Any Ford Excursion owners?
Equipment
I am thinking about purchasing a ford excursion as an extra recreation vehicle. I have an f150 super crew now and would probably keep it for a while until I see how the x fit into the plan.
As they were only made from 2000-2005 this wold have to be a used vehicle. Anything to look out for?
I would probably only drive it about 3000 miles per year, so gas mileage isn't much of a concern and I was leaning toward the gas V10 rather than the diesel. I have a skid steer that I was hoping to haul back and forth from our camp about 10 miles away. Plus, with seating for 8, it would make family outings with others nice to take only 1 vehicle.
So, what say you excursion owners? The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Thanks!
don't have a excursion but have a 2001 expedition 4x4 over 200,000.0 on it nothing ever wrong but regular brakes battery and alternator has 5.4 triton plenty of power.
I have a couple friends that have/had them and they loved them. They were diesels though.
Beware of spark plugs blowing out of the heads.
I have f250 4 door pick-up 2001 with the v10 and love it lots of power and never any issues with it.
Spark plugs can be an issues on some of the Triton engines, but nothing to be afraid of. I have repaired at least a dozen. The correct way is using an insert, a pretty straight forward job with the Time-Sert kit.
http://www.timesert.com/html/ford_sparkplug_faq.html
Don't use the Heli Coil repair as the don't work/last. Once you make the repair with the Time Sert you will never have a problem again. If I remember correctly, the kit was about $275.00 which is far cheaper than you would pay to have ONE Heli Coil installed.
They are an awesome Heavy Duty vehicle compared to their competitor which was the Surburban. they were dropped because of poor sales due to low gas mileage and they were too big to fit in most garages.
I have had two, and I would still have the last one if I hadn't had to buy something to move my dozer and backhoe.
Mine were both V10s and there is nothing wrong with that engine that you can't find on other engines. Gas mileage was 17 on the two wheel drive and 14/15 on the four by. I also owned five F250s with the same engine. No troubles on any with anywhere from 150,000 mi. to over 270,000 mi. All I ever did was change oil, air cleaner, and replace brake pads ( on the high mileage one ). As I got older, I tired of the ride on the F250, so I went to an F150 two years ago, swapped my Excursion for an F350 diesel ( ugh ) with flat bed.
When we load up for Wyo. goat hunts, I miss the hell out of that Excursion !
Thanks for the vote of confidence on the excursion.
The hunt begins! Hopefully I can find a decent one at a fair price.
5.4 Triton has more problems than our gov't. I bought one with 87k miles on it and had to replace it with a rebuilt one from accurate engines and have it put in for the low price of $5K. It's poor design takes too long for the oil to reach the top of the engine and the cam phasers can go bad causing you to spend $3K to get it fixed. also, like was mentioned above, the engine will literally blow spark plugs out. Rethreading and replacing those takes a very long time. I will also mention that the 5.4 triton has far less acceleration than a 5.3 Chevrolet.
My 2005 supercrew with the 5.4 mentioned in the first post has ran like a Swiss watch since new. 80k miles later still running strong with only oil changes and brakes. I guess there are bad ones out there as well.
The 5.4 and 6.8 are different animals.
I have owned two excursions. The first was the V-10 gas and the second (current) on a 2004 6.0 diesel. Sold my first to a friend and he is still a friend.
The ultimate sportsman's vehicle.....I love the diesel for long distance towing trips. If you don't tow much over 6K get the gas.
Mark
Thanks guys! As an update I have located about six v10's within a two hour drive. Went and looked at about 4 of them. They seem to run the gamut in condition and price.
I can get one with under 100k miles for $7k with rusted rockers, cracked seats, and various dings and dents or on the other side spectrum I can get an absolutely clean inside and out for $17500 with 87000 miles.
Any thoughts on which way to go? Part of me thinks that it will be a hunting vehicle and go with the $7k and the other part thinks that I should get the best one that I can get as they aren't making them anymore...
I alalso tend to keep vehicles for 10 years so that is also a factor.
Any thoughts? Thanks for the input guys!!
I would think you could do better than $17,500 on a truck that old, but maybe not. I believe if that's what I wanted, I would make an offer. All they can say is no. Wish you had been around when I traded mine. It was in very good shape, garage kept, and I surely didn't get that kind of $ in trade !
Thanks for the info drycreek and others. I am leaning toward the nicer one but just not sure what to do. Unfortunately, unlike most other things - they do not make them everyday.
FYI I am willing to travel south to get a nice excursion if anyone knows of one. Living here in pa it doesn't take long for rust to take its toll!
Fulldraw, I hate that we took up your valuable time discussing a vehicle that a fellow hunter will use to go BOWHUNTING, but some of us mere mortals talk about those things from time to time.
Hey fulldraw, lighten up - you aren't starting off the year being grumpy are you??
The title of the thread was self explanatory. If you werent interested in the topic, SKIP OVER IT.
I put it under the equipment catagory, where would you rather I put it??
Fulldraw1972,
This is the EQUIPMENT forum. A vehicle that used for bowhunting is bowhunting EQUIPMENT. Run along now and let the adults talk.
As long as it doesnt have a gun rack I'd consider it bow hunting "equipment" ;-)
Sandbrew
I loved my Excursion, pulled anything and everything, put quite a few miles on it too...but I had the 6.0 diesel in it...I hit 100k and it seemed like every week something was breaking on it...I didn't have any issues with the engine itself, but by the time I was done, all the wiring harnesses and the ficm were replaced...I had to have it towed in twice and I got rid of it asap. Now that V10 is bullet proof, we had one at work the got beat hard daily and never missed a stride. If I could find a decent Excursion with the V10 I would buy it.
Well, I have no clue what a "bow simble" is, but I do know that a Ford can be a "symbol" of a hunting tool :)
137 brings up a good point......stay away from the 2003 6.0 liter diesel.....MaNY problems....the two 2004 6.0 liter diesels that I have owned for a combined 14. Years are rock stars!
The $17.5k sounds kind of high......but I would have a strong tendency to get one in better shape as statistically you will have it and be happy with it for many years to come!
Keep us posted with what you decide....
Mark
I have not owned them myself but my friend previously had 3 and his company had several of each year. I drove his out to Colorado and back one year. It was a Limited and so it was really nice. Brought back a 22 ft trailer loaded with equipment and it had no problem pulling it.
He was bummed when they quit making them. Most of theirs were diesel but they had a couple V10s. I remember him talking about a bunch of trouble with a couple of the diesels they bought one year. They now have a bunch of Dodge Crews with Cummings now and he's on his 3rd crew cab Tundra.
Is the more expensive one a diesel?
For what its worth, if you find one with the 7.3 powerstroke that would be the ultimate score. 20-22 mpg's with all that room and towing ability would be sweet.
Could probably even take the back seats out and camp out of that thing.
Shaft - none of the excursions that I have been looking at are diesels. With as little as I plan on driving it (proprobably once a week and about 3000 miles per year) I have heard that a diesel would not be a good choice. Probably wouldnt pull longer distances other than once a year when we pull a an enclosed trailer west.
I looked at another one yesterday that was pretty rough but only 87000 miles for $6900. I hope to check out another one on Tuesday as I will be in the area for work. It is probably the middle of the road in condition and mileage at 13000.
Thanks for all of the great information, updates to follow as they evolve.
My favorite hunting vehicle of all time. If they started making them again I would be first in line to buy one.
Post a pic of whatever you get. I'm with spinedoc, I'd love to see them make them again...especially if they kept that solid front axle.
The search is over!! Details to follow.
Glad to know ! Looking forward to it .
Heading out tomorrow morning at 6am for a three hour drive to take a look at an excursion that I saw on line and put a deposit on this morning after talking with the dealership.
2002, v10, black / tan limited, Florida vehicle, clean carfax, 43,000 miles, for $13,500. I have looked at about 12 excursions so far, and this one shows the most promise. Most have been pretty rough with between 150k and 250k miles for around $8000. I did see a really clean one with about 90k on it for $17,500 so this one looks like a pretty good deal. I am not sure I would ever be able to find one with less miles no.matter how long I look.
Wish me luck and hopefully I will be adding a photo to this thread around noon tomorrow!
Thanks for asking drycreek! I got home a short while ago after stopping a few places on the way home. Pulled the trigger on it mid-morning.
Drove it home for about 3 hours or so and about 200 miles. Ran great, but I can tell that it is going to take some getting used to - those things are huge! Reset the trip computer and it came in at about 13.5 mpg, primarily on interstate 80.
Seems like the wife and kids even like it. Win, win ,win!
Thanks for all of the input from those on bowsite, it is a great resource on a vast number of things.
Here is a little better photo.
You will thoroughly enjoy this as a hunting/traveling vehicle. We carried gear for a week trip with us ( three guys ) many times in mine and all in the dry under lock and key ( for what that's worth ). Not much on mileage after they quit putting the higher speed rear ends in them, but a great vehicle for what I used it for . Just don't get it in soft stuff, 'cause it is heavy ! Hope you enjoy it !
Nice rig, I prefer my 3/4 ton Suburbans. But the Excursions are nice. A buddy of mine has one with the V10 and 300,000 miles on it that he bought new. He has never had a major issue, and has gotten as good as 16 MPG .
Congrats PSU! You just fell in love all over again! There is nothing better for moving buddies and their gear safely!
Note to self: If you have to lock out the front axle, you are already someplace you shouldn't be!
Mark
Thanks for riding along guys. My buddies that I go to the Midwest hunting with every year are already planning to all go together with our kids to the sports show in harrisburg, so we will try it a full capacity!
Mark- I never had manual hubs on any of the 4 wheel drives that I had before. Anything that i should know? Does it hurt to run them locked in while in 2 wheel drive? I need to get a manual for this thing...
Congrats on the new rig! That's sounds like a great deal. Good luck with it.
I have 2 of them and IMHO there is nothing better for the sportsman to use for hunting/fishing trips and especially if you need to pull a heavy load and carry alot of gear/people as well. My 2000 is black with a V-10 and my 2001 is 7.3 diesel both are 4wd. The V-10 has the Banks power pack on it along with some other goodies, 8in of lift, 35in tires, 4.30 gears and avgs about 10-12 around town, 12-13 on the highway and pulling about 7-8mpg. I have about 195,000mi on it. The diesel has the chip, intake and open exhaust, 2in level lift, 33in tires, 3.73 gearing and avgs 16-20mpg and currently has right at 250,000mi. Everybody knows how good he 7.3 motors are so no need talking about that, but suprising how well the V-10 runs and have had no issues with it. Actually the V-10 is the same motor as the 5.4 just with 2 additional cyclinders. They all use the same rings, pistons, etc. just added 2 more. Great motors with excellent power and reliability. I have not had any issues with spark plugs on it and only broke a couple of header studs, but that is it, just gas it up and drive. Great trucks and love them. However with the addition of the diesel truck I don't need both of them so I will be selling the black V-10 soon.
My 2001 Diesel before leveling.
PS the hubs are Auto/Manual on the Excursions and use a vacumn pull to engage in the Auto setting but none I have ever seen with any mileage on them work as they should so you are better off to just manually lock them in when needed. You can run them in manual in 2wd with no problem but you will be turning the front axle the whole time and can contribute to wear and tear on the front end and a little more tighter turning, but no problem really. But it is best to leave them in Auto until you need 4wd and will get slightly better gas mileage as well.
Thanks Mark, for the information and nice rigs! I am probably going to leave it stock for a while since it is great shape and only 44,000 miles. There are a few small issues (such as the heat not blowing in the floor) but I am already looking forward to taking my buddies to the harrisburg sports show and out west this fall.
The 5.4 Triton was noted for the sparkplug problem. The diesel in the Excursion is noted for rusting oil pans that require a full engine pull to replace.
A fried has a diesel Excursion with a hole in the pan. He keeps patching it externally.
I am bringing this thread full circle as 4 buddies and I are leaving for Illinois at 4am in the morning in the Excursion. Hoping to have a safe and uneventful trip. Will be pulling an enclosed 6x12 trailer as well.
Good luck to all heading out and stay safe.
