My company has an exclusive Express fleet after PSD Fords and Sprinters. Unfortunately, I got stuck with a 1500 with the 4.3. I average about 7000 each month, so I have a ton of seat time in this thing. Currently have about 190k on the odo. Driving it so much gives me some insight.


That powertrain sucks; anything this big needs a V8. It won't hold 75 in Florida without having to downshift 2 gears to push a hill. It bogs when upshifting to second, and is not terribly sporty in any gear; the result is much noise but not so much fury.


It is reasonably comfortable. Not luxurious by any stretch, but comfortable. Seats are way more so than in my 08 Laramie Dodge.


The sealed beam lights suck. I do a lot of night driving through Alabama back roads and needed better light. Just did a Hella H4 conversion with PIAA extreme whites; it like comparing candle light to an HID. Also added LED fogs.

 

Sounds like a crappy base model. Which for any vehicle would suck.
I figure the 4.3 is for light duty, and fuel economy. 75 mph in a full size van is neither....lol

 

Base, base, base; not even a CD player. Bought one of those FM transmitter that plug into the phone; $10 solution that works. At least its got air and cruise; a few extra shekels for the V8 and composite front end would have been nice, like their 2013 and newer units; could have had a new 15, but got saddles with this beast.


So far on it's 2nd trans, 3rd alternator, 4th set of tires (LT Transforces this time) and a bunch of small repairs. Add in an oil change every month, and it all adds up; they could have bought trucks and put service caps on the back.

 

How did you get cruise??? My 3500 with 6.0 doesn't even have that. You need some engine modifications now

 

Looks like yours is an '13? If so, it is as easy as adding the column switch and maybe a quick flash at the dealer? That is from memory of the research I did to add cruise to my '06


I upgraded my cheap front end to the nicer one with composite headlights. This van has by far the best light output of any vehicle I have owned now. The lights I got from certifit I believe, and there is a chance they might have come with 100w cheap china bulbs in them, but either way, going on 2 years now and really work well. Also did the 4 light high mod and that helps too.

 

When you did the 4 light mod is there an extra relay to supply the extra current?

 

Nope, all you do is use a diode. The lights are all on relays already, you are just triggering the relay to turn on. So when the Highs are turned on, the diode sends a little current to the relay for the lows to turn/stay on.

here is the diagram, but this is for my '06, you would have to confirm it with your year. But as you can see, pretty simple.

 

Good info, thanks.