weight of the I-beams murders shocks.  The only ones I've found for my '93 F150 that last a decent amount of time are Bilsteins (Bilstien?)

New shocks will help, but as hinted above if you really want an improvement, expect to spend some $$$.  Good shocks for these vans are not cheap.

Check the condition of the dog-house seals.  Any tiny gaps in the seal will allow a shocking amount of engine noise into the interior.  BTDT. 

In reply to Mr_Asa :

I was actually going to go with the Bilsteins.

Bilsteins. There are two options, the HD and "comfort." For you weight, you probably want the "comfort." There are lots of threads on expedition portal and sportsmobile forums. My E250 is a similar weight to yours and I decided on comforts over HDs based on what I read, but I have yet to pull the trigger. 
 

I'd also go with Hellwig bars front and rear. They relocate the mounting point on the I-beam which supposedly helps with steering. It's on my list of things to do as well. You can get a Ford rear sway bar that came in some models like E450 U-hauls and the like, but I don't think they are as thick as the Hellwig.
 

I did get the Ford OE steering stabilizer and that helped a bit with freeway driving.

@MyF16n, which bushings are you referring to? Caster sleeves from Moog supposedly allow adjustment in camber and caster. The caster sleeves I got were not Moog and one can't adjust the camber so there is a limit to how much caster can be added before camber goes too negative. I'd recommend the Moog units and have your alignment shop max out the caster.

In reply to CyberEric :

These are the sleeves I had installed. I noticed an immediate difference. I also noticed less commentary from my wife when she drives.

Caster and Camber

In reply to myf16n :

Cool, thanks!