Hey Folks,

First Post so I'm a newbie here, I've done a little bit of research on Excursions but I'm still a noob and I'm hoping the experts here can give me some advice.

I'd like to invest in a travel trailer, likely 30+ feet with a dry weight between 7000 and 8000 lbs. In order to tow it, I'm looking at a low mileage 2000 Excursion 2WD V10. At this point, I don't know if it has the 3.73 or the 4.30 gears. GCWR won't exceed the numbers listed here.
https://letstowthat.com/what-is-the-...ord-excursion/

What else should I be looking for?
Any tips?

Thanks in advance, I really appreciate any advice.
Tim

 

First get us complete specs on the excursion. We can go from there.

 

By complete, what specs are you looking for? Thanks!

 

Welcome to the EX forum!
When shopping for a TT you should focus on the GVWR vs the dry weight. The dry weights are many times very far off what a new empty TT will weigh when delivered, the GVWR is the most it should ever weigh and makes for a better number to work with to ensure your setup is robust enough to handle the load. I always suggest setting up your WD hitch system to handle 15% of the TT's GVWR, many places use 10% but that is the minimum recommended tongue weight for proper trailer control, a little extra toungue weight will deliver better road manners.
The top photo in that linked article is of "Midas" the EX of a member here from a few years back.

I just noticed that you are in PA, what part of the Keystone State do you call home? I'm in Meadia, in the SE corner of PA.

 

Hi Tom!

I'm in Bucks County, so not too far from you , I have family in Media Del Co too!

Any tips on what to look for on the Excursion. Again it's a 2WD 6.8L XLT, fairly low mileage.

I know I need to find out the gear ratio, I know I'd prefer the 4.30 over the 3.73. One question, if the Excursion I'm looking at is a 3.73, how much struggle should I expect when towing?

Another question, this is a 2000 model. I know this is year 1 of the 5-year run. Any detriments or concerns with the 2000 model?

Thanks!

Tim

 

I have a 2000 and it is awsome, just make sure the shop you use to change the spark plugs has at least 5 oz of brain cells and you should be fine.

 

Hey MasterX,

I see that you rebuilt your engine due to a spark plug blowout and a google search and here on FTE shows Ford modular engines, like the 6.8, experience spark plug blowouts.
After some reading I'm unsure what the root problem is, Is the problem bad plugs from the factory, or is the problem threads in the head are weak?

Thank you!

 

So there are less threads on 1999-2001 V10s, i believe 2002 or 2003+ had double the threads, however they only get screwed up if you over torque them, under torque them, or decide to herk jerk on them stupidly.

In my case, the shop seems to have over-tightened them, im guessing they didnt even use a torque spec, just cranked them until they felt good and called it a day, then down the road pow.

I had all 10 spark plug ports Timesert'd on the new motor. The old motor could have been saved, and ran superbly, but i plan to put a fvck ton of miles on this thing, so the ask was, 1. fix the motor that runs good and has 189,000 on it, or 2. drop a new one in, with the permanent fix already applied, and roll the clock back to zero miles, the choice was obvious.

I already have put down about 15-16 K miles onto it. This is my cross country road tripping machine/main battle tank. See the pictures in the thread my signature links to, click on the word DAUNTLESS.

And technically i did save the old motor, the block, Crank, cams, and head castings were re-used for the new one, but with new pistons, valve train, and all the works, and the crank and i think the cams, were turned and resurfaced. Heads peaned, block bored 030, all the good stuff.

Honestly, if you are worried about the plug issue, have all 10 of them timesert'd preventatively and be done with it, that fixes them permanently, then its perfect. The Timesert/Calvan fix actually installs a special new insert, permanently into the heads spark plug ports, that gives you much much stronger and more plentiful threads that are steel instead of aluminum.

 

'00 through '05 was the entire 6 year run for our big wagons.
'00 through early '03 only had 4 threads in the head for the spark plugs, the factory torque spec for them was only 11-17 ft/lbs, not a great combination.........over time the plugs could work loose and then blow out of the head. The solution to the issue seems to be to seat new plugs with 25-28 ft/lbs of torque, many owners have enjoyed excellent reliability using that higher spec. The short threaded heads can take it, tests done on junkyard motors saw plugs breaking at 100 ft/ lbs without the threads failing.
These motors are also known to suffer from broken exhaust manifold studs, with a little stretching and a flashlight you should be able to see where all 20 of them reside, use any broken ones as negation points, shops will charge $800 or so to replace them. A decent DIY owner can do them with a few tools, patience and beer in the driveway, I did mine.
For me, serious rust is a deal breaker. The EXs biggest rust trouble spots are the rockers, inner rockers, the dogleg section at the C pillar and rocker intersection ( new dogleg sheet metal is not available) and the door bottoms. So long as the frame is solid with no missing material (surface rust is typical) and no deep corrosion there or in the common rust areas you should be OK.
Yes, 4.30s would be the preferred ratio but 3.73 will still get you to your campsite, it will just take a little longer with more downshifting along the way. I started out with 3.73s and a 9,500 lb TH on the hitch, I pulled it for about 8K miles and it got the job done but was somewhat of a dog doing it. It would downshift on even the smallest hill, but again, it always got us there and back. I swapped up to 4.88s (I was setting it up to run 35" tires) and it was like a completely different and better vehicle! Lucky for you, if you want to regear it you only have the rear axle to worry about, 4X4s have to do both!
You will also need the larger towing mirrors if it doesn't already have them and of course a trailer brake controller. Double check that the transmission lines go to the radiator before the air to oil cooler (some early trucks didn't have the radiator trans cooler, it's much much better to have it). And once you have it maybe look into some custom tunes from 5Star Tuning, not a whole of extra power from the engine but excellent trans shift strategy and performance improvements, I always tow on their 89 Octane Performance tune.

 

Please get the 4:30 gears. The difference is as night is to day. I have driven both and 4:30 is the way to go especially if you are going to tow. I'm currently working on going from 4:30 with LS to 4:56 and a locker in the rear.

 

But don't let the gears stop you from buying a good condition, low mileage Ex, even if it has 3.73s.

 

Thanks to everyone for the info. This is exactly the kind of discussion I was hoping for!

So I can't seem to find out the gear ratio. the VIN decoder doesn't show it, and the door jam sticker does not have an axle code. What other options are there besides taking the pumpkin apart and counting teeth? Thanks!

 

Unless it's been lost over the years the reardiff will have a metal tag under one of the cover bolts that shows the ratio. Or when you drive it if the RPMs are under 2000 at 60 MPH it's the more common 3.73s, over 2K and it's 4.30.
I agree with the above post about not letting 3.73s break a good deal on a clean solid low mile EX, it will work as-is and swapping the rear gears is only $1200-ish or so down the road when or if you decide to.

 

Just changing all my plugs in my v10 i can tell you one major design flaw not mentioned much. The plugs are in a hole that collects all the dirt/oil/water which has no where to go but in the cylinder once changed. It is difficult to get rid of the debris from the threads in the head plus this step pretty much doubles the time it takes to change out a regular plug.

This is likely why these things get stripped, first it cant be torqued properly with debris in there. And two the debris can actually cut into the threads weakening them. I suspect that few shops actually send time on the cleaning step.

 

...and this is why you add the o-ring mentioned in other threads to each plug boot and use dielectric grease on them so they can be removed more easily.