Me and my Van

[Christ]

A long time ago [several years] I had a Caravan that I drove literally everywhere, and after my friend backed into it and it was totaled by the insurance company, I've been kicking myself in the backside for not buying it back and repairing it, because I severely miss the comfort and utility of that particular vehicle.

So when I came across the option to get a B1500 Ram van, I really couldn't pass it up for what it ended up costing me, which was next to nothing.

Now that I have it, I've been putting miles on it and figured that my min mileage is about 14 [hauling/towing], and my max mileage is about 19 [driving 40 pretty much everywhere and keeping the TC lock engaged].

It's equipped with a 175HP 3.9L V6 [think Dakota] and a 727 3 speed trans with TCLK. No tach, no idea what the RPM's are doing [yet].

So far the only mods to it have been installing a hitch, it was an old Verizon van with only 48,000 miles on it [for a 1998!] and a few little issues here and there. I'm in process of installing a third bucket seat up front, cleaning out the back entirely, getting 'regular' truck mirrors instead of the wing mirrors that are on it, and paneling the rear interior with shelving and tool bins.

One mod I have intentions of doing is installing a drop-in box in the floor that takes up the space between the [not] frame rails and has a hinged lid that acts as the van's floor, to carry my chains/straps, etc that I use for hauling. Doing so will emulate a sort of 'belly pan' on the rear of the van's body, so it only makes sense to continue that all the way to the front as much as possible, right? Right.

Now, getting to the real work - I want to change the transmission out if it. The A-518 transmission that also backed 3.9L engines is basically a 727 with an external OD unit on the back of it.

BUT WAIT!

I don't have the PCM to control the OD unit properly, so that'll never work, right? WRONG. While installing this transmission, It'll be set up so that I have the option to split every gear via a switch, because the OD solenoid is a solid 12VDC signal. This will effectively make my A-518 a 6 speed transmission. Then there's the option to lock/unlock in any gear as necessary, since that, too, uses a solid 12VDC signal. 12 whole ranges to play with?! YES!

Odds are, I'll set the TCLK to just lock up at 10MPH and stay locked, though. Don't need to be playin around with TCLK much when you have a switchable splitter unit in place, right?

Anyway, just wanted to introduce the new vehicle... This one's not getting a name just yet. For now, it's all about just doing what I need to do to increase the mileage and make it more cost effective to operate regularly.

Here are some old pics: I'll get a few more newer ones as I work on it more.

[dwarfnebula]

Sweet man! If I remember right those A-518's use a throttle cable to control line pressure so you would be unlikely to hurt anything by actuating shift solenoids or TCC solenoid yourself. I've rigged up full manual control of the AW-4 in my Cherokee and am much happier with it this way!

As a note, the TCLK clutch is pretty dinky. They're only designed to handle cruising power, so careful with it. Obviously you aren't gonna hot rod it around, but keep in mind that you can smoke it if you're not careful.

[Christ]

I found a Merc 300D parts machine that I may be able to trade a John Deere 285 tractor for, so I'm gonna go for that. It'll cost me about $200 in fuel to get the tractor to the guy and pick up the car, but the end result is that the 5 cylinder diesel engine is charted to be put in this van, along with the 4 speed transmission I have from a 240D [since it's already set up to be cable actuated with external shift levers on the gearbox housing].

At some point in the future, the /new/ plan is to outfit the van with 8-lug axles and front spindles and lower it back to it's original height with the heavier suspension and the diesel engine, then add a Laycock OD unit as a divorce mounted OverDrive. I just hope it actually works out this time, and I don't end up having to back out of the plan half way through it due to things that aren't under my control. Again. :/

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Christ

the 5 cylinder diesel engine is charted to be put in this van

That's gonna be a nice setup. I like these American full-size vans for their style, but a Diesel engine is a good improvement even if it follows the Euro school

[Christ]

Ah, well... It's happened again. I found a better deal than the van.

It never fails, I post it up and start planning to work on something, and inevitably, I end up getting rid of it. However, the trade deal I'm working on is an even swap for a pair of VW Passats, one of which is a TDI [sedan], the other a VR6 auto wagon with low miles from Maryland.

I'm trying to swap the van so I can get the TDI and fix the VR6 and sell it. I should be able to get about $1500 or a little more from the VR6, which is actually more than I'll have into the whole deal, everything I've done w/ the van included.

I still have the mule [6.0L Chevy 2500HD flat bed] and plenty of trailers [about 10, all told] to do everything I need to do... the van just isnt' as utilitarian as I'd like it to be in an ideal world.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Christ

I still have the mule [6.0L Chevy 2500HD flat bed] and plenty of trailers [about 10, all told] to do everything I need to do... the van just isnt' as utilitarian as I'd like it to be in an ideal world.

Too bad the OM617 would be overkill into the Chevy

[Sven7]

Put the TDI in the van, haha!

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Sven7

Put the TDI in the van, haha!

That was actually the plan originally, when I planned on buying the cars outright from the guy. By making this swap, I'm taking a hit on value, but not on actual dollars spent. In fact, I'll be quite a chunk into the positive on dollars spent by the time I sell the VR6, even if I only get $1000 out of it.

I'd love to put the OM617 into the 2500 Chevy, but it'd be a waste of time. The truck weighs 8450 pulling my 16' utility trailer, which puts it at about 7,000 on it's own, and I've crossed scales at 21k with it already [It's not registered to handle that, but that's beside the point]. The OM617 wouldn't even /begin/ to handle the loads that the 6.0 can, and thus would defeat the whole purpose of having the truck in the first place. I can move a mobile home with this truck if I want to - I'd like to keep it that way, despite the worse-than-dismal fuel economy.

Besides, I charge up to $1.40/mile loaded - more than covers the fuel costs.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Christ

I'd love to put the OM617 into the 2500 Chevy, but it'd be a waste of time. The truck weighs 8450 pulling my 16' utility trailer, which puts it at about 7,000 on it's own, and I've crossed scales at 21k with it already [It's not registered to handle that, but that's beside the point]. The OM617 wouldn't even /begin/ to handle the loads that the 6.0 can, and thus would defeat the whole purpose of having the truck in the first place.

That would be really overkill, as I said previously, altough I have already seen some 3.0L turbodiesels performing the same jobs that the 6.0L does, such as the 4JJ1-TC from the Isuzu NPR Eco-Max. BTW is the 6.0L stock? Have you never ever even lurked about getting a cam with the same profile of the one from the Tahoe hybrid, which is also a 6.0L, and to fit it with a supercharger?

[Christ]

Yep, the 6.0 is completely stock. Since I've only had the truck a couple months, I haven't looked into doing anything at all to it other than fixing up the truck itself, which needs a couple doors and some rust repair to the cab and a few little electrical bugs fixed, and I've been really slacking at doing any of that as well, since I've also been using the truck to get wood and such and haul things.

Those NPR motors are putting out mid 200's and higher for HP, IIRC. Totally different ball game than the 130ish HP that the 5 cylinder puts out, and there's quite a bit of coin to be spent getting ahold of one of those engines as well.