Let's talk Excursions v10's

accordionfolder said:

In reply to amg_rx7 :

ruh-roh, that sounds bad. The one I just drove (2000 4x4 Excursion) felt soft if anything, the roads I test drove it on were mostly smooth though. In what ways did it bother you? Or just all around bad? 

 

Not that bad.  I loved it when I first bought it. :)  I just eventually got tired of the ride and the steering.  I hear the Redhead stearing boxes really help fix the issue with wandering but I never got around to trying one.  I occasionally want to try a 06+ with a V10 and the 5 speed auto for extra towing grunt but I'm reasonably happy with the GMs - for now :)

I never did the rear leaf spring swap that everyone swears about since the truck is decently well sprung and the swap results in the rear suspension being raised a few inches to the point where you have to lift the front as well.  I didn't need the extra spring rate in the rear. 

Good luck with yours.  https://www.ford-trucks.com/ is a great forum. 

 I really want to do that, and by wanting to do it I mean I want to pay Vigo to do it for me LMAO. 

I'm in!

I think v10 Excursions are pretty great as an occasional tow vehicle and people hauler. Yeah the mpg sucks but the motor has great torque and the trans is pretty tough and reliable (especially behind a gasser). Another great thing about Super Duties is that if you like something off the newer trucks, good news, it bolts on! You can always find nicer seats out of something someone else is parting out. 

If i needed to tow anything that would justify v10 Excursion levels of tow capacity, it's what i'd seek out.  

UPDATE:
Much, much smoother than Suburban over distance. Need to fix the drivers seat and a bunch of little things. Averaged 11.9 over the whole trip towing 3k (running 70-75, Suburban would avg similar, usually a bit less since I had to tow exclusively in 3 to make sure not to upset the 4l60e), loaded to the gills with gear and 3 humans. Had 1 surprise panic stop, the brakes are fantastic. No buyers regret here.

In reply to accordionfolder :

I'm glad you don't regret the Excursion. I still owe you pics. 

So I don't really need 4x4 but if I end up finding one of these easier than a 3/4ton burban do I want to hold out for 2wd?

Jaynen said:

So I don't really need 4x4 but if I end up finding one of these easier than a 3/4ton burban do I want to hold out for 2wd?

Best vehicle in your budget, 2wd or 4x4 shouldn't matter, i will say the 4x4's have terrible turning radii

In reply to MrChaos :

I agree. Mine is 2wd. I swang u-turns with no issue!

IMO, the 4wd front suspension is a bit better than the twin I beam on the 2wd.  The leaf sprung 4wd front end does have a pretty poor turning radius.  IIRC, you can swap the coil spring suspension from a later 4wd F250/350 into the older ones and that gains an improvement in turning radius (it's originally limited by tire to leaf spring clearance). 

As a tow pig I imagine turning radius only matters as much as it has an effect on trailer manuevering

Jaynen said:

As a tow pig I imagine turning radius only matters as much as it has an effect on trailer manuevering

For what it's worth I don't notice the turning radius - I mean, it's huge and if you're in trouble pulling a trailer, you probably already made a pretty big mistake. Note worth I didn't seek out the 4wd model, it's just what the one I found happened to be. 

Jaynen said:

As a tow pig I imagine turning radius only matters as much as it has an effect on trailer manuevering

If you're using full steering lock when maneuvering a trailer, you're doing it wrong. 

Tom_Spangler said:

Jaynen said:

As a tow pig I imagine turning radius only matters as much as it has an effect on trailer manuevering

If you're using full steering lock when maneuvering a trailer, you're doing it wrong. 

Or you're maneuvering a truck / trailer combo in a space where it just barely fits.  

It's usually because of the other stuff parked around my trailers storage site swinging the nose of the truck in tight enough to straighten the trailer out

Fair enough. I'm used to big trailers in my big yard. If I get to a point where I need full lock, I've done something seriously wrong.

It's not super bad but I have to park my 24ft trailer between a AC repair van and someones old honda del sol hooptie, its probably at least 15 feet between them so there is room on the sides but its on a slant. The issue tends to be across from me is a newer honda civic that is just always sitting there and sometimes an old crown vic. So get the truck lined up to the left, turn the trailer in sharp enough you dont smash the del sol and you have room to swing the nose of the truck around to straighten out.

Probably a better way to do it that I am not aware of

Jaynen said:

It's not super bad but I have to park my 24ft trailer between a AC repair van and someones old honda del sol hooptie, its probably at least 15 feet between them so there is room on the sides but its on a slant. The issue tends to be across from me is a newer honda civic that is just always sitting there and sometimes an old crown vic. So get the truck lined up to the left, turn the trailer in sharp enough you dont smash the del sol and you have room to swing the nose of the truck around to straighten out.

Probably a better way to do it that I am not aware of

I'm going to start a thread on poster's opinions on how to not sucking at backing trailers - I suck bad. Probably just need to borrow a trailer and find a parking lot some time soon. I don't own my own trailer yet.

In reply to Jaynen :

Get a front hitch setup

yupididit said:

In reply to Jaynen :

Get a front hitch setup

If it was a dedicated tow rig and not my buddies newerish F-150 I might :)

accordionfolder said:

Jaynen said:

It's not super bad but I have to park my 24ft trailer between a AC repair van and someones old honda del sol hooptie, its probably at least 15 feet between them so there is room on the sides but its on a slant. The issue tends to be across from me is a newer honda civic that is just always sitting there and sometimes an old crown vic. So get the truck lined up to the left, turn the trailer in sharp enough you dont smash the del sol and you have room to swing the nose of the truck around to straighten out.

Probably a better way to do it that I am not aware of

I'm going to start a thread on poster's opinions on how to not sucking at backing trailers - I suck bad. Probably just need to borrow a trailer and find a parking lot some time soon. I don't own my own trailer yet.

You just have to do it, now with the wireless camera setups you can get it makes it even easier to do it solo. I think there has been more issues working out what the hand signals/voice feedback is going to be from SWMBO than actual issues I had backing the trailer

Question is it it worth paying 5k for a v10 excursion or 8k for the 8.1 burban seems ballpark around here, 6.0 burbans run in between

In reply to Jaynen :

Around me even at roughly double the price, the diesels had well over double the mileage. I.e. my Excursion was 6k 99k miles, 12k Diesel 'burban,excursion,etc were 200k-250k miles and more beat. But I am in TN, where diesel trucks are made of gold. 

In reply to Jaynen :

I feel like the Excursion is the slam dunk in that scenario. The 8.1 is torque-limited in the tuning in low gear(s?) and even when it isn't i don't remember it being enough better to be worth much more money, especially when i prefer the Super Duty bones over the Suburban anyhow.  The Ford trans is good enough behind the gas motor that i don't think it's any better than a 4l80e, and  if not better than it's certainly cheaper to rebuild than an Allison if you should ever need to. 

This one looks like a contender, emailed on it said it has no rust/needs no maintenance

https://outerbanks.craigslist.org/cto/d/2000-ford-excursion-limited/6600173225.html

Damn that's clean for 222k miles 

Is being over 200k something to avoid?