(Note: I started this in August 2025 and then got distracted. It happens).
As of late June, Mrs. Jason and I have owned our 2000 Ford Econoline for fifteen years. Yes, it has been that long.
It seems most manufacturers have that one vehicle which is nearly impervious to time. This is likely Ford’s strongest offering in that segment. The van still looks good (for a van), the paint is still shiny, and the interior shows negligible wear, so it’s rather easy to forget its age. I never fathomed still owning this blasted thing after 1.5 decades and 54,000 miles on top of the 89,000 it had when purchased. Life has certainly evolved over these last fifteen years, particularly the last five.
So let’s traipse through these last five years of life and maintenance.
We purchased the van in 2010 for medical transport of my wife. In late 2020, that mission continued as it served as medical transport for me. Being sent home the same day as my surgery, lounging in the back (even if in a drug-induced state) with my drain tube on our return from Kansas City was nice – I could stretch out and snooze while Mrs. Jason drove. Which I didn’t, as I was drugged up and blabbered the whole way back, so I am told.
Only on rare occasion have I gone anywhere in this van and not been the one driving.
One day I heard a distinct clunking noise from the front end. A rubber bushing on the driver’s side which held the sway bar had shrunk due to age and the sway bar was suddenly unconstrained. Every bump brought about a weird thump, making me a grump, as I looked like a chump driving something that clunked.
The fix was rather cheap, which was nice.
One day in the first part of 2023, Mrs. Jason had driven the van to Columbia, Missouri, which is 35 miles north of us and is the fourth most populated city in the state. She had hauled our daughter’s harp up there (she was helping with the soundtrack for a locally produced indie movie) and the parking brake had been set upon their arrival there.
The parking brake cable had not fully released. Meeting them in the driveway upon their return was accompanied by the smell of hot brakes. Not good.
In turn, the initial repair involving replacement of the emergency brake cable, and all the scorched parts, was bungled. The bungling showed up soon afterward when I drove it to my parent’s house in Cape Girardeau. Coming to a stop prompted a horror-movie type howling from the rear.
The ultimate fix was a ridiculously prolonged affair as incorrectly sized brake drums, replacement brake drums, and inoperative hardware kept showing themselves.
I was so disgusted I just parked the thing for a while, until….
…June 2023 when we made a rather impulsive trip to Fort Worth, Texas. With no small amount of trepidation, I crossed my fingers, we took off…and the brakes were flawless.
Sometime soon after, the oil pressure gauge was failing to register any oil pressure for the first few minutes of operation. As I figured nothing was wrong, I replaced the oil pressure sensor. I was right, as the gauge starting working full-time again.
In Summer 2024 another age induced hiccup exposed itself. The rear door (not the side as pictured) would not open from the outside.
It seems the door handle is connected to the latch via a rubber coated cable having a connector at each end to hold the cable in place (seen in better detail here). The disc shaped piece to the right of the groove had broken off (from dry rot), allowing the cable to flop all over creation.
That was another trip to the repair shop. The fix was straightforward; I simply didn’t have the right tools (and patience) to access everything that was shoved inside the door. As Dirty Harry said, a man’s got to know his limitations. Patience is my limitation at times. Such tasks just don’t make my day and I was not feeling lucky.
My observation to Mrs. Jason was there are only five more doors to worry about doing similarly. Or is it six? In all the excitement, I’ve lost count.
Which brings us to 2025. After we bought our Subaru Outback in November 2024, the Ford got relegated to the downstairs garage.
It fills up the space quite well. I can walk into the garage from the basement and the door almost hits the front bumper. To get to where I store my dolly (and other things), I have to open the door and step outside to get around the van. Or crawl through it.
The old Ford hibernated in this climate-controlled comfort for the winter, only being awakened a time or two. By July 1, we had put less than 65 miles on the van so far in the year (if that many; I had last put gas in it sometime the prior fall).
Despite several bouts of sitting for over two months at a time, the old Ford always fired right up as soon as I turned the key. Few geriatrics roll out of bed with such enthusiasm, so the old girl does deserve her props for being so ready to go.
Amongst all this, I knew the old Ford was going to be making a semi-long trip in August. My wife and daughter had an event in Branson (yes, that Branson, which is 3 hours away, or 170 miles, however you wish to look at it) and they needed the van. A few weeks before their trip I realized the tires were eight years old, not seven as I had thought.
I freely admit to having a tire phobia. Why is that? Let’s roll back the Time Machine to July, 1998…
Two weeks before Mrs. Jason and I were to be married, we were moving her stuff from north of St. Louis to our new house in Cape Girardeau. I had borrowed my father’s 300 straight-six powered 1984 Ford F-150 and took two weeks off work in order to drive it the 135 miles to Mrs. Jason’s parents’ house and back.
To learn why I needed so much time off for such a seemingly short trip, please read this. It’ll explain everything.
We were on I-70, crossing the Blanchette Bridge which takes one over the Missouri River. At that time, this section of I-70 saw daily traffic of approximately 250,000 vehicles; it’s undoubtedly higher now.
As I’m in the middle of about 17 lanes, the right front tire blows out. Did I mention I was also pulling an 18 foot trailer? I muddled my way to the shoulder, telling Mrs. Jason to get up on the embankment for safety, and I would change the tire. The spare looked rattier than what I was taking off had looked ten minutes prior. Pulling the blown tire off the hub, I realized it was an original, factory tire – which was 14 (!!!) years old.
Using an insanely old tire is no sweat for my father. He could have driven it that way for two millennia and all would be fine. Me? I made it about 90 miles.
Thus my phobia about tires. I have read tire manufacturers anticipate eight to ten years of life for tires, so if tires make it to eight years with me they are gone, regardless of how they look.
And it’s been eight years since I purchased tires for this van. But that now presents a problem. What is that, you ask. This Ford has P235/75R15 tires. This was once a very common size. No more.
Michelin doesn’t make that size. Continental won’t let one search for a vehicle made prior to 2003. That’s fine, as I’m not a fan of Michelin and I didn’t want to pay Continental prices to put tires on an irregularly used vehicle. That said, I do have Continentals on the 2014 VW Passat and they have been great.
After some doing, and knowing many of the more popular brands will have limited to no availability of this size, I finally found the intersection (I hope) of quality and reasonable price. I got a set of Mastercraft tires. Mastercraft is a subsidiary of Cooper Tire (of which I’ve purchased many) with Cooper, as of 2021, being a subsidiary of Good Year. When I purchased my ’91 Dodge pickup six years ago, it had new Mastercrafts on it. They have been great, so I do have some experience with the brand.
The van is now driving better than it has at any point during my ownership. Time will tell how these tires work out. And I also changed out the original, 25 year old spare (a Michelin) which had never been used.
It pained me to say it (for a number of reasons, not least of which is recognizing our still possessing the thing), but I told Mrs. Jason we may need to upsize to 16″ wheels before the next set of tires in eight years. There, I said it. I’ll likely still have that damn van in 2033. Ugh.
Well, as luck and bad fortune would have it, this van never fails to deliver writing fodder. I started this essay on August 3. Today, August 7, I got home from work and had an “uh-oh” moment. The van had been parked outside in my lower driveway for about ten days due to needing my downstairs garage for another project. This is the only time it’s been parked outside for any duration since about 2018.
It seems one of my elm trees adopted Darwin’s Theory and purged the unfit. Such great timing.
The branch wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small. However, it fell from about 25 feet up.
It met the van on the way down and there is now a noticeable dent in the roof.
Thus, the never ending tale of Ford Econoline ownership continues….and I have realized this van now qualifies for historic plates due to being a quarter-century old.
Update: Yes, the never ending tale does continue. After writing this, but before getting it scheduled, another rubber connector inside a door panel called it quits. Which door? The door shown in the stock photo above. Did I jinx myself? It’s hard to know. The fix, which I did thanks to Dorman, was much easier than the rear door.
Even better, the old girl ran flawlessly for her trip to Branson and back.
Related Reading
From when it hauled some cats long distance
Happy Econoline-versary to the Shafers! What a history. Since you had started this essay last August, you also could have posted it on the Silver Anniversary of this van’s own life, but I like this better. Makeshift ambulance? Extra points. I’m glad you found some cost-effective tires. Just looking at the picture of that bridge and imagining a blowout was triggering. Wow. And as it turns out with the Econoline in the downstairs garage (and I like that you have a downstairs garage), it turns out that before the advent of the minivan, that there were “garageable vans” already in existence, after all.
Pulling that van into such a small space is a trip…and not always a good one. It’s like parking a Cadillac in a doghouse.
Congratulations on your Econoline’s Jason-versary. It seems to have won at least your grudging respect.
I had forgotten about those blasted door handle cables – the one for the side door gave out on my Club Wagon during my years with it. Probably because with our tight garage, everyone got into the car through that door whenever it was parked in the garage. Like you, I turned the job over to my mechanic. You would think that as big as those doors are there would be more room to work inside them.
The nice thing about a dent on the roof of a van is that you never see it. I still remember the height on mine (6′ 8″ – good to know for parking garages) so if you are under that height the appearance of the roof is irrelevant. Although I will confess that I would haul out a step ladder and wax the roof when I waxed the rest of the thing. Which was a lot of waxing.
Twice I hauled out a step ladder to wash the roof of that thing. Yet I have never waxed it. That goes back to knowing one’s limitations.
That means that you have an UPSTAIRS garage!?? I have long wanted a garage that is fully integrated into the interior of my home; which is why at one point I seriously considered attempting to buy an old (like 1940s old) automotive showroom/service department to turn into a residence. Then I discovered that zoning for such things is difficult and they are better turned into bars, restaurants, parking lots or much larger buildings. But yes, I wanted to essentially live in the upstairs garage.
I really see no reason why you cannot simply keep the van into 2033 and beyond. Parts for these will probably never be unavailable. I would suggest investing in a little bottle of Sta-Bil if you’re going to do things like buy gas once a year, but otherwise, you’re good to go. Once the majority of your must-have parts start to come from Dorman, you are kind of golden. Except for the trees…which seem to have it out for cars. One did the same thing to my Volvo (which a good part of the year isn’t allowed to live in the downstairs – and only – garage). But I agree with JPC, since you really can’t see the damage on top of an Econoline, it essentially didn’t happen. Motor (or park) on.
Yes, I suppose you could say I have an upstairs garage. My house was built in 1987 and has two driveways. The upper (I’m at the bottom of a hill) accesses a two-car garage and the lower drive accesses this one-car garage. The fun part is having to cut a hard 90 degree turn to enter the garage.
Jason, your contributions are always stories well-told, with plenty of personality. I, too, am sorry about the needed van repairs—but it does sound as though it could be costing you a lot more money to be “reliable and available as needed.”
I figure few at CC would be interested in the world of Harp Cartage, but it’s of paramount importance to *Harpists* in terms of vehicle selection—–whether in the big case, or uncased and carefully cushioned.
TIRES: If I get my 2009 Escape to twenty years—a personal goal—the tires should only be about eight years old, so I should be OK. But I am always conscious of the ancient spare tire, sitting quietly but always expected to be at the ready (like the air bags, I suppose). Hmmmm…….I ought to check in to that……thanks!
I’ve seen this Chevy Venture around where I live, and (based on the license plate) I’ve wondered if this is its owner’s dedicated “Harp Car.”
I will be passing this picture along.
235 75 R15 tires were used on millions of light trucks and Vans and replace tires going back to the ’50s (my ’66 F150 has them), so I rather doubt you’ll run out of options to replace these in 8 years. Tire Rack has 6(!) pages of tires in that size, including many from very reputable brands.
Indeed they were. My search was for reputable brands that could be quickly sourced from local vendors.
It’s good to read this update, and I feel somewhat of a kinship to this van now, because my daily driver has become a 1997 F-150. This had been my wife’s parents’ truck that they bought new, and they passed away recently. Acquiring an aging truck (for free) was sort of a no-brainer, given the price of used cars these days. Oh, and one of the items on my maintenance list was that one of those sway bar bushings was missing. I guess I should just count the days until one of those rubber door connector thingies fails.
Somehow I’ve never heard of Mastercraft tires – so it’s good to hear a recommendation. I’ll keep this in mind for the next time I need tires. And I also have tire phobia (and battery phobia)… which I’m reluctant to admit for fear of jinxing myself.
I’m looking forward to your 2033 van update!
That Ford will probably be good for a few more decades.
I also had an opportunity to cheaply acquire (as in nearly no cost) my parents 1998 Dodge 1/2 ton, but various elements of the deal turned me off. So I’m happy you were able to get it, despite the circumstances. I did see it that one day, and it looks really good.
Last night I had to drop my daughter off at an athletic event, and then wait around in the parking lot for her. While waiting, sitting in the truck’s driver’s seat, I realized that I could stretch out my arms AND legs. The benefits of a bench seat. I feel cramped sitting in “real” cars now!
I lost several matches of Automobile Tetris trying to wedge a 1974 Dodge Tradesman into a garage. If either of the aftermarket roof vents were open, they were shorn off, like barnacles.
Wal-Mart used to have Goodyear Wranglers in the 235 75 R 15 size fairly cheap, in that one size alone, if memory serves. We had them in that very size on a 1974 F-100 back in the 1980s, bought from Goodyear, and I put an identical set on a 2001 Ford Ranger about ten years ago, from Wal-Mart. As an aside, I’ve never driven that era 300 – powered F series pickup, but my grandfather had a new 1982 F-250 with the same 4 speed manual with the “granny” low, and a 2 barrel 351, and it, too, was fairly slow, from my early teen memories of driving it. The 1985 F-250 that replaced it, with the fuel-injected 302 seemed like a rocket by comparison.
As a Canadian I was a bit confused by Mastercraft tires. Canadian Tire is a major chain of hardware and automotive parts and Mastercraft is their house brand for tools. As an aside, the tools are generally high quality and good value. It seems that the house brand for automotive parts, including tires, is MotoMaster, but the unrelated Mastercraft tires appear to be sold in Canada.
A quick google search also shows a brand of jet ski called Mastercraft along with the Canadian Tire tool brand. No mention of tires in the first few results. It does get confusing.
Completely reasonable phobia. I have a phobia about brake fluid. Whereas my father would sound like yours.
As much as part of me still yearns for one of these, I also don’t miss the days of having 20 year old cars. And don’t want to know how much a Ford Transit conversion van would cost.
With this van not acting its age, its home is still safe for a while. But I totally get what you say about 20 year old vehicles.
You got me curious about new conversion vans…found a place in Ohio that is full of them and low end is, well, 1/3 more than I paid for my first house.
I found 54 235/75X15 tires in a quick search on Tire Rack as I have three vehicles that use that size. Only they cost about $30 more per tire that the last time I bought some in 2020. Many are from well known manufacturers.
I find that new tires in So. Cal. last about 5 years regardless of mileage before the sidewalls begin leaking air .
Any time I need to add air more than once in a month calls for extremely close inspection and usually replacement of tires that still have very good tread .
Blowouts at speed are almost always caused by heat buildup due to low air pressure .
Nice van, sad that tree tried to kill it .
I don’t know if the scenery pictures are of where you live but they’re lovely .
-Nate
I would be scared of all those old tires too! You SHOULD still be able to get most of the other replacement parts for this van, however. The basic body is still in production (albeit only in cutaway form) and goes all the way back to 1992, so most of the body components should be interchangeable between any of those years.
While a bit rarer on the road and undoubtedly harder to get parts for, the previous-generation model (1975-91) is still alive & kicking too. In fact, someone near my church still owns a 1988 cargo van. But this one is especially rare because it’s one of the elusive shorter-wheelbase (124-inch) models. By that point only the cargo van still had this option, and the ’92 redesign eliminated it entirely. The owner of this one was happy to let me take pictures of it, and sure enough, it too has needed several things fixed/replaced over its lifetime, but there are no plans of letting it go just yet. 🙂
Side view with the sliding door