Box Van Help

danjr

Member
Seriously looking into purchasing a box van/box truck/cutaway for a DIY conversion. After doing a bit of looking, I'm realizing its a lot harder to nail down all the configurations on these vans compared to a standard vehicle. NADA and KBB have also proven all but useless to determining values, etc.

Any members willing to share some knowledge on what to look for when buying on of these?

So far I'm looking at:
Chevy/GMC or Ford (no preference, although seems to be more aftermarket support for the Fords -aluminess etc.).
10-12ft length boxes
Prefer SRW
Would like to purchase a candidate that can be converted to 4x4 further down the road if we chose to sink the money
Planning to purchase 2wd and upgrade read diff with LSD/Locker and suspension improvements
Engine: Bigger the better, it'll be a gas hog anyways, would prefer gas over diesel due to cold climate and reduced maintenance costs. Did they make any SRW e350's with the v10? How about SRW 3500's with the 6.0?
Transmissions: Which are the better ones?

Any other overall advice during the search?
 

java

Expedition Leader
Values are all over the place....

e350's did come V10 and SRW.

I would go Ford just for the Ujoint kit if it were me.

I love my box truck, but thats all I can answer for your questions!
 

Bikersmurf

Expedition Leader
My rig is a bit older... but I've been told back in it's day, 95% of all cutaway vans were Ford. This is likely why there is so much aftermarket support for Ford vans.

I'm very happy with it's setup and the 7.3 PSD.
 

Weldtec Designs

Supporting Sponsor
We will be building two 2019 Chevrolet box vans in the near future. Our customers are planning on going on quite the adventure South.
The build will consist of:
WeldTec 4x4 conversion with 35-37" tires ....IFS.....
Rear suspension with custom springs and 2.5 King Shocks
Front and rear bumpers with dual tire carriers
Sliders
Seats
Roof rack & awning
This is just a short list of the craziness that we will be having fun building. I will be sure to keep you guys posted.
*** If you decide to go Chevrolet we can definitely help.
 

ujoint

Supporting Sponsor
Tasca Ford in RI had (or still has) a few 10' new E350 Spartan bodied rigs ready to go. Good price too. V10, 6 speed. We just did one and it was all sorts of awesome.
 

Bikersmurf

Expedition Leader
We will be building two 2019 Chevrolet box vans in the near future. Our customers are planning on going on quite the adventure South.
The build will consist of:
WeldTec 4x4 conversion with 35-37" tires ....IFS.....
Rear suspension with custom springs and 2.5 King Shocks
Front and rear bumpers with dual tire carriers
Sliders
Seats
Roof rack & awning
This is just a short list of the craziness that we will be having fun building. I will be sure to keep you guys posted.
*** If you decide to go Chevrolet we can definitely help.

Jeremy, what years of Chevy do your 4x4 kits cover?
 

86scotty

Cynic
Your best bet for narrowing down all the different types and manufactures of box vans is to spend a lot of time on the Craigslist pages in bigger cities.
There are tons of different ones out there. I work on the road and see ones I've never seen every day. There is no database for them that I know.

I'd definitely lean towards V10/5r110 or Chevy 6.0 underneath. Keep in mind that fuel mileage on these is going to be much worse than you expect. That means, WHATEVER you expect, it's going to be worse.
 

sackettmw

Member
Most (or maybe all that I've seen) of the SRW GMs have a 4.8 . Not that that can't be remedied. I'd base my decision on the box like 86scotty was hinting at.
 

danjr

Member
Thanks to all for the helpful responses. How much of a detriment would the 5.4 with 5R110 be over the v10? Is it still liveable if gearing is remedied as needed out back?

@sackettmw Indeed, most of the 10ft chevy's I've found have had the 4.8. Seems you have to move to DRW and 14'+boxes for the 6.0 which is a bit bigger than I'd like. I'm sure there are some unicorns out there but have been tough to find.

I've also already been scouring craigslist-its a hobby for me.

@ujoint I appreciate the lead to Cranston Ford, looks like they have some great options for someone going this route new. I'm be looking for used options due to budget constraints. Would you mind shooting me a pm with the realm of pricing they provided?

It's amazing what can be done with these rigs. Both @Weldtec Designs and @ujoint - you guys do awesome work and I'd love to give whatever I end up with some love at some point.
 

ujoint

Supporting Sponsor
The 10' box rigs were ~36k, there was a 12' box in Raleigh that was 38k. The E series bare chassis (decently equipped) is usually around 32 and the boxes start at 6-7k is what the rep told me.
 
Personal experience opinions... We love the Ford platform. We ran a e250 with a 5.4 and 4r75 for 3 years. A Ujoint diy 6” kit, 35s and 4,56 gears. Weighed in at 9300lbs fully loaded. We loved the 5.4, it did everything asked of it. You have to apply the skinny pedal and let her rev and I wouldn’t want to do much towing with one, but with 4.56 gears, and 35s it is a good powerplant. The 4r75 is the weak link.

Before buying our current rig our search criteria ideally included a 5.4 with 5r110. Low mileage(40kish miles) SRW and clean. E350 utilimaster step vans(missed a couple at $14kish and see them listed up to $29k) and e350 10ft box trucks(missed a couple at $16kish and have seen them listed up to $30k) were the platforms we were hunting. Not an easy task to find a clean, decent priced unit. Prices are all over the board. We wanted the 5.4 over the 6.8 for the mpg, about a 2mpg hit, not much, but when you are talking 10mpg, 2mpg is a 20% increase, your 5 trip is free:)

The step vans overall height is a couple inches lower than a box van with wheel wells, and the box van with wheel wells is about 6" lower than a box van with flat floor. Just things to think about. Also rear door configurations, full width swing, 4’ swing and roll up doors are options.

After a lengthy search we found a new e350 10ft box srw, v10, 6r140. It was priced right($30,500 out the door, was special ordered in 2015, not taken, sat on the lot until we purchased it August 2018) so v10 it was. The v10 and 6r140 is a dreamy setup in my opinion and think that a 6.2v8 with 6r140 would be an ideal compromise. But that said, if I was on the hunt again I would not shy from a 5.4 5r110 combo unless you are well over 10k lbs and or towing. Truckpaper.com is a good lead but a lot of the ads are not accurate, it is good for finding commercial dealer websites. Happy hunting✌?
 

b. rock

Active member
commercialtrucktrader.com is where I was hunting for awhile. There were more chevy 6.0 box vans out there than ford V10 vans, although we were only looking at 10' box vans for departure angle purposes (seem to be on par with, or slightly better than, and EB).

There are more companies supporting the chevy platform now, Weldtec has a 4x4 kit as they've mentioned, and Timberline in Denver has started doing them too. Quigley is an option if the van is new enough and with low enough miles. Advanced 4x4 does them as well although do your homework on reviews and form your own opinion on that option. That's a long way to say, don't shy away from the Chevy options based on 4x4 support alone. The LS engine + 6l90 (starting in 2010) is a great combo and supposedly gets better mpg than the ford counterpart. Also of note, switching from a 4.8 to a 6.0, from what I could tell, is largely plug and play. Also, unlike the Fords, the aftermarket for the LS engines is near limitless.
 

Weldtec Designs

Supporting Sponsor
Jeremy, what years of Chevy do your 4x4 kits cover?
The oldest has been a 2015, as most have been 2016-2019. However we can do the older ones as well. Make sure you guys subscribe to our YOUTUBE channel as we will have a few new videos coming out with more details in the 4x4 conversions.
This is a video of a new 2.8L Diesel we just finished.
 

danjr

Member
All I can say is a great thank you to all who have contributed to this thread! Wealth of information provided here. The search continues, and will be sure to update with additional questions, and hopefully an eventual introduction to the new rig before starting a build thread. Any additional input is greatly appreciated!
 

Pinnacle Campers

Chateau spotter
Some other thoughts....(most Ford e350 based)
Do you want a power cab? Like power windows, locks, cruise? Not likely found on most box trucks. Although likely on ambulance chassis.
I also wouldn't rule out a DRW if other boxes are ticked, if converting to 4x4 anyway, on a SRW you will have to use spacer/adapters in the rear. You might as well bite the bullet and put a truck axle in it and throw the upgrades you want at it.
You mentioned a cutaway was a possibility, consider an ambulance chassis and find/build the box.
I bought a 2011 E350 v10 https://www.expeditionportal.com/fo...k-vuck-vantruck-expedition-camper-jig.203185/
from these guys https://arrowmfgtrucks.com/
GM and Fords, SRW, I noticed the GM rigs have 6.0's

Just some other possibilities as finding the perfect box truck could take forever.
 

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