Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum but have been reading here quite a bit lately and have benefited tremendously from all the info. The wife and I recently became the owners of a TT(about 5k dry weight), it is actually a gift from a family member! Now we have to find a way to haul it plus a family of 6(all boys) and our gear so I've been shopping for Excursions for probably almost 8 mos. I've driven a V-10 and a bullet-proofed 6.0, they were like two different worlds obviously. After all the reading I've done I think I'd rather go with a 7.3. I spotted one yesterday and called on it but didn't feel like I got a lot of info from the seller. I live in NE Oklahoma and this one is in Dallas area at a secondary dealer, I was hoping someone might know of a mechanic I could go have check it out for me. If I go to the trouble to fly down(only about 85$ out of Tulsa) I want to drive home! I see a Christian Brothers Automotive nearby(vehicle's in Roanoke) but looks like most the diesel shops are in Dallas or Ft. Worth. Don't even know if they would go to the truck because I don't think these guys are going to take it in for me. I'd like to handle it myself but hate to fly all the way down there and come up with an empty sack.

I've had two of these things checked out by mechanics and they both flunked so I don't want to buy anything without having it checked out. Any help/advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Keep in mind that even 7.3's go bad...A friend of mine had to replace the 7.3 motor on his Excursion at 110000 miles...although they are generally indestructible

I have a bulletproofed 6.0 and it has been super reliable towing 10000 pound trailer for years.

the v10 is also super reliable and can handle 5000 pounds very easily.

 

I keep telling myself just get a 6.8 and go on, there's a really nice '05 6.8 close by for thousands less than the 7.3. Everyone says the 6.8 will easily haul my TT but I hate driving down the road at 3k rpm and down shifting for even the slightest grade. The 6.8 makes lots of power but peak hp is at over 4k rpm?

I drove a fully bullet-proofed 6.0 in Tulsa with f250 springs, rear anti sway, Mishimoto intercooler, RedHead steering box,etc, etc and literally every single bit of maintenance ever done hand written in a log with receipts. It was awesome to drive, lots of power and handled very well just felt overwhelmed with the amount of maintenance it required. Then I drove a 6.8 with no upgrades and it was awful. Could barely keep it on the road the steering box was so shot. Actually felt worse than the '77 F100 I bought and fixed up in high school and drove all through college.

Since I've never actually driven a 7.3 can someone tell me how much noise they make compared to 6.0? My wife was not a fan of the 6.0 noise level even going down the road much less acceleration.

 

I would love to help but unfortunately I'm not familiar with the diesels. I'd recommend going to Babe's chicken in Roanoke if you get a chance. It's the original first location and it's well known around here.

As far as V10s go, to fix up the steering is not too hard. I put in a redhead myself and it was quite easy. The pump is what gave me issues, but the gearbox, ball joints, tie rods, etc were not too bad and can be done for probably under $500 or so yourself.

 

I’m in Tulsa, Broken Arrow actually, and have a 7.3 2002 you can drive. I’m proud to say I’ve built the best “Stock” truck you can have.

Im happy to help where possible. PM me and you are more than welcome to check out the rig before you make a decision.

 

lol, you need to drive a V-10 and do the same with a 7.3 and 6.0. Luckily Texas and Oklahoma are pretty flat...but you need to see them perform on a hill. especially on a section of road with decent grade. you have some misconceptions about the 6.8

I have had 2 V-10's. and I had a 2006 6.0 F-250, and thanks to the Military I've driven a ton of 7.3 trucks. All are/were powerhouses. But each has distinct downfalls.

1. 6.0 with cruise set at 60 mph on a 5% grade. slowly slows down until cruise control triggers downshift. motor rpm goes up, boost hits 20 psi and the truck litterally rockets up the hill. shifts back into O/D. rinse repeat...effing annoying. truck consistently got 12+ mpg in the city, 17+ highway

2. V-10 (4.30 gears) at 60 mph on same 5% grade. in OVERDRIVE goes up the hill with no issues. RPM about 100 higher than normal of 1800 rpm. Didn't even notice it. all that at 9-10 mpg lol. although I did see upwards of 13-14 mpg with pure highway use

3. 7.3 is a great motor. steady and slow wins the race. steady and slow...slow...slow...slow. a full bolt-on "built" 7.3 can't hold a candle to a stock 6.0. Rumor has it that 7.3 owners get 87 mpg while towing uphill in the wind. oh yeah, it has same trans as the V-10. good old 4R100

Frankly, the only reason to get a PSD would be for gas mileage. I miss my 6.0 badly. But I enjoy the price of my V-10 much better. It's 1/4 the purchase price, and I can perform all yearly maintenance for cheaper than the cost of 1 oil change on the diesel.

As far as the TT, an Excursion is overkill for something that size. I personally would say any of the 4 motors are gonna work fine. Even the mighty workhorse 5.4


1 last point of consideration. 5.4, 6.8, 7.3 all have same 4R100 trans. Good...but there is better.
6.0 has the 5R110 trans. it is technically a 5 speed. but is really a 4 speed with 2 different O/D gears. PCM/TCM determines loading and selects correct O/D gear. It actually has Tow/Haul mode. I personally think this is the best trans Ford made...until the 6R100 version in newer Superduties. You haven't lived until you've done a 20 psi boosted 4x4hi launch...

 

What Tylus said. My 6.8 has the 4.30 gears and I have no problems with my TT. The weight varies from 8-9k depending on how its loaded. It will practically take off at highway speeds if I need to just by mashing the gas further down plus its still very civil driving around town. Also towing represent less than 1% of my driving time.

 

Agree with Tylus.

While I haven't pulled much with either of my Excursions(both 6.8 3.73) I did pull about 6~8k on occasion with my 1998 5.4 Expedition (5.4 3.73)
The Expy had no issues pulling that load at all, so I doubt a 6.8 Excursion would struggle.
I did get to drive Toms (WE3ZS) truck (6.8 4.88) and that thing is a tow monster.
Modular motors LOVE a deep gear. Or if you don't have deep gears they love to be revved while not in O/D. Nothing wrong with a 6.8 sitting at 3500-4000RPM while scaling a grade.

I would say get yourself a gasser and enjoy the lower entry/maintenance costs, unless of course you gots to have a diesel for some reason.

 

I'm the Tom that GreenScobie mentioned (Thanks Sergy! ). Our V-10 EX is the dedicated tow rig for our 11,300lb TT that we drag all over the East, it does have a few simple mods but it handles that work pretty well. . Our previous trailer was a 9,500lb toyhauler that we towed about 15K miles and we have 20K miles on the current big TT, the EX has never felt maxed out to me in all of those miles and I have NEVER had it at Wide Open Throttle a single time with a trailer in tow. Yes, the 6.8 makes it peak HP at over 4K RPMs, but you don't need the peak HP to get the job done, at least I haven't with over 11K lbs on the hitch. Maybe if you were racing someone up a mountain grade.......but why would you do that?
The 6.8 does do much better with towing work with deeper gears, the factory standard was 3.73 with an optional upgrade to 4.30. If you plan to tow heavy, especially in the big mountains look for the 4.30s or plan on changing the gears. But if your TT is only 5/6,000lbs the 3.73 should do fine in the flats and will need to downshift for any big climbs, but what percentage of a typical trip would that be? Running at 3500/4500 RPMs won't hurt or even bother the 6.8, it's built to do it and in reality you won't be there all that much anyway.
You mentioned running down the road at 3K RPMs earlier, that is not accurate. My EX with 4.88 gears and 32" tires (effective 4.80 ratio) turned 2430 RPMs at 65 MPH, same gears and my current 35"s it spins at 2230 RPMS. both of these are in OD of course, and you would also be in OD while towing as its designed to do. I think that I'd need to go about 85/90 MPH. To be at 3K in OD. When it downshifts to 3rd it turns about 3K at 65.
Your comments about how bad the 6.8 you drove handled have absolutely nothing to do with the engine, any rig in need of front end work will be a pig to handle. (And give you plenty of ammo to negotiate a better price!)

 

Nothing wrong with RPM. Engines are "happiest" where they make peak torque, that should be your guide of where to comfortably run the engine with a heavy load. Peak torque on the 6.8 is at 3,250 RPM, that's where you should have it pulling up hills. That is where it will perform the best and that is also healthiest for it when doing work. Less RPM is fine for cruising or if the load is light but don't work an engine at less RPM than it should be just because of an arbitrary aversion to RPM.

The 6.8 is a great engine. Of all the engines offered the 6.8 is the only one still being made new today.

 

Thanks for the invite! Very neighborly. I think these guys have made an indisputable case for me to go with the V-10. Thanks to everyone for the comments, you've really helped clear things up a lot for me. I think you get online and find a few posts of guys unhappy with their 6.8 and start leaning the other way. Lots of good specifics in here with weights being hauled, speed traveled, and subsequent rpms needed. It's really helped me get a much better understanding of the motors. Thanks for the motor break down Tylus that was a great post.

It's disappointing they never mated a 5spd to these 6.8's, that would have been awesome. I think the 6.8 got a big overhaul and hp boost in like '07 or something as well as the transmission, if they had just made these Ex's a few more years can you imagine how awesome they would have been!? I even called a local shop that are pretty good mechanics and asked if I get a 6.8 and it blows up can they replace it with the newer one and they said nope, it won't work.

Buying the 6.8 will leave some cash for steering boxes, leaf springs, etc. and I won't really have to travel far because they're all over. That's important when you usually work 6 days a week.

The one thing I see over and over is I may need to get the lower gears. I've looked at maybe 100 of these things online and haven't seen a single one with anything other than the 3.73. Swapping gears is expensive on a 4wd since it's x2. If I decide I need to upgrade the gears I guess I'll just dig into these forums, I'm sure there's tons on here about how to , where to get them, how much $$ , etc.

Thanks again for all the good comments, awesome amount of knowledge/experience being shared on here.