1984 Ford Econoline 4×4

Disclaimer: brand new rebuilt transmission lost all forward gears after 2 days/ 200 miles. It’s under warranty and I have the receipt if you want to go through the effort to have the shop rebuild it (again). I’ve reached a point where I no longer have time to build this. Taking a huge loss due to transmission. If I end up rebuilding it the price will go up a lot. You can have a 4×4 rv for waaaay less than your typical cost. 

A few small things need to be buttoned up like finishing the shower 100% as well as heat and AC (power is already pre run).

Dana 60 kingpin front axle with a crossover steering upgrade as well as bolt on king pin bushing retainers.

Dana 70 rear axle 

Front and rear axles are 4.10

460 big block

C6 transmission 

Np 205 tcase

4×4 swap is 100% complete. Brand new front drive shaft and rebuilt and rebalanced rear drive shafts, no vibrations at all on highway driving.

Very stable on the highway. At 55 mph the engine was doing about 2200rpm. For these motors that’s really the sweet spot. Has plenty of power and pulls hills nicely.

All new wiring on whole vehicle (pulled every wire from the whole vehicle and redid it using Painless wiring kit and it works flawlessly) every wire is labeled every 6” and I have the wiring diagram that came with it. The days of chasing mystery wires are done. Also uses the modern blade style fuses instead of the tube style that came factory from Ford.

New ignition and distributor (very simple 3 wire distributor and ignition set up from MSD ready to run series)

New one wire 90 amp alternator

New Battery and starter

All 6 tires new 35”

The build: originally a 30ft Ford Tioga motorhome. Cut the welded on frame extension off the rear and built the body to fit the factory ford frame only. What you’re left with is a very stable 15ft wheel base and a 22ft bumper to bumper rig. The rv body skeleton is 1×1 steel tube welded and the exterior skin is 22g cold rolled steel riveted to the frame. 1” foam board is glued and sandwiched between the exterior steel and interior fiberglass panels. All woodwork is 1/2” sanded maple ply both wood glued where applicable and glued and screwed to the frame. This resulted in a very stable set up on the interior. Even with being loaded onto a wrecker to get towed home after the transmission gave way absolutely nothing shifted. The total unloaded weight came in at 9040lbs with an adult passenger in the cab. If a single wheel set up was wanted front and rear it would be well under the total weight capacity of F rated tires (they generally are rated at 3970lbs per tire).

Fully insulated (have pics for proof)

Weighs 9040 lbs (have weight ticket for proof) 

22g cold rolled steel exterior 

Rustoleum oil based paint exterior

Raptor lined bottom edge

Upgraded Chevy captains chairs

Upgraded Chevy tow mirrors

Full off grid 12v system 

6 usb and usbc charger located throughout the RV. 2 at the dash that are powered by engine alternator while running, 2 in the kitchen and 2 in the bed area powered by the house batteries.

200 amp hours of lithium batteries 

Renogy 40 amp charge controller between alt and batteries with 2 50amp inline fuses

Lithium RV power center with 30amp shore power hook up

Custom dinette 

Bodega 12v fridge under dinette with storage under other side

Full kitchen build with butcher block counter top

Propane stove/oven combo

40 gallon water tank

All lines are leak free and PEX

Custom shower pan welded

Cassette toilet (never used)

Tons of storage 

Installed boat doors for all interior cabinets 

Rear garage built for mountain bike storage

Bottom line: for a little bit of additional work you can have a 4×4 camper for 1/4 the cost of anything else this size with more storage than 2 people would ever need for weekend trips. Could be as easy as driving to and from the transmission shop a few times to have the original shop rebuild it on his warranty (if you live in NC)