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Hi I just wanted to introduce myself and my 'truck'. I have been reading up on what I can to learn what I need to know as I get into this beast.
I have been messing with and building Jeeps for years and at one time even built up an old 1984 6.9idi e350 fire-rescue/ambulance breadbox into an RV/toy hauler. But the excursion is a whole new ballgame I cant wait to play!!
After convincing my guy to get a 33' flat-tow toy hauler we realised we needed a capable rig and the Excursion won out against many variations and generations of the 2500 suburban. During the long hunt for his rig I was secretly cheating and looking for one of my own. So not even a month after he bought a sweet turn-key southern 2005 bulletproofed 6.0 limited (originally from FLA), I picked up a local Northern high mileage (455,000km) 2002 7.3 limited with a rebuilt trans and fresh front end for $5k! ..... HAPPY ME!
So now I have some work ahead of me...
FIRST on the to do of toubleshooting:
1. sloppy steering - there is good slack between 11-1 o'clock positions - I have looked up the how-to for adjusting the steering box and once its warm enough I will be giving it a try. With the completely serviced front end I am not sure what other causes there would be for it. She does go pretty straight all things considered and it is only annoying at speeds above 110kmph. I am also concerned as the history of this vehicle is very unknown maybe its already been attempted and a whole box is required... suggestions for a good upgrade would be appreciated!
2. door ajar alarm - constantly on despite all doors and hood securely closed. I have tried lubing up every sensor site but no go. Would be nice to find a bypass for it before it kills another set of batteries. I also tried doing the leaving the key on to find the culprit door but it isn't cooperating with me, seems to think they are all bad and I doubt that.
3. bearing whine - for the safety I had to replace my rear driveshaft u-joint but now I hear a faint whirring from the drive line. Perhaps pinion bearing? Its definitely a bearing-type noise. It is not load dependent but does seem more noticeable at highway speeds.
4. body work - damn salt brine!!!!! I will be getting those rockers patched and the door bottoms replaced come spring. Thank goodness body parts are still very much available. Unlike my 87 Jeep Comanche where I had to get panels fabricated! If anyone has a suggestion for x brand over y brand etc for the panels or alternate exchange parts Id love to hear!
5. GPCM CEL on - is it really the module? She starts good above -10C, anything below that just needs the block heater. But that seems expected.
6. Cruise don't work - buttons on the steering wheel seem to not respond. I tried the troubleshooting process but the light on the dash will not illuminate. Ordered replacement set (they were very grimy anyhow) so hopefully that is all it needed.
7. LOOKING FOR BENCH SEAT FOR MIDDLE ROW IN TAN LEATHER (GTA/ONTARIO) - the dogs prefer bench seat and I prefer no third row for my random pickings.
NEXT on the to do of upgrades:
1. Tinted headlights have to go! - who was the genius who thought that they would be cool? Clearly they don't drive in remote areas without streetlights!
2. Aftermarket side mirrors - the current ones are busted up and seized. I do not have signals in my mirrors but the new ones came with them built in. Any knowledge if the harness would be already wired for signals if the heat and power is already there?
3. Integrating steering wheel controls to aftermarket deck - the deck is already in there so I got limited options. It is a Kenwood DX3? Is there a plug and play harness/module to activate the steering wheel controls again?
I will be logging my adventures on this thread as I learn from all your collective expertise!!!!! Fingers crossed Ill have a solid truck before the summer!
Congrats! The steering box usually need replaced on these old things as well as most bushings and linkages in the suspension - don’t forget the dampeners (shocks).
Congrats! The steering box usually need replaced on these old things as well as most bushings and linkages in the suspension - don’t forget the dampeners (shocks).
good luck and keep us posted
I suspect as much with over 455,000km on her.... do you know of any reputable replacements? OEM vs Aftermarket?
The suspension linkages, shocks, and bushings have been done over the last 2 years by the PO thank goodness.
Congrats! Welcome to FTE! Sounds like you've got some good plans there!
I'm not sure it's worth trying to adjust your steering box. Folks have done it, and I've recently started to research a DIY rebuild. Apparently Ford and some auto parts stores carry "rebuild kits" which consist of o-rings. That's probably fine as long as no hard parts are worn/damaged. I managed to find a description of how they adjust the steering gears, but nothing as far as specifications so not sure its doable at this point. Upgrades are either redhead or blue top steering box and I'm seeing on the interwebs these days that the blue top may be starting to lack quality. If you have the second row buckets, I'm SURE someone will trade out their middle bench for it. There's a marketplace forum here that'll probably do you some good. Good luck!
Agree with all said. In terms of steering box, RedHead or MotorCraft rebuilds seem the way to go. I chose RedHead and have been very happy with it for over 4 years now.
I will look into the Redhead box hopefully its not too expensive. I am limited to work space having no shop of my own let alone a garage or even a carport so I rather just bolt on new parts. As soon as I can post in the marketplace I will definitely post the seats up (Just have to do 10 posts or something like that before I can make a post there...).
I just did some number crunching - it will cost $626 USD for the Redhead while only $453 USD for the BlueTop shipped to the NY side of the border (without core discount). Is it really worth the price difference??
To get Redhead in Canada it would be significantly more and only one dealer to choose from who wants over $830 USD!!!!
Steering - Mine has the same steering slop. Being stateside, my cost difference between Redhead and Bluetop is not much. After much reading, I've settled on Bluetop and will be ordering my replacement gear soon. Maybe you can work with someone across the border from where you to send/receive the packages from these vendors to avoid the higher cost of shipping international.
Bearing whine - Are you sure it is from the driveline and not from the wheel bearings?
GPCM - AFAIK, only the CA trucks came with a GPCM and the rest were GPRs. Maybe I am wrong. But get yourself a good code reader and you might be able to get to the bottom of many things.
Tinted Headlights - These are a big no-no for me, even in the suburbs
Rear View mirrors - IIRC, if your mirrors did not have the tun signals in them, then they may not be wired already. Best bet would be to pull the plugs behind the door panels and compare with an electrical diagram to confirm. Even otherwise, they re fairly easy to wire up.
Steering wheel controls - Read up the manual for the specific model to see if that has the options to add a module for steering wheel controls. Metra has all sorts of accessories on their catalog.
2nd row seats - After searching for many months, I recently bought a set of captains chair to replace the bench on mine. I just need to recover the seats on the captains chairs. Many people on this forum have been wanting these. Post it up on the Marketplace and I am sure they will sell quickly.
Many of these topics have been covered in the Tech Folder on the home page. be sure to read up.
Welcome to the Forum and congrats on a TWO Ex relationship!
In regards to steering box, I have employed the Redhead...can't speak to the Blue version. New Steering stabilizer will also help, but do it last as you don't want to mask any other problems.
2002+ come with the newer connector and are prewired from factory to accept the newer style mirrors. Check out 1AAuto, plenty of members have purchased the 08+ style. I will be very shortly and converting my 1999 F250 Super Duty.
Thanks for the welcomes folks! So far this rig has been very forgiving to me and I am learning lots from the pre-existing threads on this forum
RE: steering slop - I found a highly reputable local fellow who specializes in ford diesels and more specifically the X (Freys Trucks, Fergus ON). He had reman steering boxes in stock for a fraction of the cost and holds a good reputation in the local community. I am going to give him a try because I am getting fed up with the steering. PO already attempted to adjust the current box so its pretty stiff as it is and not fun to try to convince the truck it is not a bayrunner. Hoping to get it swapped this weekend now that we are getting back into some tolerable temperatures! Then for sure the next item on my list is a good steering stab and upgrade the bushings to polyU.
RE: the CEL - it seems that after a haul from Guelph to Parry Sound = 3.5h each way whatever pissed the truck off to show GPCM code has resolved with my recent regular driving. NO MORE CEL! NO MORE CODES!
RE: cruise - today on my commute I decided to make yet another attempt to see if it would turn on and YAY I have cruise!!! Oddly I did try after the CEL disappeared earlier this week but only today it actually engaged. Fingers crossed it keeps working.
Now I just need to figure out that damn bearing whine and door ajar issue.... then its onto body and interior work (oh and once warmer to see if the AC works - compressor does at least).
STILL LOOKING FOR A TAN LEATHER MIDDLE BENCH (will swap for my buckets) IN ONTARIO, CA
the side mirrors are now installed! The factory harness was prepped for turn signals so no extra wiring shenanigans required... unless I feel need for running clearance lights
But I do not recommend turning wrenches with a busted pinky knuckle (story for another time)...
today the weather was forgiving enough to set the hubs to freewheel and low and behold.... no more vibes. Got her up to 140kmph with no vibes before not having a full sense of control but that was more tires wind and sloppy steering. So now to find out what isnt happy in the front end. Should have done this process of elimination sooner SMH.
This weekend is swapping headlight housing to clear lenses and finally finishing up the rats nest excuse for xenon light wiring the po had installed.
I've also noticed now that I'm half way through my third tank that the fuel mileage is improving significantly! Although the info centre is still at 13.6mpg for best overall... the math on on last fill was closer to 16mpg....
01-29-2019, 03:26 PM
