Pimping out a Cube Van

[winslow33]

My friend Mark bought a 16' E-350 cube van yesterday. He wants to pretty much turn it into a mobile home, complete with a TV, speakers, the works. We got in a table, couch, bed and most of the furnishings bolted down to the floor........ But we're stuck on how to power all the electronics and lights. 12v to 120AC converter to the car battery is out of the question. It'll probably draw to much power for the battery and alternator to put out. What do you folks think we should do? Try to fit a second alternator and toss in a couple car batteries in the back then use a converter?
Any ideas would be apriciated! thanks in advance.

 

[superman22x]

First, is it diesel, 5.4L V8 or the V10?

I'm pretty sure it's already got a big alternator. I would recommend getting a HUGE battery for it, a battery relocation kit to put it in the rear box as well, and then running off of that battery. Hook that battery into the wiring harness as well so it gets charged while the truck is running too. You should be good.

 

[Rubber314Chicken]

Judging by the looks, I'd say its form the 7.3L diesel era.

 

[superman22x]

No, those are older. This looks to be newer then that I think. The black plastic grill is usually on the newer basic model trucks.

If it is a 7.3L diesel, you probably got the best Ford diesel ,haha

 

[winslow33]

7.3 Powerstroke Turbo Diesel

 

[superman22x]

Oh, I didn't know they went that far. Ok then, you probably have or can find a pretty big alternator in a junkyard if needed. You can easily run 2 or 3 batteries though.

 

[winslow33]

Thanks for the help. Now we just need to scare up a battery. lol. I got the battery from my F-150 im not using, I guess we can try that and see if it can run a 60W light bulb, and my stereo.
We're worried about how the hell we are going to insure the thing without it costing a small fortune. Probably going to cost loads, being that cube vans are commerical vehicles. Hopefully after our mods we can insure it as an RV cheaper.

 

[Rubber314Chicken]

I'd install a 2nd alternator, and use that one just for powering the back. That was the rest of the systems are going to work if that one gets messed up.

 

[superman22x]

Yeah, insure it as a regular E-450, if you can. The F-150 battery will run all that, but I would recommend dropping $150 for a new good battery... Walmart. Get a massive one, one that has a long charge, don't worry about amps so much.

 

[dude_56013]

IIRC, aren't marine batteries better for this type of application (charging and discharging a lot) since they handle being drained down better than a car battery (which is typically only drained at start up since really you only drain it when not running it when you are using your stereo or something lightweight). I know that when I did my amp and monitor setup in my Camaro a few years back, I went with a marine battery. It would typically last most of they day at a car show powering everything, and then I'd just charge it with a battery charger when I got up. Marine batteries are typically good for those types of applications...since they are used frequently with trolling motors (again, lots of charge/discharge cycles) and can last quite some time.