My wife and I had the same discussion....ergh debate! We looked at just about everything we could in SUV's. We had an old Suburban that was falling apart.

I went out and drove a 7.3 Ex and a 6.0 Ex. The 6.0L drives like a gasser but can pull just about anything I toss at it.

I had a buddy that is in the car business look for a clean used EX for me. 8 months later I get a call. The wife and I went to test drive it. After a 15 minute drive she was sold on it.

2 years later we have sunk about 7k into it on top of the purchase price. I bought a neglected one.

If you go into the purchase eyes wide open and educated on the pitfalls of a diesel, you should be just fine!

BTW listen to Sammie....a man that has to settle on something he does not want....is a miserable man!

SAMMIE.....where were you when I was recently divorced? lol

 

Don't hear too many dudes with diesels wishing they had a gasser

 

But you do hear guys with gas wishing for diesel. Well done John.

 

I have a V10, I love it. Does it have enough power? Ya, Could it use more? Ya. Would a 7.3 or 6.0 be better for me? Probably not. Could they use more power? Ya, all engines could use more.

We have 3 6.0L F550s at work, they all have less than 300,000 miles on them, and we can't wait to replace them with gas engine vehicles. They all get regular service, they all have left the crew that use them sit along the tracks/road without notice. Shut it off, just won't start. Sometimes they start after cool down, sometimes they wouldn't. They all have been fixed for issues like that once every year or two for the life of the trucks. We put ALOT of miles on vehicles. We try to get 300,000 on a WORK truck before it gets replaced. That said, there has been WAY less cost to maintain the gas trucks(by trucks I mean 3/4 and 1 ton pickups) than the diesels. Some of the gassers are pushing 400,000 miles on the original engine and trans.

Now, I can't remember the part of the country you live in, BUT, with a deisel, if it gets cold out, you have to remember to put a blended fuel in, and plug it in when its cold. Can't be leaving them sit and expect them to start when it's 0* out.


I like diesels for pulling, and the power they have, my Dad has a 6.4L and I've used it many times, but, it doesn't get any better milage than my v10 running the same speeds, pulling the same loads. The main reason I got a gas vs the diesel, is the cost of upkeep. The gas is just cheaper to own hands down.

If your Husband is like me in anyway, no matter what he buys, he won't be happy with it, and will spend $ on it to make it the way he wants. Lift, tires, exhaust, performance parts, appearance enhancers, and so on. My wife has said to me more than once "Can't you leave anything alone?!?!"

Sorry for the long winded, jumping around response........

 

Mrs A, let me be the first to say You are Awesome! To take an interest in your hubby's obsession, ah I mean hobby/pastime means you have a great relationship and future. As long as the Apocalypse family gets an EXCURSION, success will follow you all your days.

 

Ma'am, the answer to your question of why a diesel X is very simple:

Because every man, before he dies, needs to strap on a whistling, smoke belching 8000 lb rocket, and go for a ride...

Mark

 

The smell of burnt gasoline will literally kill you.
The smell of burnt diesel grows chest hair, stimulates testosterone, and makes you stronger.

Use with discretion.

 

Let me ask this...as I have not seen anyone even mention it.... Why can't he have both??? He obviously has a gasser EXCURSION..... he WANTS a Diesel.... just buy the Diesel. He can use the Gasser for all his short trips, which in turns saves the wear and tear on the Diesel. Then use the Diesel for longer trips and saves miles on the gasser. Everyone wins! Then he could join the very Elite brotherhood of (MEO) Multiple Excursion Owners. I wouldn't imagine they would give him much for a 2wd, 5.4 EX anyways.

-The Great

 

Discussion? You guys are funny!

I told the wife we were gonna own an Excursion one day, and a couple years after telling her this, I woke up one day and told her I was gonna buy her a diesel Excursion. She asked if we could afford it and I told her not to ask, LOL!

The second one I looked at, I bought.

She loves it.

Stewart

 

My 6.0 Excursion has been the topic of elevator and lunch room disccussions because it's straight piped, loud, and makes a sweet sound when driving through the parking garage

One of the guys I worked with commented on how awesome my truck sounded and that his son wanted a diesel for either his first or second car. My words to him were that a diesel truck is a big responsibility. It costs more to maintain, and maintenance is not something to skimp on, oil changes cost $60 for a 7.3 and closer to $70 for a 6.0 as opposed to $20 and maybe $30 oil changes on a gas truck.

It also has to be driven and worked, it's what diesel's were meant for. I drive the **** out of my 6.0 and I haven't had a single problem with it. Do you need to bulletproof a 6.0 before driving it, no you don't. There are perfectly healthy trucks that don't need any work at all. While my situation was different (bad oil cooler and leaking egr cooler), had the truck been healthy, I would've driven it as is, modded as I went along, and let that be that.

To Sammie's point, if a man isn't happy with what he's driving, he'll deal with it, but he'll quietly **** and moan for years.

Furthermore:

My neighbor did this very thing for 3 long agonizing years...

He had a beautiful 2004 F250 that he loved and wouldn't trade anything for. Unfortunately, he accidentally killed his own truck and didn't realize it.

The degas bottle cracked on his 6.0, so he replaced it and refilled it with green coolant. A month after, the deadly chain reaction started with his oil cooler clogging and the egr cooler drinking coolant. To that end, he chose to get rid of it before something happened.

For the 2011 MY, Chevrolet advertised that the 1/2 ton silverado with the 5.3 would average 20 mpg unloaded, so he traded his truck and brought home a chevy. Nothing was further from the truth, the truck rarely got over 14 mpg and couldn't tow his boat to save it's life. Needless to say, almost a year later he came to regret his decision and had to keep paying for a truck he now hated.

He recently bought himself a fully decked out 1/2 ton Dodge and loves it.

The moral of the story: If you know you can afford the maintance and cost of ownership of a 6.0, do it. No one should ever have to settle in life or drive something they don't care for if they have a choice.

 

Fwiw, regarding the above comments, my egr was perfect and the oil cooler was fine, according to the tech who did my studs. I took care of all maintenance and while I didn't **** on it while towing, I did tow heavy with it and I drove like I stole it on a weekly basis because I have a heavy right foot. Mine was leaking coolant from a blown hg through the cylinders and I caught it in time to prevent hydrolock and bent rods or damaged short block.

Mine was a one owner, 50k truck with all maintenance records when I bought it 4 years ago.

I was very cautious.

Everyone's experiences are different. If I was buying a 7.3 I wouldn't be comfortable towing my family on a thousand mile rv trip unless I had an aftermarket built 4r100. If I bought another 6.0 I wouldn't feel confident with it until it had been studded.

 

ONLY because that's what he wants. Bottom line, that trumps everything else as long as it's in the budget. Some people just love diesels and all that goes with them. I get it and am all for it if that's your bag. Hey, some people even like those ricer cars with giant mufflers. Who am I to judge?

From everything I have heard about your family's needs, what you have now is the most cost effective and practical. Second best would be the V10, and only because he is itching to have 4WD. Diesel is least practical for your needs. You don't tow heavy things regularly, you take frequent short trips. Does not change the fact he WANTS one.

I will never be convinced the diesel is lower cost of ownership. I recently took a 6000 mile trip, towing an 18' car hauler with a car of some sort on it for 5000 of those miles. I averaged 12 MPG and paid an average of $2.70 per gallon. $1350 for fuel. I never needed more power, and while I never went over the rockies at 12,000 ft there were plenty of good pulls in NM and AZ. A diesel might get 15 MPG on the same trip, but at $3.50 a gallon, fuel cost would be $1400.

In the end, you have to ask yourself how many resources are you willing to allot for a truck? A nice EX with a diesel is going to cost some money. Just ask anyone here who owns one. I'm not saying they aren't worth it, but you will have a fairly significant investment in one. Like any other investment, you have to weigh the tradeoff. What is Mr Apoc willing to do without in order to put your resources towards this want? That may be time traded to work extra to bring in the $$$ or it may mean spending less elsewhere.

Having 5 kids, I had to do a lot of trading off of my wants over the years, and I managed to win on my wants every now and then too. Such is life. I'd love to have a brand new truck. I'm confident I could have one in the driveway this evening, but that would involve tradeoffs in other areas I am not willing to make at the moment. I'll live with my 15 yr old truck, it does what I need.

I say go for it when you have the $$$ to do it.

 

I love the smell of diesel in the morning, it smells like FREEDOM!!

 

You sir must be a boater

 

My wife wanted the diesel because it purrs. How practical is that. Now I only get to drive it on road trips and when hauling hay.


'03 eb 7.3