If you’ve seen us on the road you’re likely most interested in our 4×4 conversion. Before I get to that let me talk a bit about why we did it. We love our B190 but there are a couple things we don’t like. First is the suspension. When RV manufacturers turn a production vehicle like the Ford Econoline into an RV, they don’t always beef up the suspension to handle the extra weight. The B190 weighs in a little under 10,000 lbs. About 2/3 of that is on the rear axle. Tow any kind of trailer and it only makes it worse.
We also noticed that as the suspension wears, wind and the turbulence you can get on the highway can start the RV rocking side to side. A strong cross wind along with passing tractor trailer trucks can turn that into a short soiling experience.
Second is how our B190 handled slippery roads. Basically it didn’t. With relatively little weight on the front wheels, the front tires would easily lock when braking (we have unresolved ABS issues) which put us in the position of choosing between attempting to steer or attempting to stop, but not both. This could be partly mitigated by keeping the transmission in a low gear and going slow. (That way the rear tires are contributing to the slowing process.) But still, having more tread on the pavement along with the option to get really low gearing on all for wheels (4WD LO) would make it safer.
Finally regarding slippery roads, our B190 did not have posi traction. That means only one rear wheel drives the vehicle. I could pull up to a little patch of ice, get one rear wheel on it and find myself stuck. That’s embarrassing.
Moving from ‘need’ to ‘want’, we’ve found ourselves near beaches open to vehicles, wide open desert and BLM land in the mountains. With good 4WD we would have ventured off the beaten path.
B190 Expedition 