So...Bought an X to accommodate our growing family and farm. It has been two months since we bought it, and I wanted to share some of the things I've had to do to her to get her "100%" for the wife and kids to use and be safe in.
I see a lot of other members asking what to do next and what to look for in a used X, so I figure I'll share some of my experience over the last two months. The X is a 2001 4x4 7.3L. Got her for a little over $14k. She had 202k on her when I drove her off the lot. Bone stock. Never saw off-road use. My brother is a diesel mech, so he went with me to shop for an X. Driving the 200 miles home, I found she wandered quite a bit...imagine that
She seemingly ran great, but little did I know, there were things I would soon find were in need of attention! I do all my own work. I have too much pride to pay someone else to do what I can figure out/learn how to do for myself. $3,000 IN PARTS later, this is what I have done to her to bring her back to new...

- Replaced both batteries. One had a dead cell and was reading 10 volts. Truck immediately ran MUCH better after this simple task. I had no idea...my first diesel. I thought she was running OK!
- Found the tie rod ends were worn. Could wiggle them with my hand. Replaced Tie rod and ends with Moog.
- Front sway bar link bushings were non-existent. Replaced the links/bushings with Moog greasable links. The rattle when I hit bumps is now a thing of the past.
- Steering damper was shot. Replaced.
- Brakes would shimmy/pulsate, and truck pulled hard to the left under a hard brake. Slide pins on Front Left and Right Rear brake calipers were completely rusted up and frozen - I had to beat them out. Front calipers had a rusty soup inside of them. Replaced front calipers, rotors and pads. Replaced rear rotors and pads and rebuilt calipers. No more shimmy and no more pull. Truck stops smoothly and on a dime...no joke. I went with drilled and slotted rotors on all four wheels and ceramic pads.
- While looking into the wandering issue, found there was no rear sway bar. Starting reading everything I could find on this site. Went to junkyard and found a burned out F350. Got sway bar and axle clamps off it for $50. While under it, found almost new 5" exhaust completely intact. Got it for $75. Installed sway bar and 8 inch Moog sway bar links. The ones on the F350 were way too long. Tossed the right passenger axle clamp/skid plate, and replaced it with the one off the F350.
- Found the vacuum nipples on both steering knuckles were rusted to almost nothing. Pulled the hoses off and they turned to little piles of rust. Replaced them with a suitable substitute from my favorite local auto parts store.
- Cleaned out engine valley. Found some nuts and bolts in there. Replaced stock intake boots with Dieselsite boots (all four).
- While in the engine valley, found my ICP sensor was leaking oil into plug. Replaced the sensor. They ain't cheap....
- Removed EBP sensor from front of truck (read that here on FTE). Completely blocked. Took a lot of brake cleaner and .105 weedeater line to get the tube cleaned out.
- Found my Thermostat had a slow leak on the back side of the housing. Replaced it with 203 thermo and aluminum billet housing. Threw on the "around the belt" upper hose while I was at it.
- Installed High Pressure Oil crossover. Truck did in fact idle quieter. Wife commented without me asking.
- Removed intercooler from front of truck and cleaned it out with purple power concentrate. Did this after seeing all the oil in the boots I replaced.
- AIH delete
- Installed fuel pressure gauge. Home made setup from ideas on this site.
- To address wander after rear sway bar did not "solve" the problem, I located a set of NEW V code front springs on craigslist. $50 (yes, you read that right) and 4.5 hours of labor later, the wander is a thing of the past! My brother did help me with those....
- Installed that 5" exhaust I found in the junk yard. Added a Walker Big Truck Muffler and a 30" FTE resonator. Just as quiet as stock with the extra 20 HP the 5" gave me (4" down pipe). My wife actually likes the turbo whistle you can hear now. Very noticeable power difference off the line.

Still have to address the axle dust seals behind the steering knuckles. Part of them are dangling on both sides. Have a Derale deep tranny pan coming soon. Despite the money I have thrown at it (a very well timed tax return!!!), I LOVE THIS THING! I see why some of you guys get carried away with the mods...

 

Man - you have been busy!

Sounds like you have a keeper.

D.

 

My wife is giving me heck for working on it all the time....she loves driving it, and I am cutting into her driving time!

Forgot to mention, V codes raised the front 1.75 inches and the back is now .75 inches higher than the front. If you take this task on, REMOVE THE FRONT BUMPER!!!!! I think the moderator here has dropped that hint a few times. Will save you an hour easy over keeping that bumper on....

 

Stewart

 

Yeah, you are that Moderator!
Also, check the bump stops on these old girls. Mine all fell off when I reached up and wiggled them!

 

I had the same on our 05. One dead cell and one weak battery. Replaced with Interstate Batteries, all is fine!

 

Wow, I wish I had as much time as you to work on my truck! Of course then i'd need $$ too, LOL. Nice work on it though, sounds like you'll enjoy it!

 

REPS to you! You've been hard at work, that's for sure! Glad to hear your family and the EX made it through the Bastrop Acopalypse last summer.

 

You have done alot but i'm sure your wife appreciates the extra reliability. I noticed my hanging down also, are these easy to change or does anybody know how to replace them. I have to relace my front rotors and brake pads and lube my hub needle bearings is this the time to replace the dust seals?

 

Robb, From what I have read, these are done in sets (inner/outer seals). It is a job that requires a specialized tool to seat the outer seal. I would say it would go hand in hand with that needle bearing since most of the same parts need to come off.

Tailgate, thanks. Fire made it to within 100 yards of our house. We dealt with the smoke smell for weeks. We have many friends who lost everything but their lives.

Airjeff, I work 4x10 workweeks, so that leaves me with three days a week to tool around on the truck. If not for the tax return, this work would have been spread out over 12 months!

Just took a 300 mile trip today, and my HWY mpg went up 1 mpg after the exhaust mod. Looking into a replacement for that stock air filter next. Don't want the noisy aftermarket sucking sound, so I'm checking out the Ford AIS.

 

Clay (riffraffdiesel) has a great price on the Ford AIS

 

I second Clay, he's helped me out a couple times. Great guy and great service!

 

Congrats on the new X!

 

Checked Riffraff and found the price to be $225. I looked around some more and found Diesel Filters.com has the same product at $190. Is there a difference I am not seeing? Thanks for the tip...The AIS doesn't show up on Riffraff under the Excursion section...just under super duty.

 

Here is mine