Ford Excursions

[TH]

We have talked a lot of about Chevy vs. Ford vs. Dodge.
What about the Ford Excursions? Any thoughts?
I have been doing a lot of research regarding the Suburbans and the Excursions in the last four months.. what does the ifish.net community think?

Thanks in advance.

TH

Don't get the Excursion. Wait for the new Ford Exorbitant!

[Pete]

I've got 2 1/2 years and 33000 miles on my Expedition and I've had a chance to drive several Excursions. There are a few features that I would watch out for, mainly transmission related. I don't know if the Excusion uses the same transmission as the Expy, but the shift points are computer controlled. For pulling a 20 foot boat over the mountains the shift points are terrible. The 5.4 liter should have enough power to keep up to speed, but I find it dropping down into passing gear and revving the motor to 4000+ RPM .... I'm just waiting to see the cylinders pop through the hood.
One feature I do like is the load leveling suspension. My Expy sits about 4 inches lower than non-LL equipped rigs. For highway driving it's a lot less tippy, but when I leave the pavement the vehicle lifts up to provide better clearance. If you have specific questions, feel free to e-mail me.

[boater]

i think an excursion with a 24 valve cummins and an allison tranny would be a nice rig.

[ 06-03-2001: Message edited by: boater ]

[Firedog]

I would say if you are going to get a rig that size, get it with the powerstroke in it. Better milage and more power. I have a 200 F350 supercab Diesel and it is a great rig. Diesel in that big SUV would be great.

[ 06-03-2001: Message edited by: firedog ]

[ol tuna skipper]

I presently own the F350 crew cab with the deisel engine. The wife drives a Expedition after owning an explorer for five years. We feel the Expedition is a gas pig. 12 MPG at best. and not that much more room other than seats. I get 17 to 20 with the deisel in a heavier vehicle. We would definitly get the Excursion if I had to do it over. The extra room (four kids, wife, two dogs)really pays off when needed. I would'nt go any other way than deisel unless your willing to get 8 to 10 MPG with the V10 gas engine to get the same pulling power.

I love my 1 ton deisel. Best truck I have ever owned.

[Spooled]

I like the Excursion and Suburban's size. If you are going to buy something that is going to use fuel, which they all do, might as well buy big. The Tahoe and Expedition get about the same mileage as the Suburban and Excursion with less room. I pesonally would buy a Suburban. They actually do get better mileage than the Excursion. They also have a tow haul mode for the transmission, which works well when towing a boat. If you decide on the Suburban, shoot me an e-mail, I work for Chevrolet and can probably get you a smokin' deal.

[TheRogue]

Look at the cost/benefit ratio. The powerstroke option in the Ford is an extra $5000. My neighbors F350 gets right at 18mpg. At work, the one Excursion we have with the V10 gets 12mpg. Diesel is now at least as expensive as regular unleaded, many places its the same as super!! So, for this, lets use an average price of $1.75 gallon for both unleaded and diesel.

Doing the math:: If you drive 15,000 miles a year, using my example MPG above, you'll use about 830 gallons of diesel vs. 1250 gallons of gas per year. This translates to about $750 more per year to drive the V10. It would take you almost 7 years to pay the $5000 difference in cost between the diesel and gas.

Resale: After 5 years, the powerstroke will probably be worth around $2000 more than the V10, although this is still up in the air, since the V10 still is a new motor, and the longevity is unknown.

Probably the greatest thing about the powerstroke is the 5yr 100,000 mile warranty that comes from the factory on the motor itself. That could be worth big $$$$$ down the road, if you have problems.

Towing a big heavy trailer a lot?? Or just driving down the road to work??

I've been doing my research, in preparation for buying a F350 myself sometime in the next year. I still don't know what I'm going to do, either.

T.R.

[ol tuna skipper]

I had always been a gas engine truck owner till Dec '99. If you can get over the rattle of a deisel, it has its advantages.

The F350's Crew Cab w/desiel GVWR puts you over the 8800 lb. mark for cuttoff of DEQ testing. My F350 GVWR is 9900.

capable of pulling 7800 lb. trailer uphill coast range 70 mph(proven). Truck loaded w/6 people.

pulls the 19 ft. Alumaweld Formula Vee like its not even there.

Never been on a ramp I can't get out of. Even when Gobel was tearing axles of trailers. Just idle out.

Did drag a kid and his brand new Geo metro off the beach at Ft. Stevens once. Tide was slapping at his wheels as I snagged ahold and drug him to pavement. Got pictures of that one.

Disadvantages:

Maintenance costs are about double. I still change oil every 3,000 miles and the lube-oil cost per service runs about $50.00 (13 qts. of oil) not including filters.

Turning radius. If they could just give us the turning rear wheels like Bigfoot.


This is just my 2 cents. I do not mean to get into a competative discussion pro or con.
These comments are regarding my personnal experiance with the F350. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Osprey]

Good topic TH
Were in the market also,since we don't need to tow anything huge,we decided on the Expedition,We've drove the Yukon and Burbs,We enjoyed the Expy much more.Just can't decide on the which package and color,(I pick the pwer plant,she picks the color)
I think we're going for the Eddie Bauer/labrador/Cataraft pakage [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Rouge, great research,A Buddy of mine came to the same conclusion He bought the V-10....He loves it [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Besides the people at the drive thru window really like him too..... [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[THE REEL HEY_YALL]

They are sweet rides. If you are in the market, I would compare that with the others, especially driving one. They are bad @ss. Chevy is coming out with a BFT (big f'n truck) called the Bruin. You could fit your Pink Tracker in it TH [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] When they unveiled it at some auto show, that's what was in the bed: a tracker. Do a search for links.

[Artwo]

Here's the link to the new Chevrolet Bruin;
www.gm.com/company/news_events/events/00sema/c001031a.htm

JK

[TH]

Thanks for all of the info. We are 99.9% sure we are going w/ the Excursion.. I have a friend in the auto retail business and he is cutting a great deal on one so.....

Hey'yall, good to have you back? What are we going to do about those rods? [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] You busted me up and down all day for a quote and nothing! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Thanks again guys...

[Killertraylor]

If your wife is going to be the primary driver, I'd get the Suburban. I read an off-road article recently that said the Excursion is actually wider than a Hummer! I'm having a hard enough time talking my wife into driving a new Suburban - she'd never drive an Excursion just because of the size. I've owned several Fords, including my current 2001 F-150 Super Crew with the 5.4 V8. I love them. Friends of ours were recently facing your same dilemna and they simply drove both of them and decided hands down that the Suburban was the better rig for them. I'd look seriously at the 3/4 ton Suburban with the BIG gas motors - 6.0 liter 300HP V8 and one that is even bigger!

[HOGTIDE]

We moved up from a Ford Explorer to an Expedition this last year. My wife says the new Expedition drives just like a car. I am quite pleased with it. We have the 5.4 with a towing package. You can hardly tell my 20' boat is hooked up, when accelerating or braking. My only advice is when buying any big SUV go with the largest engine available. Ford's standard 4.? is a dog in the Expediton, and I don't believe the mileage is any better.

[fishhead5]

Go with the Excursion, A buddy of mine has one for his wife. It has the powerstoke. 16 mpg lots of power. He just had the 4" exhaust and chip put in. 19 mpg and added 125 horsepower. I like the idea of the family being a little bit safer is something big.

Fishhead5

[KarenLee]

I got an expedition. I didn't want two big deisels. Now I regret it. bad gas mileage and lack of cargo space is the probrlem. I see all these new expeditions with a spare box in the trailer hitch. Now I know why. Just get the excursion. you will be happier. more stable, more cargo, more, more, more. better mileage witht the deisel. I like it.

[TH]

That's the biggest factor for me.. saftey...
My father and I were in a serious accident about four years ago, and if it weren't for his bigger 3/4 ton we wouldn't be building rods today..
The little lady will be the primary driver, we test drove one all weekend and she loved it. Living in a smaller rural town makes things easier.. if we lived in a the city w/ traffic maybe it would be different? I was very impressed w/ the visability out of the Excursion. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
We will be adding the 4" exhaust and the power chip to the V10 to MAYBE get that 16mpg on the freeway (I heard that it can be done)
All of the reports say that if you can deal w/ the 15 mpg and the size its the safest SUV on the market.. intrusion beams, wider, less roll over etc.

Thanks again ifish people!

[KarenLee]

I have almost 40,000 miles on my '99 crew cab deisel and I just want to let you know my honest mileage is:
17-20 MPG on the Highway with no load.
15-16 MPG will towing a 3500 lb boat
10-12 MPG when towing a 7800lb. travel trailer with truck loaded with wood, dogs and people.

Based on this and the fact that I have probably test driven 10 different excursions witht the deisel, that I venture to say with their added wweight that the will perform just slightly below the mileage I have stated.

I havn't talked to anyone that says the V10 will get that kind of mileage with a chip modifiction and larger exhaust. I spoke with owner of a '99 V10 when he was pulling a fifth wheel. He said he had never gotten better than 13 mpg and down to 6-8 while towing. Hey my ' F150 with a 351 got that kind of mileage.

I can't be swayed from my deisel. But many can not take the deisel sound.

Best of luck in whatever your decision.