My 1990 Ford E-350 Goshen Bus

[Stuff]

well with the crappy headwinds all day today and yesterday i managed 12.5 mpg average. 356.9 miles and used 28.5 gallons of diesel. included 2 hours of idling at the farm for lights/power/heating for the night and includes city driving in downtown traffic and lots of that was stop and go.

on better news the 2 year old diesel in the tanks was no problem and my fuel filter light is off now. Also tranny is shifting very smooth now to. guess it needed to stretch its legs.

Another noteworthy thing is that in Regina i took a wrong turn in a residential area and came across another 1990 E350 goshen bus with a tag axle! tried to find it on google maps but no success... might stop and see it next time im up there!

[Stuff]

So just little backup of the mileage. winds were 40 km/h gusting to 60km/hr (25-37mph)

mileage at fuel up before trip

fuel used

mileage at fuel up at end of trip.



so
63066.4 - 62709.5 = 356.9 Miles and 108 liters = 28.5 US gallons.

108 Liters / 28.5 gallons - 12.5 mpg


also another shot for the heck of it when in Regina :P

[Stuff]

so i was in regina again this last weekend for easter and went by where i saw the bus and yeah.. not there. saw where it had been sitting but its gone

anyhow how would one soften the ride or make it less bouncy in the rear of the bus? front is fine but gf was in the back before the rear duals and said it was like a roller coaster the whole way and after a couple hours it was uncomfortable and made her head/face hurt..

[TygerCub]

One way is to add a little weight to the back with furniture if at all possible.
Another is to lower the tire pressure slightly.
Or, there is always the popular... get a softer seat! (I'm partial to really thick memory foam)

Good luck!

[Stuff]

lol wish it was that simple :P

thinking might have to see about loosing a couple springs.. gonna see if i can get them lubed up.

[Tango]

Ya gotta remember that these old buses were intended to carry around two or three dozen passengers, generally rated at 250 lbs. per butt. That's anywhere from 6 - 9000 pounds of flesh the springs meant to accommodate. Most conversions don't add that much weight, so you wind up with a very stiff ride. Sometimes it is possible to simply remove a few leafs, but you can easily wind up with an even bouncier ride unless you compensate somehow. Air bags are great if you have megabucks, but you can get close to the same effect with a set of good quality, adjustable gas shocks. You can also get adjustable air shocks, but in my experience, more people swear at them than on them. I junked a set on a little 21 footer and replaced them with spring assisted gas. Made for a MUCH better ride. Long story even longer...gather as much experience from others as you can before you start hacking on the suspension and remember that the handling will also be very much affected by whatever changes you make. Best of luck and keep us up on what route you take.

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by Tango

... Air bags are great if you have megabucks, but you can get close to the same effect with a set of good quality, adjustable gas shocks...

The Firestone Air Adjustable Ride-Rite Helper Spring Kits are decently priced at JC Whitney. We installed them on the Class C in addition to the leaf springs (it had bottomed out the leaf springs and every bump would rattle my teeth). Smoothed out the ride big time. The Bluebird rides well and we don't think we need them for our bus. But we have thought about using them to slightly level the bus (we will have an air compressor on board to inflate the air bags with) and why I wish I knew a similar chassis we would need to specify for the Ft. Valley chassis. We can lift the Class C's rear several inches.

BTW, from what I have read, these are the same as what some of the stick-&-staples RV owners have put on their units but they paid far more than we did. (even same for same). The one we bought is currently selling for $289.51 which still beats the $600 to $800 others paid for similar sized Class C Firestone Ride-Rite Air Spring kits (5 years ago).

While these particular air springs will not work with your particular unit...
these will work for a 1990 Ford E350 Motorhome Basically, you are buying the air spring kit in separate components. Add it up and see if it would work for you.

[Stuff]

[CLICK PICTURES FOR LARGER IMAGE]

Well as of today it is officially licensed as a MOTORHOME!! went in to renew and asked if i could title it as such. Lady said sure no problem, asked what was in it, and boom! done!


Also got the wheel simulators and the valve stem extensions put on. so simple its stupid! lol

Front



Rear




and at home



Also got rid of the queen beds and put in a futon from storage!

[chev49]

air bags,,,
no one mentioned an air seat...
wider radials on wide rims
etc.

[Stuff]

So today I replaced the solenoids for the bus. good thing i did because it looks like the positive side solenoid was discoloured..

the original positive solenoid. note it is not silver and upside down..


original negative solenoid


comparison of the solenoids. the original negative one was much smaller but it was still nice and silver..


replaced positive solenoid


replaced negative solenoid

[Stuff]

video pretty much sums up last post lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5jlcuIpx_w

[Stuff]

well small setback.. the hitch i have is too narrow.. apparently there is a difference between a hitch for a ford van and a ford cutaway chassis like mine.. of about 6" wider for mine.. largest i can find is Uhaul class 4 hitch.. with an EQ its only good for 10k lbs..

[bansil]

Originally Posted by Stuff

well small setback.. the hitch i have is too narrow.. apparently there is a difference between a hitch for a ford van and a ford cutaway chassis like mine.. of about 6" wider for mine.. largest i can find is Uhaul class 4 hitch.. with an EQ its only good for 10k lbs..

Why do you need more than 10k?

A 2 axle trailer about 2500
so that leaves 7500 pounds to haul, that would cover all sports cars,most all vehicles on the road today(except for some trucks and soccer mobiles)
just curious

[Stuff]

my rv is 11,000 lbs dry, 1,000lbs hitch weight.

did some digging and found there hasnt been a "class 5" hitch ever made for the vans.. class 4 goes to 10,000 pull 1,000 hitch with a WDH. Also being a "Cab/Chassis" model of E350 it has the wider frame but it isnt really listed for most manufactures. I did find the adjustable ones for motorhomes etc but they are only rated to pull 5,000lbs most likely due to the sliding braces and its adjustability making it weaker.

My father called an old welder buddy of his and going to see if he can custom fab something up for me. NONE of the metal fab shops in town will do it for liability reasons..

so.. anyone want to buy a brand new 73-91 ford VAN hitch? lol

[TygerCub]

Congrats on getting the electrical stuff sorted out! It's nice to feel confident in your vehicle not going "BOOM", isn't it?

[Stuff]

Originally Posted by TygerCub

Congrats on getting the electrical stuff sorted out! It's nice to feel confident in your vehicle not going "BOOM", isn't it?

THAT IS SO TRUE! also love that everything works 100% to! gonna get that AC looked at some day just to make sure..

Also when in regina yesterday I found the "other" goshen bus that was eluding me... nobody around though to bug about it though..

[chev49]

it is quite easy to build a reciever hitch. you can even buy the square tubing end with the holes, etc instead of making it yourself, and just welding up the rest.
I normally make my own from scratch, but the last time i went to the scrap yard, they had a large pile of them for sale for $50. from the light to the really heavy towing capacity. have to make one for my bus, so i am gonna buy one of theirs after i measure my frame rail, and just redo the attaching end. so you could check scrap yards to see, cause if you find one that is close, it will be easy to do.

[Stuff]

a friend of my fathers is a welder and said he would have a look at it but a whole week gone by and nothing.. said something bout he wanted to see the hitch i had and see what he could do with that.

Im sure a brace of some sort down to a square tubing to hold the 2" receiver would sufficient if enforced enough.

[Stuff]

Had the bus out for an excursion today! 8 of us went out fishing for the day. proved to be a good trip!

[Stuff]

Okay... THESE ARE CRAP!!



drivers outside dual was down to 10 psi and passenger side was flat! they leak at the valve stem cap! inner dual extension works fine!

I think im gonna find a dealer that will bring in valve stems that are ment for duals and that stick out on their own!! and those rubber stems on it now were a bugger to get any air chuck on.. blah!!