Hello from Ohio, but ultimately from our DIY Transit

[Winston-ClassB]

You have never been to Canada and drove for an hour, never seeing another car, and no cell coverage?

Yes, I remember last summer, several hundred miles up the Dempster Highway in northwestern Canada when, suddenly, our nearly-new right rear tire was spotted in the mirror "rolling alone next to us". The entire tread/circumference departed the rim/sidewall . . . Hard to imagine how additionally "inconvenient" that incident would have been without a spare.

 

[wmgeorge]

Yes, I remember last summer, several hundred miles up the Dempster Highway in northwestern Canada when, suddenly, our nearly-new right rear tire was spotted in the mirror "rolling alone next to us". The entire tread/circumference departed the rim/sidewall . . . Hard to imagine how additionally "inconvenient" that incident would have been without a spare.

Yes and I Love Canada, have cousins that live there and if it wasn't for my Medical Ins and retirement I would move there in a second. We drove/camped RVed our way up to Juneau in 2013 and would love to go again in the RT. Folks do not realize the Alcan highway has a lot of areas where the power source is a generator, tire stores? What are the odds of getting a tire to fit your RT? Heck I even took new spare bearings for the camping trailer!

 

[booster]

You nailed it and that’s exactly why it wasn’t something I mentioned. In my head it’s about being under and using the upgrades to improve the experience. You’re absolutely right, we could run with 10 gal of water and be under again even fully loaded up. It’s all a balance and we’re finding that now. It’s not like I’ve totally blown the weight capacity of the van by any means.

If the tires are the same as on a larger capacity van and springing is the only difference, I think I would just put in airbags to handle the extra load if it did happen until you could dump tanks sometime and maybe smooth it out a little. Almost all the brands of class b's we here about on here are near gross weight and/or over for total or rear axle gross rating. Addiing a little more spring in the back by bags or stiffer springs takes you away from being on the limits of the springs and should make things drive a bit better also as most vans that are heavy seem to like the more spring to a point and might get you more level.

There is nothing illegal or wrong with increasing capacities of the van in relation to address added safety margin or driveability as long as you don't overload into the area past the sticker. Having the extra capacity can be good but wouldn't spare you a ticket so you would still want to be under or on weight.

I may be in the minority, but personally I don't care for the way duallies handle. They are generally major understeering vehicles because the wide rear tire footprint keeps the van from turning to some amount and that requires more steering input. Heavy rear also increases understeer, but more spring in the rear will remove a bit of understeer in most cases. Rear swaybars will also help reduce understeer to a fairly large degree. Duallies can be not to bad in no wind and low road crown because the always try to go straight, but will need more correction as soon as the front is getting pushed over from crown or wind with back harder to get back in line.

 

[@Michael]

The plan is to call around to some spring shops and see what’s possible for adding a leaf or otherwise before I just toss parts at it. If I do replace the springs entirely, I’ll go with the van compass opti-rate springs. Probably include a set of new shocks too.

FWIW - the Coachmans built on the 350HD dually chassis come with SuperSpring brand add-on leafs in the rear, and weird coil spring spacer things on the front. I talked to a truck spring specialist who suggested replacing the rear SuperSprings & factory springs with custom leaf springs. I didn't go that way - the truck rides OK with the factory spring/SuperSpring combination.

I'm still quite a way under GVWR axel ratings - roughly 9000lbs loaded though.

 

[robineliza]

Hey all!

Joined a short time ago, but haven’t posted as I was using the forum for insight on class b travel and what we needed in the van. We are from Ohio, but I had barely travelled outside(even inside) the state prior to getting our van. We placed the order for the van in mid-2022 with lofty goals of “replicating” other manufactured class b vans, but better suited for my wants/our needs. The goal was to build an adventure companion that would support working my remote job, while leaving enough space for my partner, dog and bikes. The van has been an enormous amount of work, and of course it’s an on-going project! I’m very far in the process and besides the thousands of “finishing touches” there is nothing major left to complete.

We’ve been traveling in it part-time since November of 2023 and we are absolutely stoked on it. We’ve found our groove in taking 2-3 week trips where we sit still during the work week and exploring between locations close by over the weekend. The van had taken us as close by as 20 miles from home and as far as Key West. Seemingly being re-designed a little each trip we take, lol!

It’s a Ford Transit 350HD Crew Van with the EcoBoost, DRW and AWD. It drives well and we are excited for the place it’s taking us. Here is a glimpse into the current state of affairs and look forward to sharing more!

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[robineliza]

If the tires are the same as on a larger capacity van and springing is the only difference, I think I would just put in airbags to handle the extra load if it did happen until you could dump tanks sometime and maybe smooth it out a little. Almost all the brands of class b's we here about on here are near gross weight and/or over for total or rear axle gross rating. Addiing a little more spring in the back by bags or stiffer springs takes you away from being on the limits of the springs and should make things drive a bit better also as most vans that are heavy seem to like the more spring to a point and might get you more level.

There is nothing illegal or wrong with increasing capacities of the van in relation to address added safety margin or driveability as long as you don't overload into the area past the sticker. Having the extra capacity can be good but wouldn't spare you a ticket so you would still want to be under or on weight.

I may be in the minority, but personally I don't care for the way duallies handle. They are generally major understeering vehicles because the wide rear tire footprint keeps the van from turning to some amount and that requires more steering input. Heavy rear also increases understeer, but more spring in the rear will remove a bit of understeer in most cases. Rear swaybars will also help reduce understeer to a fairly large degree. Duallies can be not to bad in no wind and low road crown because the always try to go straight, but will need more correction as soon as the front is getting pushed over from crown or wind with back harder to get back in line.

Hi there, I like your kayak carrier.