Does anyone own a van like this. I have recently purchased one, and it has a 5.7 liter V8 and is the 3/4 ton model. I am wanting to find out if mine is just a gutless turd or if they all are sluggish. Mine doesn't seem to have much pulling power on the road. It constantly shifts and can't seem to hold speed very well. I don't know if it needs some throttle body work or some air induction work, just wondered what you all thought.
I don't have one of these, but find your post interesting.
I was looking into buying a used Ford van a couple of years ago. I had had a
6 cylinder standard shift Ford that had plenty of pep (relatively), was very reliable.I test drove a fairly nice Ford van with the 5 litre engine, and it was the most anemic piece of shit I have ever seen. Almost dangerous to get it onto the interstate.
A little later, I saw a used Dodge van with the 318 cid engine, drove it, and bought it. It had plenty of power, acceleration, and reasonably good mileage - 16-18 mpg.
These are big differences in drivability for relatively little difference in engine size or degree of sophistication.
Your 5.7 litre engine is about a 350 cid one, I guess. That engine is capable of plenty of push in decent fighting trim..
Something sounds wrong here.
Try and track down the axle ratio. I think some of them had a very tall ratio and that combined with a not particularly powerful engine makes them doggy.
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