Hey everyone,

Never have spent much time in the Ex forum, but many of you may have seen me in the SD and the diesel forums over the last few years. Lots going on in my life and it looks like I'll be moving across the country with my job again. On top of this some medical issues with my daughter have me selling my Mustang and I'm now looking at an older Ford truck to replace it with. I think I've settled on an Excursion with a V10!

Both of my SD trucks had PSD engines but I don't really care for the expense, complexity, and high repair cost anymore and the V10 has more than enough power for my needs. I'll probably be buying another enclosed car hauler and will need to be able to comfortably tow 10,000 lbs or so.

So this leads me to my question for you guys, what should I look for in an Excursion? I'm relatively familiar with the common SD issues such as balljoints, 4x4 hub issues, and the other common ones, but is there anything specific about the Excursions I should look for? One of my coworkers has an '01 that fits the bill that was recently in a wreck. It's rust free and in good condition, and he's looking at selling it once it gets repaired. The frame was bent, and I told him I'm looking for a lifetime transferrable warranty on the repairs, but if that checks out I'm thinking it would be a great deal because it's hard to find rust-free trucks this far north! It's an '01 V10 with 130,000 miles and he wants around $7,500 for it. What do you guys think?

 

That price seems a bit high to me. But I know depending upon where you live, the price will fluctuate. For reference I paid $7900 for my 03 with about the same mileage ( bought it in November ). This is my third X and I love these trucks! I tow a 24' enclosed car trailer and the X does a superb job.

 

I have a 03 v-10 in my work truck and they are an great reliable motor, no repairs in 155k feed it gas & change oil! I think the early years the plugs could/would blow out for some reason. The excursion is the Godzilla of suv's, and they are a great highway roadster.

 

Nothing much different between the SD and X as far as stuff to look for and check out. I'd say the $7500 isn't to bad if you know the X and know it was taken care of.

Rust free is a huge deal around here as well! Rust will kill a vehicle way before any mechanicals will. I went south for my X and am glad I did, any vehicle I plan to keep for any little while I will go south for. You are years ahead with a rust free vehicle!

 

Tom, the only thing that would worry me would be the frame issue.

Also, check out the manifold bolts on that engine. It's a common issue for them to break.

As for 4x4 Excursions in general, upgrading the leaf springs and adding a rear sway bar is an extremely common mod because of the inherent Excursion Steering Wander. I have a thread listed covering that in the Ex tech forum sticky if you have time.

You'll be very happy with the towing power of the V10.

Find out the R&P gear size in the diff if you can.

Stewart

 

Our V10 Excursion was the best purchase I have ever made for our family of six.

My two major criteria for the purchase were a 4.30 rear end, and rust free. Because I live in the rust belt, the second factor was a big problem. I finally found a rust free Excursion with the 3.73 rear end from out of state, and I pounced on it.

I do not regret the decision. Maybe, in the future, I might consider a gear change. For now, my family is quite pleased.

Good luck in your search. Be patient, and choose with your head. You will do OK.

.

 

First, thanks everyone for all the great responses!

Completely agree about the rust, it consumes everything up here! I have an old Contour that I've been able to get to really nice running shape, but rust will be it's eventual demise and I can do nothing but slow it down. Good thing it was cheap!

That's certainly a big concern of mine, but one I'm willing to deal with as long as the shop transfers the warranty to me. If not we may have issues, as preexisting frame damage can be a real problem.

Thanks for the reminder, I've heard that this is common on all the 2v modular engines of this vintage. Hopefully being "rust free" will mean that they haven't corroded much. And on the rust free part, all of that is coming from the owner, I haven't seen the Ex in question. He's a coworker of mine and always seemed forthright to me, but I'll certainly need to examine for rust, and the manifolds are a big concern. I test drove one last week with 175,000 miles on it and heard what I thought was a manifold leak. Replacement manifolds are nearly $1K so that's definitely on my list of things to check!

And THAT'S the kind of info I was trying to learn here! Thanks!!!

Are you talking about the front axle? I thought the rear was the same 10.5" Sterling axle that the Super Duty trucks had?

While 4.30s would be great for towing I would honestly prefer the 3.73s. With gas prices what they are a bit of help with highway fuel economy would be great. Not sure if any of you guys saw any of our OH meets(if not click HERE for links to all 5), but Monster-4's V10 truck with 3.73s was able to start 15,000 lbs on a ~20% grade from a standing start. While 4.30s would have been better, the mammoth amounts of torque the V10 puts out would make 3.73s adequate for anything up to the ~12,000 lbs I may eventually put behind it.

 

If you plan on serious towing (10k qualifies) you should find a truck with 4.30 gears. 3.73's about kill a trans eventually. If you are interested in looking out west for a rust free send me a PM and I'll tell you where one is. He wants $9500 with 103k miles.

 

You're brain-farting bro.

I wasn't asking about the type of axle/diff, R&P as in Ring & Pinion gear. Which one, 3.73's, 4.30's, etc.

The V10 guys will be able to elaborate better, but depending on a few factors (lift, size tire, weight of trailer, etc) a bigger (numerically) R&P gear oft times will give better fuel mileage on the freeway.

I'll PM Joe (X_Hemi_Dude_In_The_Most_Extreme) and ask him to chime in.

Stewart

 

Am I? You said size!

 

Well, I'm sure you agree a 3.73 R&P isn't the same size as a 4.30 R&P gear!

Plus my friend, with everything on your plate, you may not have realized I was specific in asking about the R&P (ring and pinion) gear size.

Stewart

 

And yet again, simple logic escapes me.


Part of the reason I asked that is I really don't know much about Excursions. I know in the E-series vans they used a number of different axles under the same body, and I wasn't sure if everything was identical or not.

Also, I know the late model SD trucks used Dana 60 axles, what about the Excursions? Do they all use the D-50, or did they get the beefier axle at some point?

 

If you keep the 3.73 and work that tranny, you may want to consider upgrading the trans cooler to the 31 row cooler off the 6.0 diesel.

 

I found my '00 Ex with 93k for $10. Interior was great (normal driver seat wear, but the remainder of the interior was spotless), exterior was great as well - a few scratches and one ding on the door, but the paint was in excellent condition.

I did a lot of research on the site (just like you are) and found the exhaust manifold bolt issue, and the spring issue. My exhaust bolts were great, the drive train was dry (no leaks) and it looked to have been a soccer mom rig (complete with lost school homework papers behind the glove box and berets under the 2nd row seat).

As for the suspension bit - don't fret if it needs springs. While my swap was full of drama, most (90%) go off without a hitch, and it will feel like it just rolled off the factory line. My V/Modded B swap cured the wander 100%.

(Thanks again to Stewart and all that helped guide me back when I tried to over-think the swap!)

 

If it has 3.73's. It might have the larger R&P gear.

Stewart