In my introduction to this series, an open ended question I posed was whether or not to write about my Ford van – yet again.
At the time of that writing, I was leaning toward its exclusion from the series. This is not the first, second, or even third time this van has been the subject of an article in these pages. Yet this seasoned Ford van has recently (once again) proven its worth and mettle. Hopefully that doesn’t jinx it.
We have now owned the van for well over twelve years. In my entire life I have never had any other vehicle on the road that long – and anybody who has been around here for a while knows I have had many tumultuous and mean-spirited thoughts about this poor old helpless Ford Econoline.
The van was purchased in June 2010 from a retired couple near Moberly, Missouri. It was acquired for a medically related trip to Bend, Oregon. With having to move a post-operative female half-way across the continent, this seemed like the best option for doing so. It did that job flawlessly.
So it hung around despite all my protests. Yes, I associated it with some extreme unpleasantries.
At this point, I must also throw out another reminder…the charms of vans (both big and small) some have sung about on these pages is a tune I am unable to carry. Ponderous, hard to work on, and a pill to drive, especially with any type of crosswind, I have only recently began to see sporadic yet ever so dim glimmers of why some people have such an affinity for them.
To be fair, vans do make awesome campers. No argument there. In fact, we camped in the van several nights when we made the trip to Oregon in 2010.
However, when it comes to cargo hauling I am admittedly swimming against the currents. Unless one has a cage inside their van, or unless cargo is bolted down in some fashion, I find myself fond of having something more substantial between my cargo and my head than just air and optimism. Yes, I’ve been called offbeat before and it will no doubt happen again.
Vans do need credit for their ability to keep cargo out of the elements. So there is one positive.
But that glimmer of light for van affinity beyond camper or people carrying use is still little more than a meek, intermittent flicker with a very brief dwell time. But enough of that, let’s get to the crux of the matter.
In the interest of full disclosure, the uses we have found for this van keep evolving as the world turns. Never have I seen such a seemingly never-ending automotive story first-hand, let alone experience it. It’s almost like the never ending story of a soap opera. So let’s dive into this…
When we took the van to Oregon in 2010, it hauled three people, held over a week’s worth of food and clothing (all strategically placed to minimize flight risk), and stopped at every national park along the way.
On the way back, it hauled five people, another week’s worth of food and clothing, and did so briskly. That 5.4 liter engine is the best part of this van.
The purpose of the trip to Oregon was for the wife to have surgery with a specialist in Bend.
After we returned from Oregon, the van filled the role the Taurus had played plus serving as long-distance family hauler. A year later is when we moved to Jefferson City.
The van then transitioned back into the role of people transport – plus a couple of cats.
When we first moved to Jefferson City we rented a house from a guy getting a divorce. That lasted 59 days until he wanted his house back; I cannot remember if he and his old lady reconciled or if he was just being a prick. Regardless, the van did not fit in the garage and there was nowhere at that house to park it.
Further, since we were trying to entice buyers (such that they were) at our house in Hannibal, we were concerned about having the garage stuffed with Ford Econoline and 1963 Galaxie. Those two pretty much filled the space up. So the van went to a storage facility for months.
Upon leaving that particular rental house, we then moved to an apartment. There was no space for the van there, either. At some point, likely in mid-2013, we relocated the van to my in-law’s house an hour north of St. Louis. It sat there for another six or so months.
In late 2012 we found an old farmhouse to rent west of Jefferson City. After a while the van did a good job of keeping the adjacent pole barn company.
If memory serves, we put less than 1,500 miles on the van in about a two to three year timeframe.
When we bought our current house in 2015, the van did move some items (but nothing heavy due to flight risk) although it seemed to really be serving as a collection point for stuff having no good destination in the new house. It continued to sit a lot – outside.
Once we moved into the new house, the van did get used to haul some items for various reasons. I do give the van props for swallowing a full-size couch with no issue. Can you even do such a thing with a minivan? Can one do similar with any SUV or CUV? It doesn’t seem likely. But the concern of having to stand on the brakes never left my head – and had I needed to stand on the brakes, that couch may have never left my head.
To be fair, I did find a use for the van that really played with someone’s mind. A while back I went to the lumber yard and bought a few 12′ boards. I was able to slide them all the way up to the doghouse and close the rear doors.
On the way out of the lumber yard, the guy making sure nobody was stealing anything had a lot of trouble finding where I had put the boards. Oh yeah, the boards were slid beneath both rows of seats, so they really weren’t very obvious.
Just a random harp picture
By November 2019, the van’s use scenario evolved yet again. This time it was transport of a harp.
Here’s a fun aside…every few years, The American Harp Society magazine has what they call their “Harpmobile” issue. Having read a few of these, they take a harp case for one of the larger harps available and go around to various car dealers to see how well it can fit.
They know some vehicles may require compromises to the position of the front seat to accommodate the harp. So they use their findings to give each vehicle a subjective “harp ability” score based upon ease of fit, the degree to which one has to adjust their seat, and ergonomics for a person eating a sandwich while driving between gigs.
Minivans are always high scoring whereas CUVs are all over the spectrum as a Chevrolet Traverse is far superior to a Chevrolet Equinox in harp hauling, with the similar, smaller CUVs (Toyota RAV4, Honda CRV, etc.) generally not garnering a huge degree of enthusiasm. Among SUVs, only the larger ones (think Ford Expedition) score highly but they do get dinged for cost and fuel mileage. The society still laments the passage of sedan based wagons, although one of their more recent Harpmobile issues did not bode well for the Jetta Sportwagen nor did it reflect resoundingly well for the Buick Regal TourX. Why? They are too small with the contours of the cargo compartment not working well with the width of the harp.
A few years ago I saw a picture taken sometime around 1990. It was of the parking lot at an American Harp Society gathering. The lot was full of Aspen/Volare wagons, GM B-body wagons of all flavors, Ford Panther based wagons, and a few assorted Volvo wagons.
One suggestion and/or recommendation in the most recent Harp Mobile issue was to use a van, such as a Ford Transit Connect, if one can stomach its looks.
Looks like we have trumped the Transit with something we already had.
Somewhere in Montana or Wyoming.
Which leads us back to today. As I write this in late June, the van is in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, carrying out yet another mission. The van still serves as backup transportation which is why it is there. With a trip scheduled to Sioux City this week, the plan had been to take our VW Passat. However, thirty-six hours before departure, there was coolant on the garage floor beneath the Passat. It seems Volkswagen deemed it appropriate to use a plastic impeller in some water pumps, one of which is on our VW. In turn, it seems enough people deemed it appropriate to file a class action lawsuit against Volkswagen for defective water pumps.
After the diesel thing, is VW on a crusade to aggravate the rest of their customers? I digress.
So after sitting for just over a month the van was suddenly called upon to go to South Dakota for the annual gathering of, naturally, The American Harp Society.
Since the plan had been to take the VW, which would have had limited room for the travel friendly harp, a harp was found for rent while there. As the hotel is a ten minute walk from the convention center, the harp required transport back and forth a few times. The van was pressed into hauling yet another harp.
In 2021 and 2022 my wife and daughter identified yet another use for the van. They entered the local Fourth of July parade and needed a prop to go along with what they were doing. Seems the van made a really good clown car. Want to take a wild guess at who drove it in said parade both years?
Some of the reactions of spectators were priceless. A man was in disbelief something small wasn’t being used for a clown car. His wife, who seemed to be the paragon of patience, staccatoed “well, it is a clown car, I’m not shitting you.”
The world does keep turning just as uses for this van, which seems to have mostly escaped the ravages of time, just keep changing. It will be interesting to see just how long we end up keeping this thing and what other tasks it will tackle.
You never know – I may just gut the interior and turn the van into a camper. There are six states in the continental US I still need to visit. All but one are in the Northeast. I have no doubt this rig would make these trips with ease.
Postscript, June 2022: Naturally, the van ran flawlessly for its trip to Sioux Falls and back. Aren’t all 22 year-old vehicles this reliable? The only rub was it having a rock hit the windshield near Vermillion, South Dakota, so there may be new glass in its future.
Update to the June 2022 Postscript: The license plates were set to expire the end of July, necessitating a Missouri state safety inspection. The windshield caused a failure as did worn wiper blades. $50 to the glass company for some epoxy and some close-enough sized wiper blades from my stash got her to pass with flying colors. She’s now good for another two years.
Postscript, August 2022: After the van sat in the garage for four weeks, one night we noticed a wet spot on the floor beneath the rear axle. Sure enough, there is a leak around the differential cover. Taking it to our trusted and reasonably priced mechanic, he reminded me that early this past spring he had replaced the seal on the front of the differential where it meets up with the driveshaft. So this is a second issue with the differential leaking. Our mechanic is still in awe of how this van is utterly rust free underneath despite its age and mileage.
My twelve year relationship with this van has been the ultimate automotive soap opera.
(Author’s Note: As The World Turns aired on CBS from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010.)
Yes, you have written about it several times, and yes, I will read every word.
Thank you, that is reassuring. Had the van not made a trip to South Dakota and back – with the only prep being my checking the oil, tire pressure, and topping off the fuel – it may have been skipped due to repetition. But, once again, it saved the day.
Between South Dakota and Denver in January, that is two major trips the old girl has made this year with minimal prep before leaving. Is this typical? For this van, yes. For anything else, I don’t know.
Ditto! It’s not so much as how much or what you write, it’s HOW you write it! 🙂
I have a 2005 Econoline with 500,000 miles and runs very well. Also have a 2012 with 431,000 miles.These vans are workhorses! Have 7 of them in my delivery fleet. Only complaint is they do go through ball joints and tie rods!
This is good information as, for some reason, I can see myself still owning this thing twenty years from now.
I’m guessing you likely have either the 4.6 or 5.4 in yours. I have had to replaced tie rods and all ball joints while I’ve owned it. The fuel pump gave up three years ago but all the sitting likely helped prompt that. I replace the oil pressure switch last year and it has required front brakes. Also the thermostat was not opening all the way about a year ago. Overall, it’s all been ancillary or wear items.
You may know about it, but a Facebook group I’m on has members sharing their accumulated mileage. Yours is definitely on the memorable end although one guy a while back had one with over 600k. These are truly workhorses.
No discussion of high mile Econolines of this generation should be w/o https://millionmilevan.com/ oh so close to 1,300,000 miles.
These were the last of the good looking full-sized American vans. So hang on to it. A neighbor of mine has a mid-80s Econoline that has been his workhorse since new. He works on it himself, and I often see the front end up on jackstands (perhaps attesting to Econolinebob’s comment above), but he’s kept that van in excellent shape.
The van is being kept in the garage. It sat outside for about two or three years at this house, but that’s been about it. The couple we bought it from also kept it parked inside. It has gotten to where nobody believes me when I tell them how old it is.
I suspect we’ll be owning it for a while yet.
As an “if possible” long term car owner I find comfort in stories like this. As I read this COAL these thoughts popped up:
1. The picture of the couch in the van caused my long resident back ache to suddenly flare up. I may need to take ibuprofen.
2. When I reactivated my ’53 Chrysler after an 18 month fling with the ’57 Olds a number of seals leaked and had to be replaced. It would seem your van just woke up and went to work.
3. The load level of the van is very reasonable. This week a friend offered me two pots of mandevilla plants for my sun room. She failed to mention the size which were quite large and with recent rains, VERY heavy. Loading these into the bed of the ridiculously high bed of the Tacoma is the reason my back ache was on a hair trigger the morning. Paul N often notes the unpleasantly high floors of current 4×4 pickups. (The pots are too large for my place).
4. I am always aware of the possibility of flying cargo and when picking up heavy stuff I climb into the bed and slide the stuff up against the back of the cab.
5. Son #1 (Chris) once reported to me (years ago) a visit to the hospital caused by a dead deer in the bed of a pickup that flew through the rear window after a panic short stop that caused injury to him and the driver. I did not ask for more details.
As mentioned to JPC below, there had been a headache rack on the Dodge covered last week. Attached to the flatbed, I really thought about reattaching it after installation of the regular bed.
In regards to the lift height, I am of two minds on this. I do appreciate not having to lift a heavy object as high and gravity helps with putting it down; conversely, lifting something from too low a height can facilitate one lifting with their back instead of their knees.
At one point I acquired a free four-speed automatic transmission for the Dodge seen last week. Using the van to haul it (and I was tense the entire time of transport) it was great to load due to the relatively lower height. Upon unloading it, the floor was a smidge too low to get a good hold on it while lifting and turning around.
Life is full of trade-offs. One of those is the van vs pickup thing. Perhaps that’s why both are made, so a person can pick the one which is less of a compromise to themselves.
A dose of magnesium will also help with muscle pain. My wife partakes of it frequently.
I knew you would come around if you gave the thing half a chance! 🙂
I will raise my hand as the other half of that pickup vs. van debate that has been going on here for awhile – you have owned multiple pickups and one van, while I have been the opposite. And you make some fair points – it is important to sweat the details when loading to take sudden stops into account. Then again, I would not over-estimate the strength of the window behind a pickup driver’s head. I guess it comes down to the expected load – people and things not unlike harps (in other words, things that must be kept dry) have always loomed larger in my life than dirt, mulch or bulky building materials and oily machines.
I still miss my big van, but in writing about it for future publication, I have come to the sorry realization that it was nowhere near as good as yours in the mechanical department. However, the old 5.8 in mine was the same kind of bright spot as your 5.4.
These are starting to get thin on the ground in my area, and those that remain are showing lots of ugly rust. Your van’s background of a largely salt-free diet has done wonders for its longevity.
In twelve years, I think that van has only been in snow once. That was when we went to Denver in January and the demonstrated ambition to remove snow wasn’t as strong as it is in these parts.
I agree that glass is not ideal for stopping heavy, flying objects although the amount of surface area the glass has relative to the overall barrier isn’t vast. The Dodge I covered last week had a headache rack on the flatbed that came with it. When taking off the flatbed I considered keeping the headache rack and reattaching it for that very reason.
It does all come down to anticipated load and one’s use case.
You now have me curious to read about your Econoline. Having driven a few mid-90s versions with the 5.8 it was a good engine but I didn’t have to maintain them either.
You’ve prompted a recollection…when we lived in Hannibal, Marie knew a family named Sheffer. For whatever reason, we drove by their house. In the driveway was an identical Ford van, even converted by the same company. However, it was showing some wear (this family had like 62 kids). On our last trip to Hannibal I saw that van again but sitting elsewhere in town. Ye the Shafer’s and the Sheffer’s having identical vans is one of those weird things in life, sort of like the Kavanaugh family elsewhere in Indy having a white Honda Fit.
You can also “live in a van…down by the river”. Not to make light of the situation, but when you mentioned “transporting a postoperative female halfway across the Continent”…Were you also transporting a certain Dr. with credentials from the University of Rangoon? “Cysts on the walls of her lungs. We can’t even go thru Denver it’s so high “.
The postoperative female was my wife.
In regards to the University of Rangoon or lung cysts, I have no clue what you are talking about although it sounds like a vapid reference to pop-culture and I am highly curious how such is relevant to anything.
It’s a Cannonball Run reference, wherein one of the vehicles was an ambulance complete with doctor and patient and avoiding elevation/altitude the reason for crossing the country in it rather than flying.
Thank you. That clears it up.
https://code3garage.com/transcon-medi-vac-cannonball-run-ambulance/
After reading about this particular van, apparently and obviously the single most reliable and need-free vehicle that Detroit has ever released into the wild, for the umpteenth time now, I suppose the most obvious and pressing question is why there aren’t another couple of them in your driveway instead of the other leaky rides. 🙂 The van was the clown car in the parade. Think about that. Not many vehicles would take that sort of owner abuse and keep on going, let alone return for another stint of it.
The van will outlive us all. Just face it, you’re a van man (not that there’s anything wrong with that). I’ll eagerly await the day that you finally swing open the rear doors with gusto and come out of the back of the van and announce it to all instead of continuing to subtly repress the emotion. We are here for you, just come out of the van.
On a more serious note though, I have often wondered why there is no hybrid van/pickup market over here. Comparing last week’s pickup to this van, removing four feet of hood would seem to allow for another four feet of pickup bed on the business end. Yurrup has done these things forever along with solving the footwell area space issue, why not Detroit. Having ridden in this particular van, it has a more commanding front seat position than most any pickup, it was virtually silent when in operation, has the same engine as the (optional, larger) one in the equivalent pickup of the era, and is easier to enter and exit for even those smaller in stature. And 4WD can also be a thing on these, sometimes factory as on the GM offerings.
“why there aren’t another couple of them in your driveway”
Because the only ones found at gummint surplus auctions are set up for prisoner transport? 🤔
As I think about it, there have been times in my life where a surplus prisoner transport van would have been the perfect thing for travel with 3 fighting middle school kids. Mild threats about pulling the car over could have been replaced by the much more potent “am I going to have to use the shackles?” 😁
In my jurisdiction, the court system operates a fleet of black, windowless Econolines for prisoner transport. There’s something very sinister about a black cargo van — I associate them with jails or morgues. But those vans tend to see only light service, shuffling prisoners between local detention facilities, and they’re replaced pretty often, since the Sheriff’s Department isn’t keen on having older vehicles assigned to that duty. I occasionally wonder who picks those black vans up on the used market? They’re probably a great buy.
Maybe I have indeed repressed my van-man tendencies. Who knows? You have a good point about the clown car thing – I did that once with my red F-150 at the state fair and then it started to rust on me. Coincidence? I rather doubt it.
You now have me looking at the VW South Africa site (VW UK didn’t have vans / pickups and I need to stick with English speaking countries). The concept of the Your-O rigs is a good one, but would need to be tweaked for the customer base. A maximum of 195 horsepower is nothing to sneeze at but will be viewed as insufficient by many. It’s tough to pull a 5,000 pound trailer at 75 mph with that little juice. I say that as I recently had an employee hit me up about needing a one-ton pickup to pull a 5,000 pound trailer. It seems the new 3.3 liter Ford his facility will be getting is going to be insufficient despite having an 8,000 pound tow rating as equipped.
But I digress.
If that concept were able to gain traction here, it would not be a heavy lift for Ford and/or GM to address it. Ford still has the old Econoline cab/chassis on offer. Why they have never attempted to do so is indeed a great question.
Vanzilla!
It’s hard to give up a van once it’s insinuated itself in your life.
As to long-term ownership (not counting the 35 years with the F100) my xB tenure is now almost 16 years, and it’s only ever needed a leaky water pump replaced. I’m embarrassed to admit that the power steering pump didn’t actually give out; it was just the belt. The PS died in the deep dark woods, and it’s hard to see, and when I pooped the hood and looked I was sure the belt was still on the pulley. Nope; and I drove it that way for over a month before checking it in the light of day in our driveway. Doh!
I seriously anticipate driving it indefinitely.
Oh, and sorry about the VW. I still don’t trust them…
We have identified enough uses for it that giving it up would be difficult. I suspect this van will be to us what your xB has been to you – a lifetime proposition.
The other day the wife and I took the van somewhere. She stated the seats (from the conversion company and manufactured by FlexSteel) make the entire rig for her. I told her if we ever sell it I could simply go get some seats from the junkyard and we could keep the ones currently in it.
That VW…I enjoy that car but the water pump issue ticked me off. I took it to an independent VW shop north of here for the official diagnosis. Parts had to be ordered and the estimate was $1100. We got home and in the mail was a letter talking about a class action suit against VW, which had extended the warranty for water pumps on units meeting certain criteria. Ours met, so it was replaced on VW’s dime. VW is doing a very comprehensive job of crapping in their nest.
Jason, your van seems to have achieved that most vaunted status for a vehicle…one which is sufficiently useful and trouble-free that it earns the right to be kept around even if it’s only periodically used. Just imagine, if most vehicles fit that description, these COAL series would be altogether different since we’d mostly be accumulating vehicles (up until someone told us to stop) instead of telling the saga of a continuing series of vehicles.
It sounds as if you’ve been creative in terms of finding places to park the van while it’s not in use, and that’s terrific. Who wouldn’t want to have something like your van available when needed?
And thanks for the high-res As the World Turns title card. In my mind, that image is always blurred and low res…as it saw it on the grainy over-the-air, mostly black and white, televisions of my youth. It’s an interesting picture when you can make out the details.
There is a certain thought that keeps crossing my mind and you have tapped into it. If, for some chance, I was given the choice at, say, 35, to obtain a forever vehicle, any van would simply have not been on my radar. The acquisition of this van was simply a combination of undesirable need and dumb luck.
Perhaps those are the secret ingredients. While I can’t say I am overly fond of the thing, I don’t detest it the way I used to.
Finding title cards for these soaps has been nearly as much fun as writing these pieces. Some (primarily the ones that aired in the 1950s and 1960s) simply had nothing available. This one made me chuckle as the “stars” are simply white ink splotches.
Speaking of, when finding these I stumbled upon an interview with a guy who was on World Turns for 50 years. That is mind-numbing on several levels. Part of the interview was about doing a live episode the day Kennedy was shot and overhearing what had happened while still having to act live.
Don Hastings – he appears in the second interval of ATWT smoking a cigarette just before Walter Cronkite comes back on the air on November 22 complete with a still photo from the motorcade straight off the wire. Initially they had to warm up a camera before they could get Cronkite’s face on the air and he is in shirt sleeves without a jacket, a no-no at the time. It was not until several hours later when Cronkite took a break that he realized that he had not been wearing his jacket on air as required by CBS policy.
Looks like you are a van man. Im a pickup man as Joe Diffie would say.
Big old vans are great for hauling crap, but Im way too self conscious to own one myself. Single, no kids, I dont work construction or the trades, I have no legit reason to have one. I really dont want to project that creepy child molester vibe. Just too much baggage/stigma of owning an older full size van.
If I’m a van man, it’s only by necessity. If there is a choice I take my pickup every time over the van.
Another outstanding installment, and a nice van! Ever since its introduction in 1975, I’ve been a fan of this Econoline shape. Besides the ’78 Fairmont and ’79 Mustang, I thought the third gen Econoline, was one of Ford’s best designs of the ’70s.
Sometime back I heard about Ford continuing the cab/chassis of this generation Econoline until about 2030. It was introduced for 1992; that has to be some type of longevity record.
The current availability of the 7.3 liter King Kong engine does add a degree of intrigue to the package.
I think that it’s impossible to have too many articles about supremely versatile vehicles that have a long term place in our lives. My Vanagon Westfalia serves a similar purpose here, even if it was made by dreaded “VW”. Some vehicles we fall in love with, others are just too handy to let go. I hope that you get another couple decades of use, as there just isn’t much to replace it.
Your Westfalia falls into the category of evergreen, a category I suspect is also inhabited by this Econoline.
The big reason this van has stuck around is due to its ongoing reliability. It is so easy to forget its age as its appearance and behavior tell a story of something much newer. The fact it is no longer on the depreciation curve is a nice perk, also.
I love reading about this van. My wife’s family owned a 1980s GMC conversion van when she was growing up, and we’ve both occasionally lamented the rarity of its modern counterpart (and the very high price of the few conversion vans that are still around). If these were still reasonably priced and widely available, there’s a good chance we’d end up with one. Well, until we got tired of the brutal crosswinds on I-72.
I love the clown van, by the way.
Have you ridden in this van? I cannot remember if you have or not.
Something new and comparable is profoundly expensive and the market for them has definitely contracted immensely. But, last I saw, the price wasn’t too far off a heavily equipped F-150 or F-250, if there is a benefit in that or not.
That said, get one if you ever get a chance. You’ll never see its twin at the grocery store.
Speaking of…I saw Mr. and Mrs. OT at the grocery store this week. You were a prime subject of discussion. 🙂
Ha! I haven’t heard of the grocery store encounter… I’m sure I will soon!
From what I recall, a base-model full-size Explorer conversion van (which is probably equipped similarly to your van) lists for about $70,000. On par with a heavily-equipped pickup, but still out of range for most families. But it would certainly be more unique in any setting than yet another F-150 Platinum….
Seinfeld ep where Jerry gets an Econoline. Classic.
Would you believe I have never seen an episode of Seinfeld?
I believe it, because neither have I. As I recall, I gave it a fair go, but could not get past the claws-on-a-chalkboard annoyingness of most of the characters and that stupid plucked-bass music and the lame, contrived plots (aside from all that, I’m sure it was fine), and never got more than a few minutes into any of the episodes I tried before I grew tired of waiting for it to start being funny or entertaining or otherwise worthy. Didn’t take many tries before I gave up. It’s on the long list of reasons why I don’t own a television set.
This is music to my ears as for some time now it seemed (though not strongly) I had missed out on some absolutely spectacular thing by not having watched Seinfeld (Breaking Bad, CSI Wherever, etc.).
We do have a television, but what little we watch is free streaming thus no regular broadcast or cable channels – other than WeatherNation. It’s been rather invigorating.
Same here, have never watched any of those more recent TV shows. We have a TV, but it’s not been plugged in for some time. Anything that we would like to watch is viewed online.
I find many shows, Seinfeld included, enjoyable only if the sound is turned off with subtitles on.
Subtitles from another show, maybe…? 🤪
Nothing like an Econoline. I’ve racked up a lot of miles in the previous generation, though I do now have a 2009. It is a full window van that had been a ambulance supervisor’s van. So the walls have been covered in plywood with the fiberglass panels often used in public restrooms on top of that. To keep things in place I installed lots of E-track. Full length down each side just under the windows then sections just above floor level.
In one of your other mentions of this van you had noted about rattling windows. After that I did go out and check mine and found several finger tight, though no rattling was noticed. What I did have was one of the rear door windows that has leaking in heavy rain. Snugging up those bolts stopped the leak!
As far as the van vs truck debate, I’m on both sides. There is a lot of crossover where either would do the job about as equally well but there a few cases where one definitely is better than the other. So for the last 30+ years I’ve always kept at least one of each around. I’m not sure which I’d pick if I had to pare it down to one or the other.
Van wins for carrying something you want to keep out of the weather like furniture and lumber longer than 8′.
The truck and hose out ability wins for things you know will make a mess and of course picking up bulk materials. The fact that 4×4 is and has been widely available for years is another pickup plus.
I’m glad the leak was fixed! Yesterday we took the van across town and there was a rattle (a chimney to start charcoal I had forgotten to remove) and started wondering about your van windows as I remember you had made mention of checking yours.
Thinking about it, on the truck vs van debate I may be split, but still fall about 80% in one direction. Jim Klein wondered about why Detroit hasn’t made a hybrid of the two – having slept and thought about it some, I suspect Detroit has acted on it. Keep making each with no hybrid and people such as you and I will obtain one of each. Problem solved.
To be fair my window(s) could have been rattling too and I just couldn’t pick that out from the rattles of stuff in the van. Keeping my fingers crossed on the leak, haven’t seen any signs in the several months since I tightened it but it was a leak that required the right conditions to occur.
Personally, I’m not going to purchase a new van since I don’t put that many miles on it. A pickup on the other hand, I could see purchasing a new Maverick as it is something I’d use as a daily driver, but It certainly wouldn’t fill all the roles of the full size pickup and van do.
Vans and full size pick ups both can be very useful, as they fulfill somewhat different needs. Before trucks became fashionable, the best trucks and vans were those that were owned by your parents or friendly neighbors, and could be borrowed for the occasional use.
Give it another 12 years, you’ll be raving about this van and how much better it is than anything you can buy in 2034.
I thought there might be some daughter college vehicle angle here, since yours likes to drive around with a harp. My daughter has to give the Focus back next weekend and she’d love to have that van, she’d be rubbing her hands together planning road trips (and asking for gas money)
Glad to see the van finally getting star billing here!
It makes my head hurt to think about singing such praises for this van although stranger things have happened. That said, I suspect the van will be unusual at that time for having eight cylinders under that abbreviated hood.
If nothing else, this van has provided an unusual amount of writing fodder over the years. I do give it that…
If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.
I guess the differing number plates we see are related to the license expiring? Another of those national vagaries of vehicle registration?
Good catch. We’ve had it so long Missouri has changed license plates. The more recent ones commemorate the state’s bicentennial.
I’m wanting to say the plates are changed out every seven or eight years. This could also be classified as a vagary among the states as some rarely replace plates and in others the plates stay with the vehicle the entire time it is registered there. Then, to go further, there are the states that use one plate versus two…
I also lament the lack of full sized wagons (or similarly spacious vehicles) though it isn’t possible to find anything that approaches a full sized van, shy of something pulled in a trailer. My parents were fortunate in that their need for full sized wagons coincided with their availability, and when the family grew smaller, shortly after large wagons were no longer available. My Brother-in-Law doesn’t have a particularly large family, but did also own an E150 van which had been customized (found that out when we tried to get parts for the rear air conditioning which weren’t standard). He prefers large vehicles, though he no longer owns the E150 (there was some problem with the body mount to the frame such that it caused him to get rid of it).
I’m a longtime (41 years) owner of VWs, all watercooled, and though I don’t have the same model as you, I also replaced the dumb plastic water pump impeller with a metal one when I replaced the timing belt…in fact, it’s been more than 10 years, so probably need to do it again, for the timing belt itself.. since a broken piece on the impeller can not only cause cooling issues but also affect the timing belt itself, I’m not sure why they specified such a place to economize, if it does double duty it should be more rather than less durable especially with such consequences if it does fail. My car doesn’t have an interference engine, so I’d just be stuck (without valve damage). I can’t and won’t claim my VWs haven’t left me stranded, nor are supremely reliable, but for me they’ve been durable (my current one is 22 years old, and the previous ones I’ve owned shorter times, but they’ve also been included in the only 5 cars I’ve owned in almost 50 years of driving thus far). They’ve been entertaining (and entertainment does have some price, at least usually in my experience).