I need a little help with my 2002 Excursions rear ac. The rear ac hasn’t worked on my X since I bought it 5 years ago and it hasnt been a problem until we moved from Greenville SC to Fayetteville NC. In SC I had my front windows tinted dark, in NC I had to remove it for the yearly state inspection. It’s also much hotter here!

We have a trip planned to Florida in a few weeks and really want to get this rear ac going before the trip.
Using some great info I found on here, I could easily get to my expansion valve in the rear and none of the lines going into the valve feel cold at all which makes me think the issue is there. But just to make sure, and I would also recommend this to anyone trouble shooting the system to do this since it took less than 5 minutes. I removed the rear interior quarter cover using the great details posted on this site. The only thing I found not necessary was the seatbelt anchor since I didn’t have the proper tool for that. With everything else removed it wasn’t an issue to get to the two actuators that are identical and only about 8 inches a part. I knew that the one switching from the floor to ceiling was working so I swapped them to confirm the blend door actuator wasn’t the culprit and it wasn’t.
In all of my research I haven’t been able to find a post where the front worked fine but none of the lines going to the rear expansion valve are cold. I’m wondering if the previous owner that lived in Asheville might of had an issue in the rear and blocked it off. I’ve looked around and don’t see an obvious block.
When I was trouble shooting it the other night it was 86 degrees at 11 pm and very humid. I put a digital thermometer in front of one of the vents in the front and it was putting out around 54 degrees. This was sitting at idle in the driveway with the truck opened up so it would have probably gotten lower had I checked it under normal driving conditions.
Should I go ahead with the expansion valve replacement or is there something else I should check first?
Should I also go ahead and replace the dryer too or leave it alone until I get the rear AC going?
I have a good friend that lives about an hour and a half from me that has the everything I need to pull a good vacuum on the system and recharge it myself.
I really want to make sure my backseat driver and kids are comfortable on our trip.
Thanks in advance for any advice!

That’s not a dumb question at all. I’m not an “ac guy” so I haven’t checked it since I don’t have any of the tools, I assumed, and maybe incorrectly, that since the front has worked well for 5 years that it wasn’t a charge problem. From my research on this particular problem, everything I’ve found has always been the blend door or rear expansion valve.
Thanks for your reply, maybe someone else will chime in with some advice.

Not a dumb question at all, everything appears to be working floor to ceiling and fan speeds etc. when I switch it to heat it takes a minute but I can feel it get a little warmer.

Thanks for the advice, I will try to trace everything as you have suggested. Can that be the cause for none the rear expansion valve lines being cool too the touch?
It sounds like your system is going to be awesome once you get it rebuilt.