I am new to the forum and looking to purchase a 2001 Excursion 7.3. PSD 4x4 with 150K miles. It’s priced under $11k, being sold by the original owner, all stock, and has had regular maintenance. Generally it’s been “gently driven”, used for towing 20% and well cared for aside from the effects of midwestern winter/salt. The interior is well worn especially the carpet and front seats. For the asking price, compared to what I’ve seen for this mileage range ($18-22k+), it seems like a good deal.







My primary planned usage is a tow vehicle for a 30 airstream and long trips with our 3 teenagers and their gear/toys. I may also sell my 2015 JGC eco diesel and use the Ex as a daily driver (30 mi commute one way).

I’ve read up on the V/B code spring mods, rear sway bar and what it takes to redo the seats/carpet so I have an idea of what these will cost. I also have a 7.3PSD knowledgeable shop (not Excursion experts tho) doing a thorough pre-purchase inspection of the engine/ transmission/ frame/ suspension & undercarriage to identify any major issues that may need to be dealt with?

For those that have owned the 7.3 PSD/4x4 Excursions, what are the other common repairs or failures for a vehicle this age that I need to be anticipating given my intended usage and how much $$ might I expect to still put into it for these additional repairs.

Thanks in advance for your feedback! From the short time I’ve been on the forum, it’s really impressive to see the community spirit and wealth of knowledge that’s collected here.

i will check that out tomorrow. It was delivered to the dealer in June 01 and the sequence number indicates 46000 rolled off the line before it that year. Hopefully this is a good sign it was a post March build.

Price is a little high for a truck that crusty and with a bad interior. Someone here has a thread where they bought a rust free 7.3 with around 160k and I think at this hes Got over 10k into it for parts and mods. Whether it has 150 or 200 it will most likely need a lot of work. Front seats alone around 1400 to reupholster. For reference I bought mine for 8 with 225k on it and no visible body rot unless look under it. So far I have put 4K of parts into it and will take another 3k to make it perfect mechanically. It’s mostly a lot of little things that add up to a lot of cash so bigger like getting the injectors rebuilt

Is that based on what you can see just from the undercarriage pictures?

Is that rust on the frame or just crud ?

if rust run away fast.

If crud then the areas that need closer inspection are the rockers as has been has been pointed out, The rockers themselves are fairly easy to replace, It is the door dog legs that are no longer available. Also the driveshaft and trans crossmember look to be wasted. I would spend an hour under there with a flashlight and look over every single nut, bolt and square inch of the undercarriage including the oil pan ( those are known to rust through and the motor has to come out to replace) As you are inspecting realize you will have to deal with the rust one way or another, Either trying to stop it now or replacing stuff as it fails.

But if the rust is something you want to deal with then let’s talk about the suspension and engine...

suspension and steering first, . Measure from the center of the wheel hub to the bottom of the fender lip.
new the measurment was23 front and 24 rear, springs need replacing at about 1” of sag.
are the front bump stops intact ?
How about the rear anti wrap bar snubber ?
at what milage were the ball joints done ?
what milage were the rods ends replaced ?
how much play is in the steering wheel ?
What milage was the last set of shocks installed ?

the answer to these questions will be evidence of how it was really maintained.

It’s a stupid newbie question I know, but it’s my thread ... What section is the “dogleg”?

Passenger side doors


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