My '98 F150 wasn't really up to the task of towing my race car, so I decided to go Diesel. Really don't need a Diesel to tow a Spec Miata on an open trailer, but I wanted one ... and maybe someday I'll get an enclosed trailer with some form of AC that I can sleep in at the track.
I've got 3 kids, so it's either a crew cab or an Excursion. I really wanted to find a '95-'97 Crew Cab with a 5-speed, but eventually decided on an Excursion (because I can sleep in it now if I need to). Plus, an auto is easier for towing.
I live in the mid-atlantic, but didn't want a local rust bucket. So, I searched south mostly. Most of the nicer Excursions were out of my price range. I finally located one in Houston that seemed like a decent deal. I asked a lot of questions and got reasonable answers. So, I bought it and shipped it up.
To say I was disappointed when I got it is an understatement. The extra pictures the seller provided of the body issues were only about half of it, and that was already my biggest problem with the truck.
The pictures and descriptions from the seller were that the interior was perfect. Just a little cleaning needed. It's not horrible, but not what I'd call close to perfect.
Seller said motor ran strong and transmission shifted great. Thing drove really nice. Kept saying that. Hah.
But, overall the price was about right for what I got. If I spent the money to fix everything, I would have in it about what people are asking for the nicer ones. So, my mission is to make it a decent user without breaking the bank. Safety, reliability, comfort, then cosmetics are the priority. I want the thing usable, but I hate driving something that looks like I can't drive and don't care about my vehicles. So ... it'll be tough to keep from going overboard.

Here's my 2001 Limited 4x2 with 7.3 Diesel, bought with 169K miles.



Limited wheels had been replaced with chrome steel.

Right out of the gate, it failed the MD inspection on 12 counts. Great. Almost a month later, I had done the following to get it reasonable to drive and through inspection:
- New ball joints
- New tie rods (and drag bars for good measure)
- New brake pads and rotors all around
- New shocks (because it needed them bad, not for inspection)
- Lots of work undoing some wiring hacks, new fuses, new lightbulbs etc. All lights now working
- Replace missing battery hold downs - generic ones don't fit BTW.



The broken center console was driving me crazy, so I got a new one from a salvage yard. I probably should've driven up there and raped and pillaged the entire truck they had. The thing is nice. I also bought a full set of Weather Tech mats. It came with some seriously worn gray Husky liners that didn't fit well and were pretty trashed. The steering wheel leather is loose and oozes when you move it around. I need some sort of cover. As long as I don't move the leather relative to the wheel, it dries out and is usable.



The truck was missing the jack, tools, and the uncovered spare tire was rotted enough I probably could've stuck my thumb right through it. So, I bought a new spare tire in a 245. I also got an inexpensive jeep spare cover to keep skid marks off things that I throw in the back.



You can see the missing trim piece from the rear barn door in that picture also. Still working on that.
The previous owner had hit something with both sides of the rear bumper. The tan bumper cover is wrinkled and each side has some damage. The tan wheel flares are pulling away at the very back. I think because of some bent metal back there. It looks decent from 20 feet, but I'm a little picky on my own vehicles. I'll probably replace the bumper sometime. Trying to decide wether to remove the tan.



The roof rack is a show. It is missing 3 of the 4 latches that hold the bars in place. So, I removed all the bars and now have no rack, just the tracks. The previous owner must've used it because there are dents all over the roof. Had he sent a picture of that, I wouldn't have bought it.

How did it drive ... terrible. Slow, bouncy, and steered like a boat. All the parts I installed made the ride better, but not perfect. Still working on that.

Finally the engine and transmission. The truck had absolutely no power. The air filter top was missing a latch. So, I replaced the latch and added a screw to the broken latch piece. When I pulled out the nasty air filter, there was a rag inside the air filter box. It was basically stuck to the dirty air filter and probably not letting any air though. The one latch was holding reasonably tight, but there was still no indication on the filter indicator. So, air was clearly bypassing the filter. But, once I pulled the rag out and put the latch on, the engine clearly made more power. Hopefully the turbo/engine is not dusted. I can't bring myself to check yet. Transmission was shifting really poorly. I have changed the oil and had the transmission flushed. It is running better. I still don't like how it shifts, but that might just be an older auto trans.



I forgot to mention that I eventually got the title and it was a repo title. Something the CarFax didn't mention. It is obvious this truck has had no maintenance for a while. It started to make sense how someone could let a vehicle go like this. I suspect the dealer I bought it from did a lot of work to it to make it look reasonable. Under the slightly cleaned up exterior is dirt to the core. Every time I look somewhere it is nasty and I wind up cleaning.

The drivers side step is bent down in the back. I looked under it and the metal is bent where the step attaches. ugh. The kids use that thing and I don't want one of the slipping if it is wet. So, I'll have to figure out how to fix that.



So far, a couple grand in parts and quite a few hours of effort. I'm worried about how much more it will need. But, at least I can drive it. I feel like it's generally safe right now. So far, it seems to be reliable.

 

I took the Excursion on a family vacation. These things are great for that.
But, I found that I had a vibration at speed. It drives OK until 65 or so, then has a pretty big vibration.
I got the wheels balanced. No joy. I don't like the result as each wheel has several weights on them front and back. Lots of weight on each.

After some reading, I thought it might be a U-joint. 3 of the 4 came out easy. The other took me quite a bit of effort to get out. It was stuck in there good and I couldn't push it far enough out to release. I figured out I had to push through the bearing, clean it thoroughly and lubricate it, then push it back though. Then it was free enough to remove from the other end.



Nice shiny u-joints are in:



Here's the oops. I started with the truck on ramps. When I pulled the last two bolts out of the u-joint the truck reset itself from the transmission to the parking brake. The differential moved just enough that the drive shaft popped right off with the last bolt.
But ... that meant I couldn't align the drive shaft. I was kind of counting on the truck staying still on the ramps so it would line right back up. Luckily, my driveway isn't flat and I was able to pop the parking brake and the truck rolled off the ramps. I'm lucky I didn't push the front wheel chocks really tight or I might have been hosed. I was able to kick them free. I put the rear on jack stands so I could align the rear end. Whew.

 

Well, the U-joints didn't fix the vibration. It might be slightly better, but it's definitely still there.

I may take the wheels to a tire place with a road force balancer to see if everything is OK with the wheels and tires. Other ideas appreciated.

Anyone see that "10 25" on the drive shaft. Is that from Ford or is that a junkyard driveshaft? Looks like something a junkyard would put on to indicate the rear-end it attaches to. Maybe I need to look at getting the driveshaft balanced if the roadforce balance comes out OK and doesn't fix the problem.

 

When I first read this thread, the photos didn't show. As I'm reading, I'm thinking this must be a real POS . I've got this image of a broken down jalopy, but wow...I think its a beautiful ex. Right around 170k miles, any vehicle is going to need some more expensive maintenance. Especially if previous maintenance was neglected. If you don't mind me asking, what was the price tag on this ex?

Look at it this way. These trucks are the last of their kind, and has obviously found a good owner in you. Plus...what kind of fun is a truck if there's nothing left to tinker with.

 

I agree with sr23 on all counts. The truck looks great and it sounds like the "core" is sound.

On the plus side of doing all the repairs is that at least you'll know it was done properly and have peace of mind.

I personally have a soft spot for neglected vehicles just like the wife does with stray animals

 

Yeah, it's a decent 20 footer. The problem is what pictures don't show, especially on a white vehicle. There's a lot of dings, dents, some bondo, etc. I expected some of it. But, there's more than I expected. Overall, it's not horrible, I just tend to keep my vehicles nice. I probably won't buy one sight unseen again. I paid 9500 + shipping and dealer fees/title/tax. I've got around $2400 in parts in it already. I think for $13K I probably could've gotten something a little nicer, but probably would've needed something.
I know Diesels/Heavy Duty are more expensive, but I never expected a vehicle from a dealer would need over $1500 worth of just parts to pass a state inspection. It had a recent Texas inspection sticker. Don't know what Texas inspects, but half the lights on the thing didn't work for one reason or another. Obviously the whole front end has been replaced (grill, headlights, bumper), which involved pinching half the light wiring in the bumper. Some were "repaired" with speaker wire. Although, the speaker wire usually wasn't connected where it should've been. There's still one piece of speaker wire that goes between the two headlights that I need to figure out. But, at least they work for now.

I am sort of looking forward to fixing this thing up over the years. I'll update this thread as I do.

I'm not good at and don't enjoy body work. Otherwise, I'm with you. Around here for the price I'd get rust. I guess I have to trade that for something getting it rust free from Texas for the same money.

I do feel like I am saving this thing. It will be a good fun learning experience, but probably not the most cost effective way to get a nice truck.

 

Looks like a clean truck for the most part. Great job restoring it.

 

Fingers crossed. I still need to do a good diagnosis on the engine, but I'm hoping that the neglect didn't take too much of a toll there.

Me too, but my wallet says otherwise.

 

Thanks.

 

You have a 7.3 the dang thing is known as the "million mile motor" and proven, so fix it the way you want. Take your time and identify what you want, what is important and what mods you want. Get all the mechanical/powerplant/transmission/drivetrain working the way you want then start on the 'comforts' and elective procedures.

Straight Frame? check
Powerplant? check

Dude, I hate a dirty vehicle also but the drivetrain is more important in the long run.

I never envisioned replacing my grill but after I took care of the mechanical/electrical issues I had nothing else to do.

 

I think you could have done worse, but thanks for reinforcing why I don't buy sight unseen. I drove to just outside of Pittsburgh to get mine and did a fairly thorough inspection before signing the papers. I also know enough people I can usually find a friend within a reasonable distance that can go look at something for me. I paid $8900 w/ 215k miles and a little light rust. I've driven it 10k miles and all I've had to do to it is replace the alternator last week. That's the easiest job ever*, by the way.

We're pretty close. Let me know if you ever want to compare yours to see what it's supposed to be like. Mine's unmolested apart from some light body damage at the rear.



*on the 7.3L. I've heard the 6.0 is much more difficult because access to the tensioner is restricted.

 

HaHaHaHa!! Here in Texas well in Houston you can get a sticker for a little extra $$ and don't even have to have your thing tested! And its a legit sticker paper work and everything. Truth no lie. And some more legit places " By the book places" still don't check it right and still slap a sticker on it. Its the best!.

 

medac - I bought it for the million mile motor. We'll see how close to that I wind up someday.

BigBlkEx - I lived in Tx for a year. But, my company was leasing me a car at the time while mine sat here. I did like how speeding tickets worked at the time, basically a $50 flat fee and didn't seem like there were any other repercussions unless you were doing something ridiculous.

tsmall07 - Here's an example why I wouldn't buy sight unseen again. You need the photo taken at the right angle or it goes unseen and the thing looks great. You don't see this on any of the photos I've taken so far. I did know about this one before buying it, but there's not a panel on the truck that I consider "good to go". I expected most of them to be. Even in this photo you can't tell that there are several shallow dents around the clearcoat peel area (which I didn't know about).



I'm not going to dwell on each problem, but there are more detailed photos in my photobucket lib here Excursion Photos by jaystpeter | Photobucket

Overall, I like the truck. I think I overpaid considering all the issues it has. For the total I've spent to get it where it is I am certain I could've gotten something nicer. That's really my issue with the truck. I'm sitting close to 14K including shipping on this thing. That is what you'd wind up paying after making a deal on one someone is asking 15-16K on. And those are darn nice trucks. Lots of local dealers that import trucks from the south and sell them for that price around here. I didn't do better by importing my own.

The good part about getting it from Texas, there is really no rust. The biggest gnarliest rust spot I've found on the truck is right on the top front of the roof. It'll be 5-6 years before I start having to fight the rust monster.

 

I hate vibrations! Drive shaft out of balance? Bearings going out, wheel out of round? So many different things it could be.
Good luck!

 

PM sent on a parts truck.