So...

My 2000 V10 Ex 4x4 (has 146,000 miles) with some rust on rockers and wheel wells runs pretty good. The exhaust needs some work. The transmission shifts pretty well I think, except sometimes from 1st to 2nd its a little jerky (like in a parking lot). I've put powerstop brakes on all four wheels, and have been maintaining it pretty well since I bought it almost two years ago.

Here's my issue. My 3rd son (out of 4) was diagnosed 2 years ago with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia). His End Of Treatment (EOT) date is July 8th 2018. This is relevant because to celebrate his EOT, we are planning on taking a 2 week road trip out west in our new to us hybrid travel trailer we just purchased this past February. We are taking the camper on a few weekend trips this summer and one week long trip to Michigan in July (we're from Ohio).

My concern is this: am I risking a ruined trip out west with such an old vehicle? I don't really trust it for such a long trip, I worry something would fail me and ruin a trip that's supposed to be celebrating my son conquering cancer. Am I being overly paranoid? I see V10 trucks and Excursions all the time with more miles than my own. I just worry that the rust will just be too much and the driveshaft will fall off, or the transmission will fail while we're towing up the Bighorns, or in Yellowstone. You get the picture.

Please just tell me it'll be ok, or just get a new truck. I know you can't tell me what will or will not happen. I get that, I just have been tossing this around for the past year. Its driving me nuts. Keep the Ex and save some money and get out of debt? The other option is this: Buy a newer truck. I've been looking at the 2015+ F150's with 3.55 or 3.73 axle and 5.0 V8. Or a 2011+ F2/350 with the 6.2. Obviously Crew Cab for the size of my family (wife and 4 boys). I know we won't be AS comfortable in a truck vs an Excursion or Expedition, but a truck makes more sense for us day to day vs the few times we'll take long trips in it. With our kids, we'll be stopping at least every h 1-2 hours for potty breaks and what have you. The only problem is with getting a newer truck...a newer truck payment. I have considered cashing my 401k (I'm still fairly young and just changed jobs) and paying cash so there won't be a payment. My excursion isn't paid for yet, but I got it so cheap, the payment is minimal.

I know I'm all over the place here. I'm basically putting the thoughts down that I've been going over the past year for all of you to see. This is basically me venting, and seeking opinions on what to do. I realize its up to me, and asking in the Excursion forum I'm probably going to get plenty of "don't get rid of the Ex" opinions, and that's ok. Just need to get it all off my chest. Am I being overly cautious/worried/****/anxious over the reliability of the Ex? Or am I justified in my concerns? Would I be less stressed knowing I'd have a newer truck to tow our camper out in the mountains? HELP!

 

Take a nice long trip in it that isn't based around a special event. Nothing like a successful long trip to build confidence in a vehicle. Nothing like a botched one to motivate a change either.

 

My advise: take it to a trusted shop and explain your concerns. Tell them your thinking about a long trip and are questioning the reliability. A good shop will give it a good look over and an estimate of things to repair. Now you have a dollar amount to look at and put a price with your decision.

At the end of the day only you know what you feel comfortable spending. I do my best to keep mine in good condition both cosmetically and mechanically, the preventative​ maintenance​ is a lot easier to pay for/justify than a huge repair bill. Also, with the help of forums like this I get the knowledge to tackle a lot of the repairs myself and save a ton of money. Because of that I'd have confidence in it to take it across country if I wanted to.

 

How about a nicer Excursion? You can find a real nice V10 EX for 10K. Can't find a nice pickup for that in the model years you are talking about.

 

I've considered this. However, a truck fulfills our needs better than an Ex for day to day. And eventually it will be my daily driver when my 02 Camry eventually dies. We'd also like to take our bikes camping with us and six bikes and an excursion don't mix.

 

I have driven pass newer trucks broken down with my excursion. I feel older vehicles are more reliable than newer ones. Easier to fix and way cheaper.

 

My 02 has 93k on it, while it has lower miles I wouldn't hesitate to take it on a trip. In fact I`m goling to Yellowstone in july.


I would take it in and have it looked over really good. have them do a complete safety inspection including the steel brake lines. have them do a thorough inspection of all systems. this will give you a good idea of its overall health.


And congrats to your son!

 

I just bought my 01, 7.3 excursion 3 months ago for the exact same reason you are worried about yours. Just to take the family out on some trips in a massive vehicle. I bought mine with 290,000 miles on it. It was at a dealership just down the street from my house. I had been looking at several for some time with fewer miles on them then mine. Diff was, there is also a terrific repair man 2 minutes from my house. He gets all the Ford business in town and that is all he works on. I got the dealership to take it to him to have it checked out and he said it was in fantastic shape. I have never bought a vehicle with this many miles before. Now that I have it, we take small trips in it all the time. We will have a trip planned for Chicago in another couple of months in it. Will be the first of many 1k mile trips that we will take, hopefully. My main reason for getting something lie this used was I can not stand the thought of giving a dealership or anyone else somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50k to get something equivilent to this vehicle. I can't do it. Just does not make sense to me but I know to others, it is no big deal to give up that kind of cash. Moral of the story, take it to a good mechanic and get the thumbs up on it, you will feel better for it. Make sure you get the insurance on your vehicle for a rental if it piles up on you when you and your family take that big trip. I have a couple of friends that have excursions with many more miles on them then mine and they take them all over the place. Whether or not you end up taking the ex on your trip, I hope that everything works out for your family and you all have an amazing time when you all do end up taking your trip.

 

Glad your son is better.

Get rid of your Excursion.

 

Don't cash in your 401k for a car. You will regret it later...maybe even immediately. If money is an issue, keep your Excursion and get the little issues fixed. That route is MUCH cheaper than one of those shiny new pickups.

I can't imagine NOT being able to get 6 bikes on or in an Excursion. Where there is a will, there is a way. Why not load the bikes in the trailer? On the roof rack?

4 kids in a pickup...been there and done that. It doesn't work very well. At all. I have 6 kids now, with 5 still at home. The Excursion is all that keeps our sanity on long trips. If you look at my signature, you will see mine has twice your mileage. I am more than comfortable taking it anywhere as long as I have my tools. They always travel with me; computer and all.

I am pretty heavy into preventive maintenance, and I think you have to be with an older vehicle. You can fix it now on your time, or you can fix it later in a pinch somewhere inconvenient at more expense. I'd get the transmission looked at/driven by an experienced/reputable transmission technician for a solid opinion on it. Then go to a driveline tech (maybe same guy?) and have the u-joints all checked out. Someone mentioned brakes. That is something that could ruin your trip quick. Get those checked out really well, and replace the old rubber lines if they are still on there. Completely flush all the old fluid out.

Do those things, and your trip should be great if the engine isn't giving you any problems to date.

Get out of debt. Don't go deeper into it.

 

I have seen some bike racks on front mount hitches on superduty trucks before. Normally the ones towing fivers but I don't see why the Ex couldn't hang bikes on the front with the right rack.

 

I guess my fear (however unlikely, but when you go through what we've been through as a family with leukemia, it makes you think irrationally quite frequently) is catastrophic failure while on a trip; transmission blows, driveshaft falls off, exhaust manifold studs break off, etc. Cashing my 401K is not ideal, but seems like a great way to get a reliable truck for the next 15 years. I don't think I'd regret it, but you never know.

The bikes.. I'm only 5'7" and getting bikes on a roof is not practical for us. And for now, we are planning on putting them in the HTT. When they're older though and they're all using full sized bikes, this may be a problem.

I know the 4 kids in a pickup thing isn't ideal...but we think (hope) it will work. We test drove a F150 with all of us in it and it was quite roomy. I figure we'll be stopping often enough for people to stretch out. My wife does NOT want to give up her mini van for a suburban or expedition EL any time soon. And she does NOT want to drive the Ex daily. And I've always wanted a truck, and we live in a rural area and heat with firewood so a truck makes sense on many levels...including our kids wanting to get into 4H possibly.

I think I will take everyone's advice and have the transmission and driveline looked over by a pro. I can probably do the brake lines myself. I try to keep up with preventative maintenance. I just worry about the other owners before me and how/if they treated the ex well.

The engine seems to run well. What tools would you recommend to have in the Ex for a trip?

There's also a LOT of rust. It's not falling apart yet..

Thanks for the great input everyone, I'm still undecided for now.

 

I've seen those as well. I could be wrong, but I thought I remember hearing that they hinder air flow. Would that be a concern when towing, especially in mountainous regions?

 

I don't see a V10 having too much trouble with a few kids bikes in front. The hitch rack I would use would put them out a bit and not right up against the grille anyway. The trans is the biggest thing I would look for heat in while towing. I installed a dedicated trans temp gauge to keep an eye on mine, but an OBD2 app and your phone can work fine also. I would be upgrading to a 6.0 trans cooler if I had an early V10. The later ones had bigger trans coolers and mine holds 140-160 in summer hot and never goes over 185 when towing. The 6.0 cooler was the largest.

 

I had a 4 door pickup. Sold it to buy the Excursion. We raise pigs/chickens/kids in a rural area. We haul firewood, rocks, dirt, lumber, concrete, furniture, yard machines and all manner of "rural" things. Get a small trailer the size of a truck bed (or a bigger one!), and you can do all you can do with a $45-50k truck...for less than $2k.

Family Trips in said pickup....I don't even know where to start. All our bags and belongings had to go in the bed. In the weather (heat, cold, rain...). For all the world (and thieves) to see. There was no room in the cab with all the seats taken. "I'll just get a bed cover!", you say? OK, now you will be taking that off every time you want to haul something "rural" in the bed of the truck? Those things are not easy to take on and off...and even more so by yourself.

I've stopped every couple hours on many trips with my kids for the sake of "stretching and venting energy". Aside from the stopping itself (time lost), you had to spend quite a bit of time wherever you stopped to let the kids "stretch out" to the point they wanted to get back in their "seat belt prisons". So much more room in the Excursion for the kids to "stretch out" while actually moving down the road to our destination (and not losing all that time).

I expect you will do what suits you best. I am just conveying my past real world experiences with your current dilemma. I acknowledge that no two families behave the same. No cookie cutter expectations here...

I will never sell my Excursion. It dies with me. I put the time and money into keeping it solid and dependable (and that effort is cheaper than a payment by a long shot). I know (for me) there is not a better vehicle out there....until all my kids grow up, anyway.