Looking at buying
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Looking at buying
Hi everyone I just found this site from researching ford excursions. I'm looking at getting either 04 or 05 what can you guys tell me about them.
Pros vs cons. I Like the 6.8 gas instead of diesel.
What issues should I be aware of and I read a lot about spark plug issues anything else.
I'm mostly looking at this for the towing capacity (is is true 11k towing ratings).
(Towing either car hauler or small trainer)?
What are avg prices so I know if it's too much or too little?
What upgrades to do just your overall experience with me.
Thank you so much for all your advice.
Christopher
Pros vs cons. I Like the 6.8 gas instead of diesel.
What issues should I be aware of and I read a lot about spark plug issues anything else.
I'm mostly looking at this for the towing capacity (is is true 11k towing ratings).
(Towing either car hauler or small trainer)?
What are avg prices so I know if it's too much or too little?
What upgrades to do just your overall experience with me.
Thank you so much for all your advice.
Christopher
Moderator
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 12,050
Likes: 1,549
From: Media PA
Welcome to the best place on the web for Ex info and advice, I hope you become a part of the Ex family soon! 
Fill in your location in your profile so we know where you are based out of, we may have someone local that can help to check out a prospective purchase with you.
Are you looking for a 4x4 or 2WD?
Sounds like you are planning on towing, how much weight, trailer style and distances?
Hi everyone I just found this site from researching ford excursions. I'm looking at getting either 04 or 05 what can you guys tell me about them.
Only that they are the most awesomest SUV ever!
Pros vs cons. I Like the 6.8 gas instead of diesel.
I went with gas also, it was a better mix with my typical usage, time available to tinker with it and my mechanical knowledge base.
What issues should I be aware of and I read a lot about spark plug issues anything else.
The plug issues were mainly on earlier models that had too few threads for the plugs in the heads, Ford upgraded the heads in '02 to remedy that issue. If you are looking at '04/05s this should not be an issue.
I'm mostly looking at this for the towing capacity (is is true 11k towing ratings).
(Towing either car hauler or small trainer)?
Yes, the V-10 and PSD both had the same tow ratings. BUT.....The V-10 will tow much better with the optional 4.30 gears than the more common standard 3.73 gears. If you happen to find a nice once with 4.30s that can save you the cost ($2000-ish) of a shop to regear for heavier pulls.
What you are towing will also make a HUGE difference on how it will tow it. A tall/wide travel or cargo/enclosed car trailer will be a much more strenuous pull due to the drag from air resistance than the same weight on a low profile flat open trailer. The higher profile trailers and their drag can also influence some bad highway manners if the tow vehicle has soft-ish suspension (like a stock EX
). But we have some excellent fixes for this problem here. 
What are avg prices so I know if it's too much or too little?
Varies greatly based on location and vehicle condition. In my opinion it would be well worth it to shop for Southern trucks that have not seen salt if you are looking for a nice rig to keep for a long time. We just had an adventure here where several members from TX and FL were searching out and inspecting EXs for a member in VA to buy, it worked out great and he now has a very clean rust free V-10 4X4!
What upgrades to do just your overall experience with me.
I tow heavy (11,000 lbs) for 3 to 5 thousand miles a year and less than 2K running solo. With my setup the Ex's stock suspension was getting pushed around and overwhelmed by my trailer's weight and tongue weight, so swapped in springs from a SiperDuty pickup, world of difference! ( and cheap!
). For my towing chores I also added a rear anti-roll bar (sway bar) from Hellwig. Theses two things would have been needed with either the gas or diesel motors as both had the same soccermom suspension from Ford, not optimized for towing heavy.
My additional upgrades were more focused on improving the V-10's (already decent) towing performance. I added a set of Banks headers and a tuner loaded with custom tunes from 5Star Tuning (a site sponsor here). I also upgraded to 4.88 gears and 35" tires which netted me an effective gear ratio of 4.39. The factory tow packaged V-10 EXs came with the 4.30 gears for a reason. These motors like to rev and they make the peak of their power/torque at higher revs than the 3.73s provide at cruising speeds, the deeper ratios drive thee RPMs up into the meat of their power band delivering better towing performance AND better fuel mileage while towing (mostly from staying in OD more). These few upgrades have vastly improved my EX's performance in it's primary role as our tow rig.
Thank you so much for all your advice.
No problem, you will get tons of Excellent Ex advice here from several great folks.
Christopher
Only that they are the most awesomest SUV ever!
Pros vs cons. I Like the 6.8 gas instead of diesel.
I went with gas also, it was a better mix with my typical usage, time available to tinker with it and my mechanical knowledge base.
What issues should I be aware of and I read a lot about spark plug issues anything else.
The plug issues were mainly on earlier models that had too few threads for the plugs in the heads, Ford upgraded the heads in '02 to remedy that issue. If you are looking at '04/05s this should not be an issue.
I'm mostly looking at this for the towing capacity (is is true 11k towing ratings).
(Towing either car hauler or small trainer)?
Yes, the V-10 and PSD both had the same tow ratings. BUT.....The V-10 will tow much better with the optional 4.30 gears than the more common standard 3.73 gears. If you happen to find a nice once with 4.30s that can save you the cost ($2000-ish) of a shop to regear for heavier pulls.
What you are towing will also make a HUGE difference on how it will tow it. A tall/wide travel or cargo/enclosed car trailer will be a much more strenuous pull due to the drag from air resistance than the same weight on a low profile flat open trailer. The higher profile trailers and their drag can also influence some bad highway manners if the tow vehicle has soft-ish suspension (like a stock EX
). But we have some excellent fixes for this problem here. What are avg prices so I know if it's too much or too little?
Varies greatly based on location and vehicle condition. In my opinion it would be well worth it to shop for Southern trucks that have not seen salt if you are looking for a nice rig to keep for a long time. We just had an adventure here where several members from TX and FL were searching out and inspecting EXs for a member in VA to buy, it worked out great and he now has a very clean rust free V-10 4X4!
What upgrades to do just your overall experience with me.
I tow heavy (11,000 lbs) for 3 to 5 thousand miles a year and less than 2K running solo. With my setup the Ex's stock suspension was getting pushed around and overwhelmed by my trailer's weight and tongue weight, so swapped in springs from a SiperDuty pickup, world of difference! ( and cheap!
). For my towing chores I also added a rear anti-roll bar (sway bar) from Hellwig. Theses two things would have been needed with either the gas or diesel motors as both had the same soccermom suspension from Ford, not optimized for towing heavy. My additional upgrades were more focused on improving the V-10's (already decent) towing performance. I added a set of Banks headers and a tuner loaded with custom tunes from 5Star Tuning (a site sponsor here). I also upgraded to 4.88 gears and 35" tires which netted me an effective gear ratio of 4.39. The factory tow packaged V-10 EXs came with the 4.30 gears for a reason.
These motors like to rev and they make the peak of their power/torque at higher revs than the 3.73s provide at cruising speeds, the deeper ratios drive thee RPMs up into the meat of their power band delivering better towing performance AND better fuel mileage while towing (mostly from staying in OD more). These few upgrades have vastly improved my EX's performance in it's primary role as our tow rig.Thank you so much for all your advice.
No problem, you will get tons of Excellent Ex advice here from several great folks.
Christopher
Fill in your location in your profile so we know where you are based out of, we may have someone local that can help to check out a prospective purchase with you.
Are you looking for a 4x4 or 2WD?
Sounds like you are planning on towing, how much weight, trailer style and distances?
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Joined: Mar 2015
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I just updated my location I'm in Gig Harbor Wa but I'm looking at moving to CA in the next few months (Santa Barbara ish area).
4 x 4 defiantly growing up in the NW that's what I've always had. I lived in CA for about 7 yrs and came back (I bought a explore down there and it was 4x2
they were surprised that I was asking for a 4x4 but ex got it and now I just drive my cj7)
I'm on the jeep forum site and it's great to find more passionate people that will help out. That's how we are on the jeep sites. Since I don't know anything about excursions I figured this was a great place to start.
As for towing I will be towing either a open trailer or closed car hauler for hauling cars. I like to work on cars so it's cheaper to have my own trailer and vehicle then paying someone to ship a car or rent one and drive back (thank you uhaul) As well as down the road getting a trailer for traveling. Who knows.
That Hauler weighs about 3k open not much and then a car in there which varies.
As for distances nothing consistence it wouldn't be going all the time probably a few times a long distance (for towing) depending on where a car I want it. Otherwise trading off as a Daily Driver and Make my jeep more for my fun vehicle then anything.
I've always been a ford or jeep guy so I wanted to look at getting a great vehicle that I could tow stuff as well as roomy enough.
4 x 4 defiantly growing up in the NW that's what I've always had. I lived in CA for about 7 yrs and came back (I bought a explore down there and it was 4x2
they were surprised that I was asking for a 4x4 but ex got it and now I just drive my cj7) I'm on the jeep forum site and it's great to find more passionate people that will help out. That's how we are on the jeep sites. Since I don't know anything about excursions I figured this was a great place to start.
As for towing I will be towing either a open trailer or closed car hauler for hauling cars. I like to work on cars so it's cheaper to have my own trailer and vehicle then paying someone to ship a car or rent one and drive back (thank you uhaul) As well as down the road getting a trailer for traveling. Who knows.
That Hauler weighs about 3k open not much and then a car in there which varies.
As for distances nothing consistence it wouldn't be going all the time probably a few times a long distance (for towing) depending on where a car I want it. Otherwise trading off as a Daily Driver and Make my jeep more for my fun vehicle then anything.
I've always been a ford or jeep guy so I wanted to look at getting a great vehicle that I could tow stuff as well as roomy enough.
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 12,050
Likes: 1,549
From: Media PA
With the kind of weight and trailers you are thinking of some of the suspension mods may not be needed, so that will save you a couple of bucks. My TT is pushing the EX's limits and that's why I made my upgrades.
There is a very active SoCal (I think that's where Santa Barbara is....) membership chapter here that has frequent get togethers and wrenching/playing sessions.
There is a very active SoCal (I think that's where Santa Barbara is....) membership chapter here that has frequent get togethers and wrenching/playing sessions.
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That would be great about having a local chapter (Santa Barbara is about 90miles NW of Los Angeles on the coast). I'm a member of a jeep one up here but will be looking at a new one back in down there.
The enclosed trailer would be a Haulmark (I really like them). As for the Suspension Mods they are always needed.
The enclosed trailer would be a Haulmark (I really like them). As for the Suspension Mods they are always needed.
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I've just been so use to working on my Jeep I've learned it's always a work in progress.
Also where do I go get info on the socal chapter? (meetings, website etc). I have not looked around this forum yet. I just found the area I needed and then posted.
Also where do I go get info on the socal chapter? (meetings, website etc). I have not looked around this forum yet. I just found the area I needed and then posted.
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From: Media PA
On my screen if you go to the top of this page just above "User CP" click on the "Ford Trucks Enthusiasts Forum" link and it will take you to the complete forums list, the local chapters are at the bottom of that list.
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Ok I've got another question thanks to google I've become inspired at what people have done to change up their excursions. The interior seems kind of dated and I was wondering has anyone ever upgraded their entire dash to a f-150 dash. My dad had a 2004 F-150 and I have always loved that entire dash (steering wheel, shifter ect). I didn't know if that is even possible.
And as for interior what seats are changeable meaning could I get new seats out of a super duty truck and redue the entire vehicle or not?
Just curious I'm trying to plan everything so I can begin once I get it. There have been a few I've seen but I'm not excited just yet.
Thanks,
And as for interior what seats are changeable meaning could I get new seats out of a super duty truck and redue the entire vehicle or not?
Just curious I'm trying to plan everything so I can begin once I get it. There have been a few I've seen but I'm not excited just yet.
Thanks,
Lead Driver
Joined: Nov 2012
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From: Salem, VA
F-250 dash yes, 150 no.
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