I wanted to get some experienced opinions on buying a used Ex. I'm buying my in laws TT (7900 GVWR) and am thinking an Excursion would be perfect for the family, not to mention it could fit as many people as the TT could sleep. I'm looking at the v10's for ease of maintenance and the short distances it will be driven between hauling. Also, good shape 7.3/6.0 4x4 X's are regularly 20k+ with near 200k on the odometer. I'm in SoCal so just about all excursions that aren't thrashed are are well above KBB values.

There are 2 v10 4x4's in my area at similar price points I plan to check out.

2003 with 140k is 11k. It has a aftermarket 6" lift kit with 37" tires. Im not sure how this will affect its towing capacity and mpg. I believe it's stock gearing?
Seller description:
Price Reduced! V-10, 2003, limited edition Ford Excursion 4x4, heated seats, power windows, power doors, power running boards, back up camera, 37x12.5 tires, lifted, new stereo system with sub woofer, new ac, new belts and new hoses. Motor is solid! We have loved this car and has done a great job in the snow. We are including the snow chains too!


2001 with 214K is 10,200. High mileage specially for the price tag but what I do like about this is it's very clean being sold by original owner. The aftermarket parts also seem to be geared more towards hauling.
Here is the description of the vehicle.1 owner, has had all maintenance, very reliable, new transmission with billet torque converter 18 months old, rebuilt drive shaft recently, new tires, recent coolant flush, front and rear fluids replaced, Banks chip, headers, exhaust and air intake, On board 10 gal. air tank with compressor, air bags, new train horn, Newer leave springs and shocks, upgraded from vacuum to hydroboost brake system, newly upholstered captain's chair, PA system, strobe lights, remote start, aftermarket alarm system.

Both are very clean looking trucks. I'd like to know just how reliable these trucks are. Does mileage matter as much as knowing the whole truck's history is what I'm after I guess. Mid April we want to take the TT on a road trip for about a week. I'm assuming these guys should tow that 8k load no problem with 2 adults, 2 kids and a american bulldog?

Thanks for any insight. Look forward to reading around this forum,

Matt

 

option 2, no question about it.
a 200k v10 with no "mods" but decent maintance is a $7-9K vehicle.

the biggest expense I see looming is rebuilding the front axle, steering. $2-3k depending on how much it was kept up on.

 

Not sure what the terrain is like in your area but with my 9k TT I'm glad I have the 4.30LS rear gear.

 

That's good to hear, it looks like it's been well cared for. What should I be looking for on that front axle? Just maintenance records or is there something I'll hear/feel while driving?

 

I've got the cajon pass and grapevine between me and most of the fun riding areas, steepest part is about 6% for a few miles. The rest of the areas aren't too bad but mountain trails are some of my favorite spots so I want it to be able to haul that trailer wherever. I'll see what its got


Thanks for the input guys

 

I agree that #2 is the one to consider.
The engine miles don't concern me much as it seems like the owner (original owner!) looked after it somewhat and having the trans already rebuilt moves that future concern down the list a bit.
I am in the rust belt, so a clean no rust EX would draw a higher price around here, but in your area I think Pirates pricing sounds about right. It sounds like it already has some decent mods with the headers (if they are the Banks ones), the upgrade to hydroboost over vacuum brakes, onboard air with bags and new tires.
Do you know what gears it has? And what the new tire size is? A 3.73 EX with stock-ish tires will pull that weight TT OK enough, but a 4.30 geared wagon will obviously pull it better. I used to pull a 9,500lb TH with my V-10 EX when it had 3.73 and 32" tires, it was a dog but always got us to our destination. The change to deeper gears on my EX was the single best mod that I've done to our dedicated tow rig, make it perform like a completely different truck!

 

Great points. I should ask if it's been in other salted states but it looks rust free from the pictures provided. It's got banks labels all over it, I'll check when I see it in person.

To me the truck looks like it might have 34's based off pictures, the wheels look stock. It shows pro comp shocks in the pictures, I've inquired about height and gear ratio. It seems like solid tow rig, hopefully it is. It's clean.

Gas mileage isn't much of a concern for us but what are you getting roughly while towing your TT? Other than towing it wont get much but real short trips to work. We have a 13 edge my wife's put about 15k on in the last 7 years.

 

wheel bearings ( unit bearing )
locking hubs
vaccum lines
rotors
calipers
balljoints
TRE's
steering box
drag link
track bar
axle seals

basically everything.
Ball joints last about 100,000 miles if Spicer parts are used, most everything I listed lasts a bit more or less then that.
if they have invoices, look when the last time ball joints were done, gives you an idea of their Maintenance dilligence.

a quick drive will tell you everything you need to know, ( assuming you are familiar with the superduty platform )

 

Back when mine was all stock on 32"s (stock are 31.6") with the 3.73 gears we towed a 9,500lb TH and were getting 6/7 MPG here in the East. After I swapped the gears to 4.88s (with no other changes) it got 9 MPG over the same route, at the same weight and speeds mostly due to staying in OD vs downshifting on every small hill when stock. Now with a 4" lift, 35" tires, 4.88 gears (effective 4.39 ratio), Banks headers and 5Stars 89 Performance tune we typically see between 8 and 9 MPG on mostly highway trips with the current 12K 41' TT on the hitch, I have hit 9.5 MPG on a handful of trips over 400 miles. Towing on country roads through small towns with stop and go it does around 7-ish MPG. Unloaded (rare) it can still pull down 14.5 MPG with the cruise set at 65 MPH and the AC on, pretty close to what it was getting all stock. We have logged about 47K heavy towing miles with our V-10 EX with a fuel pump failure being the only hiccup.