Thanks for the welcome messages guys There is one downside to the low miles - the guy who owns the dealership has used this as his own car and left it at his holiday home in Spain for the last 6 years to use to and from the Airport, and says he's lucky if it does 500 miles a year - so I've based my decision buying it on it will need a good service, and maybe 4 new tyres, and a general work through the whole truck - but I think it will be worth it, as it looks rust free and a good start for me.

Re - the wheels, I found on my Expedition the handling had gone quite soft so I replaced all 4 coil springs/shocks with Rancho units, Helwig sway bars front and rear and fitted 4 new extra load tyres - but at higher speeds (without trailer) it still worried me about the slight sway - so I changed the stock 17" wheels to 20" with 275/60 extra load tyres (3000lbs each) and it transformed the truck. I think it must have been some flex in the side walls before?? I wont be expecting the Excursion to feel like my Expy though

 

With the weight of the Excursion, you'll want to make sure you ONLY
put on tires rated "E" the more common "D" load rating will
have too much sidewall flex and not support the higher load limits..

 

I bought mine last week, a 2001 V10 RWD. 78K on the clock. I just got tired of getting soaked riding the Harley in the rain, (fighting a bout with the flu at the same time doesn't help). I now figure I've got something to keep me dry and can serve as a family hauler at the same time.

 

WOW!!!!!!!! my Excursion got delivered to me today, and my first thought was 'this thing is huuuuuuuuge' it looked great as I walked upto it and I found it hard to not grin like a child on Christmas day! Then I started the engine and fell in love with the sound

It has covered less miles than I thought and has only done 59,000 miles (and all history is ok) and it looks better in real life than the pics I had seen!

There is some work that needs to be done - It's completey standard, so all the mods and improvement tips I've been reading about on here will need doing, along with a good service - and it will need new springs as even though it looks to sit quite high and level, the front only has about 1" before it hits the stop, and it needs a new windshield.

It doesn't drive anywhere near as nice as my Expedition, but I have spent a lot of time and money getting that exactly how I want it - and obviously the Excursion is a different beast all together - the engine suprised me for how smooth it felt, and it seemed to pick up speed quite fast too, although I though it would feel to have more torque, but when I've had time to check everything over, I can hook the TT and see how she hauls

I get quite a lot of looks driving the Expedition here, so I don't know what people will make of the Excursion hahahaha

 

Congratulations, and over in UK and Europe it will seem even bigger. I could hardly figure what it will be like driving a vehicle that large on the left side of the road. Maybe a television system to check the right side. Keep it between those rock fences I remember driving between just last year...

 

Took the Excursion for my first proper drive today - I can't believe how adictive the sound of the engine is kept making me floor it Seemed to get loads of looks it in, and it's definately too big to fit in a car park space.........and the place we stopped at had big spaces compared to normal (the Mercedes in the left of the pic is my Wife's car, and that normally overhangs spaces, but nearly fitted in here - E320CDI)

Things I like over my Expedition so far - The cargo space while keeping the third row seats in use, the arm rests on the front seat, the awesome sounding engine with bags of power, mpg seemed good (only rough guess from the not accurate overhead)

Things I don't like compared to my Expedition - the dash looks old, the driving posistion seems lower down compared to the floorplan/head lining, second row seats only have a lap belt in the middle and the side seats have small low down head rest, it handles worse than a bus (for now!) Turning circle is really, really bad!

All in all I'm really happy with it, and I think it's a great base for me to improve over time - but I think for me, if I could fit this 7.3 engine into an Expedition EL that would be perfect!

 

Looks great! That is a really nice color combination. Sounds like you have the usual issues to get it 'up and running' but nothing too bad. I would rather have the issues related to non-use than the issues of over-use (abuse). This rig should last you a long time. I can't believe you found a 7.3 with SUCH low miles. They are fun to drive, and get better mpg, so people tend to drive them a LOT! Lucky YOU!!

Thanks for the updates, its fun to hear what newer members are going through and doing to their rigs. Thanks for sharing.

You must have just about the biggest SUV in Great Britain, right?? who else owns one of these in your country? Seriously? I bet you NEVER see these there. I almost wonder how you knew about them, except that you are a FORD guy and so of course you know all about Fords!

Oh, by the way, did you just see the post from a guy in the Middle East? We have members EVERYWHERE!!!!

Cheers,
Karl.

 

Welcome to the club. You will love the feel of being the biggest passenger vehicle on the road. I just want to hear how much your fill-up will cost when your check fuel light comes on? Please convert the #s into dollars so we can feel your pain

 

That's awesome! Congrats on scoring more than you originally thought!

You aren't alone on the parking spot situation. Granted, those are smaller than what we have here, but generally Excursions don't fit well into parking spaces over here either. Yours fits into that parking space like my dad's F-450 does- so it's always easier just to park out and take two spaces.

I chuckled at your comments on the sound of the 7.3. I think you just realized the same reason why we all love the 7.3 around here!

 

Thanks, I like the colour too! If I could choose any colour it would be black (not metalic) as I love how it can be waxed to a high standard and look great, but blue is my next best colour anyway, just don't know if I'll keep the gold long term or paint it all blue........or maybe change the gold to silver as my company colours are blue/silver and thats how all my turcks are painted.

I have my Wife and kids to thank for leading me down the US truck route...........it all started a few years ago when my eldest Son started motocross racing, and we needed someting to transport the bike in and to sleep in overnight - I was going to buy a standard European caravan (trailer) and tow it with a van so the family and bikes could go in the there - My Wife was NOT going to sleep in some tiny trailer that didn't have water tanks/waste tanks etc.........so I was going to buy an American trailer as I knew they had a strong chassis, and remove the bunks, fit a side door and put the bikes in there..........then I found Outback made one already done from new, so spent more than I should and ordered a new Outback trailer over the phone without ever seeing one.........shipped it home, tried towing it with my Land Rover Discovery 2.5 diesel, which broke down too many times, so decided I needed an American truck that was designed to haul my TT, so found the Expedition over here for sale with the 5.4 and haul package.........Wife and kids were happy for a while, but soon outgrew a couple of TT's and ended up with my current one, which is a real workout for my Expedition, so have been looking for a diesel pickup, but didn't really need a pickup as the seats are more useful to me than an outside cargo space - and BINGO I saw this Excursion for sale And no, I've never seen one over here before, apart from a couple of limo conversions!

I can tell you that right now, as it showed it had 12 miles left when it was delivered to me It cost approx $360 based on the current exchange rate - I think it works out to approx $8.60 per US gallon over here at the moment

Hahaha thanks..........I think there must be some subliminal message that comes out through that exhaust note, and it's definatley got me hooked!! I want to drop the silencer off and see if it's too loud - as I've read most people just replace the silencer with a straight pipe - but this thing is so big and so loud at the moment completely standard, and it turns heads already, so a straight pipe may be a bit too much??!!

 

Lol, figures they'd give it to yah empty. Perhaps, you have more incentive to try your hand making some bio diesel as time goes on.

 

haha, that was a good idea a couple of years ago, but there are so many people running bio now that restaurants sell the old oil and not cheap either! People even buy new oil from the supermarkets to run in their car - and to think a few years ago, restaurants had to pay to get rid of the old oil, and now people are waiting to buy it! A few people found out it messes up the newer common rail diesels though!

My Expedition runs on propane, as it's half the price of gas - but the mpg goes down, especially when towing compared to gas

 

I already bought the exhaust for my conversion project for when I'm able to do it. There are many exhaust systems out there, but I chose the MBRP stainless turbo back based on recommendations here. While I've never actually heard one, I hear it isn't too much louder. It's much freer flowing to help keep the EGTs lower too. It still does have a mild muffler in it so it isn't completely straight piped.

The MBRP muffler is maybe 6" in diameter (in a 4" pipe), but the stock muffler is maybe 12" (and oblong) in a 3" pipe.