ExPo's 2000 7.3 Excursion Build

Viggen

Viggen

Just here...
So, I was just about to start a thread about this. I was thinking about doing up a Tahoe but I want a solid front. Kits are there but they get into a bunch of money. Suburbans are cheaper and since I just bought a house, there will be a lot of yard/ Lowes/ junkyard runs that I will need to do but I still would like to haul around my daughter, wife, Beagle, and a small amount of gear. The Excursion and a Centurion 'Bronco' keep popping up as something that checks all of those boxes. Overkill for sure but everything will fit comfortably and it has a solid front, which I want, and could run greens and blues at the semi local ORV park.

The 7.3 is a great motor but they are commanding huge premiums and come in very very high mileage. 5.4s are the cheapest, with the V10s sitting in the middle. Would you mind running down the advantages and disadvantages of each powerplant in something like the Excursion? I know that mileage will be a downside but I am used to Land Cruiser/ Land Rover mileage which is pretty much 11 mpg no matter what.
 
J

jesser

02 Excursion
I have an 02 7.3 4x4 Ex. Here are my thoughts....


The Ex is 9000 lbs, and has the aerodynamics of a cinder black. With that, the 5.4 is way under powered for the truck. To help it maintain speed, the 5.4 has a high gear ratio, 4:56. As a result, it's a gas hog.

The v10 is a proven work horse with a good track record for quality. It's geared 4:10, and gets about 13mpg on its best day.

The 7.3 is geared 3:73 because of its torque. A 4x4 with a 3" life will travel down the road at 85mph and get 17.5mpg. You can't beat that for a 9000lb cinder block.

There is one main question, do you want a diesel? If you want a diesel, a gas Excursion will never satisfy you. Excursion's are becoming rare and the proven 7.3 is still valuable.

Don't let a diesel scare you. They are easy to maintain; they need clean fuel, clean air, and good oil. For some reason diesel mechanic's charge a 20%-35% premium over a traditional mechanic. With the help of sites like Ford Truck Enthusiast, you can do everything yourself.

Nothing beats a diesel Excursion!
 
D

darkjedi351

Observer
stay away from the 5.4. it's just too underpowered for the excursion and even the f250.
I have a 00 v10 f250 with a 4.5" lift, stock 4.30 gears and 315/70/18 (36's) toyo mt's (heavy *** tires but stout). the v10 tows just as well as the 7.3 with a reduction in mpg but it's also cheaper to maintain.

the wife had a 02 7.3 excursion with 3.73's, 33's and it was great, stinky and dirty to work on but it was a good solid rig. we would tow a 31ft toy hauler filled with dirtbikes, quads and a ton of fuel all over SoCal. the thing I miss the most is the 40 gallon excursion fuel tank. I wish I had one for my sbcc gasser
 

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justbecause

justbecause

perpetually lost
Cough 6bt swap cough.

I'm stoked about Cummins making the 5.0 available as a crate motor. Not that I can afford it, but a man can dream.
 
Viggen

Viggen

Just here...
justbecause said:
Cough 6bt swap cough.

I'm stoked about Cummins making the 5.0 available as a crate motor. Not that I can afford it, but a man can dream.
Click to expand...

Cannot do that where I live. The OBD port needs to be fully functioning on all levels in order to pass. Diesels are inspected here.

jesser said:
I have an 02 7.3 4x4 Ex. Here are my thoughts....


The Ex is 9000 lbs, and has the aerodynamics of a cinder black. With that, the 5.4 is way under powered for the truck. To help it maintain speed, the 5.4 has a high gear ratio, 4:56. As a result, it's a gas hog.

The v10 is a proven work horse with a good track record for quality. It's geared 4:10, and gets about 13mpg on its best day.

The 7.3 is geared 3:73 because of its torque. A 4x4 with a 3" life will travel down the road at 85mph and get 17.5mpg. You can't beat that for a 9000lb cinder block.

There is one main question, do you want a diesel? If you want a diesel, a gas Excursion will never satisfy you. Excursion's are becoming rare and the proven 7.3 is still valuable.

Don't let a diesel scare you. They are easy to maintain; they need clean fuel, clean air, and good oil. For some reason diesel mechanic's charge a 20%-35% premium over a traditional mechanic. With the help of sites like Ford Truck Enthusiast, you can do everything yourself.

Nothing beats a diesel Excursion!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information. I figured that the 5.4 was probably pretty underpowered. There seem to be more V10s than the 5.4s and about as many diesels as V10s. Mileage is going to suck no matter which gas motor is chosen but I have a comfortable daily so mileage really is not a big deal. This would not be driven all of the time. Maybe two or three times a month with one of those being a long(ish) distance camping trip. The diesel is appealing in that it delivers better mileage overall but diesel is more expensive here and I think that I have gotten the diesel thing out of my system. I had a mechanical 3B in my BJ60. More expensive in the fuel department, fuel additive, the general smell and soot, the noise (while not too bad but still annoying at times), massive oil pans with much more expensive oil, fuel filters and separators, EGTs. Just too much. I think I will search V10s. Just less to worry about.
 
J

jesser

02 Excursion
Good luck in your search. As for fuel, all Excursions have a 44 gallon tank. The V10 getting 13 mpg vs the 7.3 getting 16-17.5 mpg helps to offset that few cents difference.

But in Oklahoma, I can buy diesel for the same price as unleaded.
 
Chris Cordes

Chris Cordes

Expedition Leader
As a few others have chimed in each platform has its advantage. The V10s are reliable and you can rebuild them twice for the cost of one 7.3 rebuild. The only huge downside is range. Depending on the truck you may reduce your off-road range by 1/3 or even a half using the petrol motor. Most of the time this isnt an issue though because people rarely go over 300 miles off-road. It can be a problem in other countries however.
 
Tex68w

Tex68w

Beach Bum
Bless the hearts of those who prefer the V10 over a diesel, I guess that means there will be less competition for the clean, low mileage diesels out there lol. But in all honesty, the V10 is a great option if you don't plan to use it very often. Down here in Texas, diesel reigns king and V10's sit for sale for a long time.
 
justbecause

justbecause

perpetually lost
I haven't understood anyone to say they would prefer a V10 it's the simple fact that you can get a V10 or V8 Excursion sub 200,000 Mi for less than 10 grand when a 7.3 well north of 200,000 is commanding almost $20,000 in my area
 
Chris Cordes

Chris Cordes

Expedition Leader
So who has weighed in recently? I filled the Excursion up completely with fuel and drove it on the scale, tools, recovery gear etc packed in. Anyone want to take a guess at the total?
 
F350joe

F350joe

Well-known member
10,100lbs is my guess.

My f350 crewcab with a 7ft steel flatbed comes in at 8600lbs unloaded.

Per the 7.3 cost discussion on the used market... there is a place here in San Diego that always has a few Ex and other 7.3 trucks. I tried to buy one from them but they are super proud of their trucks, they do go through them and repair stuff though. I went to AZ and saved about 5k compared to Southern CA prices on my f350. Mine is straight piped with a tuner. Passed smog no problem and DMV inspection no problem. There are two versions of the 7.3, the federal and California smog ones. Even if in CA you want the federal emissions 7.3. Just thought that maybe useful info to someone.

Found this one while looking for the link to the dealer that always has a few... nice truck and he is OBO...https://sandiego.craigslist.org/esd/cto/d/ford-excursion-73-diesel/6277659964.html

Here is the dealer, they have one for over 30k! http://www.bridgepointauto.com/inventory
 
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Tex68w

Tex68w

Beach Bum
justbecause said:
I haven't understood anyone to say they would prefer a V10 it's the simple fact that you can get a V10 or V8 Excursion sub 200,000 Mi for less than 10 grand when a 7.3 well north of 200,000 is commanding almost $20,000 in my area
Click to expand...

Buddies father has a super clean, one owner, 2001 4wd diesel Excursion with only 84K on the odometer. I hopefully have first dibs on it when he decides to let it go, but I fear he'll want every bit of $30K for it.

We have a dealer in the Houston area that prides himself on finding clean, low mileage Excursions, OBS Ford's and the 1999-2003 Super Duty's. His prices are pretty crazy too! http://www.rbpautomotive.com
 
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