Ford Excursion. Rant ands raves please.

[ckarotka]

I've been looking into an excursion. I need the 7 seats for a growing family
the towing capacity for wood. Three vehicles is not the best route for me.
If you own please tell me what your likes and dislikes are.
I only plan to put about 6-7k a year on it

thanks,
Charlie

 

[jeff_t]

I love mine. Insane amount of room inside. I only have two kids, so I have the rear seat out most of the time. That leaves plenty of room for the 180lb dog. With the rear and center seats folded down, you can fit the requisite 4x8 sheet of plywood.
I looked for a V10 as opposed to a diesel. I don't put that many miles on it, cost was about 5k less, six quart oil changes vs four gallons. I don't have to worry about where I buy fuel or change the fuel filter frequently. Plenty of power for what I need, and I've pulled some heavy loads. Look for 4.30 gears if you tow a lot.
The V10 does have some issues with exhaust manifold studs. I'm in the process of replacing mine right now. Major PITA, but the only problem I've had. Some have had trouble with spark plugs blowing out of the heads, due to some pretty short threads in the aluminum heads, and poor maintenance. This was an issue with the earlier years. The heads were changed in '02, I believe. These two problems are charecteristic to all the Ford modular engines.
Kinda sad they don't make them anymore. I'm trying to make mine last as long as possible.

 

[wellbuilt home]

I like my EX , I have 5 kids now .
I have a limited with a PS60 diesel Ive had some problems with the front end , brakes and computer controls . I think we have 85000miles on the truck .
The big problem with the truck is the cost of parts .
The alternator died last week and the new one was over 300 bucks .
Its back in the shop this week for some fuel problem that has been haunting me since last September .
As far as the brakes go I always need to replace pads, rotar and calipers every time i need brakes its a ford thing all my pickups are the same way .
We replaced every front end part except the steering box last fall with new tires 35" BFG t/a s .
The truck was lifted 6" when it was 1 day old and i have been running 35" tires since new.
Im afraid the ford diesels are a time bomb waiting to go off .
I do get 18 / 20 mpg and 16 around town and Ive been driving ford my whole life and cant stop . I have 2 4.5 diesel dump trucks with a cut down PS . John

 

[jeff_t]

I've done the same thing with the brakes. I had 75k on the front, 105k on the rear. I'm easy on brakes, so $200 an axle doesn't really bother me.
Stock tire size and suspension, I've replaced zero front end parts.

Wouldn't touch a 6.0.