Daily Slideshow: To Each His Own: 20Below's Excursion Sinks Closer to Hell
One man's dream of building a magazine-quality ride ends in one sweet, low-slung slice of reality.
Keeping the Sport Truck Movement Alive
The sport truck movement captured the imaginations of pretty much everyone for years. But sadly, the slammed, smoothed, and outrageously painted pickup truck trend died like so many before it. Today, you don't see too many of these paved street machines around. But a few people, including Ford Truck Enthusiasts member 26Below, are working to keep it alive. In this case, by building a bad, bodacious, and brown Excursion right before our very eyes!
Humble Beginnings
Things started out rather humbly, as these projects often do. 26Below purchased his 2001 Excursion bone stock and with 120,000 miles on the odometer. Only a week went by before he had slapped some 26-inch Dub wheels on the big 'ute, and that was only the beginning.
>>Join the conversation about 20Below's Excursion right here in Ford-trucks.com.
Into the Weeds
The next eight months were spent under the knife at Lowboy Motorsports. In addition to dropping this thing on the ground, the Excursion also received an updated Super Duty front end, which gives it a much more modern look.
>>Join the conversation about 20Below's Excursion right here in Ford-trucks.com.
Major Surgery
To enable the giant's wheels to be tucked so far up under the fenders, major surgery was in order. Even the firewall had to be cut to free up enough clearance for the massive hoops. The front suspension even had to be modified with (gasp!) Chevy parts as the Ford beams wouldn't allow the OP to go low enough.
>>Join the conversation about 20Below's Excursion right here in Ford-trucks.com.
Keeping It Real
Despite all of this cutting and modifying, the ultimate goal was to keep this Excursion driveable and usable. So despite cutting up the rear floor, the third-row seat was modified so that it could stick around. But many other modifications were needed just so things like steering and air conditioning could function properly.
>>Join the conversation about 20Below's Excursion right here in Ford-trucks.com.
Show Quality Work
After a year of work, the Excursion still wasn't finished. But it was at least pretty close to moving under its own power. Still, it took a full 80 hours just to get the roof smoothed out, which is a testament to the kind of dedication it takes to build as show quality rig like this one.
>>Join the conversation about 20Below's Excursion right here in Ford-trucks.com.
What Can Brown Do for You?
After years of hard work, it was finally time for Big Brown to live up to its name. So on went a shade of UPS brown and some killer flames. Which is pretty appropriate, given the OP's job as a delivery driver!
>>Join the conversation about 20Below's Excursion right here in Ford-trucks.com.
Magazine Cover Aspirations
Much of the inspiration for this build unsurprisingly came from old street truck magazines. So it only made sense that the OP's ultimate goal was to get his Excursion on the pages of Truckin', a rag that many of us perused back in the '90s.
>>Join the conversation about 20Below's Excursion right here in Ford-trucks.com.
Getting the Call
Months later, Big Brown was finally finished and racking up show trophies. But the interior was still stock, so the OP got to work making it every bit as magazine worthy as the exterior. And before long, he got the call he had dreamed about all this time.
>>Join the conversation about 20Below's Excursion right here in Ford-trucks.com.
Dreams Come True
Years later, this badass, bagged Excursion finally realized its dream of being on the cover of Truckin' magazine. That great honor is a real testament to the perseverance of the truck's owner, not to mention his eye for detail and incredible talent!
>>Join the conversation about 20Below's Excursion right here in Ford-trucks.com.
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