I will try to make this as short as possiable. I have an 02 gas and an 02 diesel excursion. the diesel is my wifes everyday vehicle. we are getting ready to go on vacation and after checking the diesel out before we make the 500 mile one way trip, I determined that it is in need of ball joints, wheel bearings breaks. I had been planning to get it done but time has gotton away from me. the gas excursion has about 4 or 6 inches of lift on it, but all front end components seems to be in good working order. Here is the million dollar question, can I just take the diffs and suspension out and swap them from the gas to the diesel? A neighbor (with good intention)said that in may not work since one is gas and the other is diesel. He isnt a ford guy so I said I would check with FTE and see what I could find out.



P.S. Any one live near southern WV and willing to lend a hand. I dont have a good place to do it at.



Thanks for any and all help.

 

you're thinking of taking the whole front suspension, diffs, axles, the whole 9 and doing a swap with the excursion? sounds like alot of work for ball joints and brakes. both vehicles being the same year, only difference I could think of is gearing, but i'm not a professional mechanic. sorry, good luck.

 

I would find a few key part numbers for the larger components and see if they are the same for both gas and diesel applications. That should confirm one way or the other for you.

 

I am thinking of swapping both front and rear diffs and suspension. The axle ratio is 4.11 on the ones I am wanting to use whick is ok since the tires will be 35's. The main reason is because I am not wanting to spend 1500 to 2000 bucks 2 weeks before I take the family on vacation.

 

Let me get this straight....you're willing to do the amount of work required to do a full suspension swap from one vehicle to the other, leaving one completely disabled, but not just do the work needed to repair the diesel Ex? Is the end goal to get the good parts on the diesel w/o spending any money? If money isn't the issue, I don't really see you saving any time with the suspension swap instead of replacing parts. Just my .02, however, I don't know the full situation nor the end goal. To your original question, I believe the parts would swap over. The front spring rates from the gasser may not be as stiff as the springs from the diesel, but other than that, I can't think of much that would be different.

EDIT: Took me so long to reply that you got to it before I did. Since you are wanting to save the money, I understand the question about swapping parts.

 

Other than fuel mileage, is there a reason not to just take the gasser on this trip, and then fix the diesel when you get back?

 

Yep, lots of work, I'd take the gasser for sure, even if it was crowded !! Come home then fix the other truck. You never know what you'll run into once you stir up that hornets nest. Just saying.............

 

I would think the front springs are heavier on the diesel. I would never do this unless I was junking the gaser.

Chet

 

There are several resasons I can't take the gasser. 1. still wating on the title to be transfered. 2. it has some tranmission issues that I have gotton diagnosed because I didnt want to spend money on somthing that I could get a title for. The title is on the way by the way. 3. it was a work vehicle and has had the seat belts cut out of the middle row of seats. I has some missing issues and I have been able to figure out. I basically picked up the gasser for a song and a prayer for parts if nothing else. I knew it had some issues but it has a 6 inch lift kit, nearly new 35 inch tires, a ranch hand bumper, and a tire gate with a 35 inch spare already on it. Only payed 1000 bucks for it and even without a title could part it out and make some money on it. I am hopeing once I get the title I can work out dome of the issues with it and sell it whole and make money or use it as my work truck and save some miles from my current truck.
Hopefully this spreads a little light on my train of thought about which route to go in fixing my diesel Ex. Thanks for all of the imput. Keep the opinions coming.

 

And do you know if the "Brakes and Ball Joints" are good on the $1000,00 Rig?

 

I can confirm the springs are a no-go. I think F250_ has the right idea of taking the time to look up the part numbers on both. This is a big project for the time allotted and you are definitely opening yourself up to a surprise adventure. Can you just replace the critical components for your trip, then save the rest for when you have time to herd the worms back into the can?

 

Have you thought about maybe renting a van for your trip? If you could all fit in a minivan (i know, i know...we drive real vehicles here)..BUT, you would probably spend less money on fuel and rental of the van, than you would feeding the Excursion...not to mention it wouldn't have iffy front-end parts on it. That would leave your wife's vehicle in tact, and ready for you to repair when you get home. Just a thought.