Question of the year

[stevenmd]

95% of the Excursion running gear is the same as the trucks, so this helps with the cost of suspension parts & aftermarket gear in general.

This exact information really helps! That was one of the things I was worried about - repairs in the middle of nowhere. Knowing that most of the parts are the same really calms some fears that I had.

You know what you need!! An EB van with 2 rows of benches & a custom setup in the rear!!!

I vote van for that many people.

We have 4 kids and another on the way and the suburban can fill up pretty fast as it is. Also the practicality of the 3rd (rear) seat is not that great for DD duty, especially if you have any car seats.

I would LOVE to have a 4X4 van with 2 benches in the back and the rest set up for camping gear/storage/sleeping. That would be the cats meow for me.

Hmmm... good points.

 

[Superu]

For a DD, I'd vote Sub over Ex. The ride and handling of the IFS versus leaf spring solid axle is dramatic on anything but super smooth roads.

We drove a lot of examples of both vehicles before settling into our 03 Suburban LT. 2 adults, 3 kids, 1 LARGE dog and loads of stuff. There are rare days when having the extra space of the Ex would be nice, but they're not frequent enough to put up with the ride quality or mpg hit.

You'll find parts for either pretty readily in North America. Load up the family in each and go for some nice long test drives. Have fun and good luck! :ylsmoke:

 

[stevenmd]

Thank for the input. In all honesty, I sort of like a "rough" ride. That's why I love my Land Rovers - I can "feel" the road. I drive my wife's Benz sometimes and I hate it! I see a bump in the road and I get ready to adjust my driving (part of the fun of driving!) and then nothing. Nothing happens. No bump, no shift in the car, etc.

 

[earthmuffin]

seriously.....

Before I would buy anything else that would be used for a DAILY DRIVER with that many people I would find a similiar vehicle to what you are looking at and take it for a test drive with everyone......to the grocery store, then to the video store, then to the post office, then to the.....you get the point . Go run some errands and see how it works.

 

[Cambo]

Dude! Looks like we are the same page in our search. I have recently been checking out Excursions and Subs too. I have always liked how the older subs look. I recently found one with a diesel, 4x4 with lots of mods and it is a 91. I am still researching (obviously) because I don't think the detroit diesels are held in high regards. But, my point is, with an older sub you can have all the goodies and run WVO. Still researching this, but WVO would be a HUGE benefit in my eyes. Then again you can run this in the older Ford diesels too (van) but rarely do you find a van with 4x4 and diesel out of the box. Tough choices!!!

 

[Fireman78]

I lived in an Excursion for a few weeks as a fireline medic, I was very impressed with the toughness and ride of this rig. I had all the seats down and had a monster space for gear and living back there. I "think" 7 would fit, especially since a few are small children. I am a bit biased as I like having solid axles. Good luck!

 

[stevenmd]

Dude! Looks like we are the same page in our search. I have recently been checking out Excursions and Subs too. I have always liked how the older subs look. I recently found one with a diesel, 4x4 with lots of mods and it is a 91. I am still researching (obviously) because I don't think the detroit diesels are held in high regards. But, my point is, with an older sub you can have all the goodies and run WVO. Still researching this, but WVO would be a HUGE benefit in my eyes. Then again you can run this in the older Ford diesels too (van) but rarely do you find a van with 4x4 and diesel out of the box. Tough choices!!!

Yeah, great minds think alike.

You are "a bit more" mechanical than I am so I will probably end up buying something newer. Plus, Suzi is a city girl so I think she would like something nicer than an older vehicle - although it would be cool if we had similar projects so the need to carry fewer spares to take up less space if we traveled together.

Dang, so many choices.

 

[Cambo]

Yeah, great minds think alike.

You are "a bit more" mechanical than I am so I will probably end up buying something newer. Plus, Suzi is a city girl so I think she would like something nicer than an older vehicle - although it would be cool if we had similar projects so the need to carry fewer spares to take up less space if we traveled together.

Dang, so many choices.

Funny how the wives never have the vision we do. Even if the rig is a little beat up I can always see making it nicer. What to do? If you get a rig before me, let me drive it as suggested previous and if I get one I will let you do the same.

 

[bronconut]

I'd take my time and find a 1999-early production 2003 with the 7.3L IH diesel. V10 Excursions are great but at beast you will see 12 mpg a 7.3 equipped Excursion will see close to 25 mpg in stock form and with some mild tuning can approach 30 mpg. In stock form the front end is fine but with larger tires I'd look for a Dana 60 out of a 2001 or newer Super Duty (will bolt in) all Excursions cam with a Dana 50 and the axles are a little on the weak side. I've been a Ford tech for over 20 years so fire away if you have any questions you have about Excursions.

 

[stevenmd]

I'd take my time and find a 1999-early production 2003 with the 7.3L IH diesel. V10 Excursions are great but at beast you will see 12 mpg a 7.3 equipped Excursion will see close to 25 mpg in stock form and with some mild tuning can approach 30 mpg. In stock form the front end is fine but with larger tires I'd look for a Dana 60 out of a 2001 or newer Super Duty (will bolt in) all Excursions cam with a Dana 50 and the axles are a little on the weak side. I've been a Ford tech for over 20 years so fire away if you have any questions you have about Excursions.

25+mpg? Really? Wow! What is the rear axle in those years? Excellent to know the front axle is a swap in - is the gearing the same too?

 

[ujoint]

25+ sounds a little crazy! The D50's aren't too bad, they just have a smaller ring gear (never seen one break) and the axle stub shafts taper down (have seen them break, but usually only on 37's or bigger) The stub shaft issue can be fixed easily with a Dynatrac free spin kit, which is a great upgrade for any of the SD trucks.

 

[bronconut]

25+ sounds a little crazy! The D50's aren't too bad, they just have a smaller ring gear (never seen one break) and the axle stub shafts taper down (have seen them break, but usually only on 37's or bigger) The stub shaft issue can be fixed easily with a Dynatrac free spin kit, which is a great upgrade for any of the SD trucks.

The Dana 50's I've seen break tend to do it at the pinion. I work in a area heavy in oil/gas fields and the trucks are loaded down fairly heavy, remember it's not the wheel spin it's that sudden stop. The outer stubs are the same as the Dana 60 units it's the inner that taper down, the axle internals are very close in size to a Dana 44 way to small for me in a F250 sized truck. Our service manager has a 7.3L Excursion with the Ford upgraded air intake system and a 315 sized tire. Over the holidays he took a trip home out to the Kansas area and got almost 30 mpg, the big trick is keeping the rpm's around 2,000 rpm's that's the sweet spot for making mpg. The boss also swears by Ford's cetane additive claims it gets him 2-3 mpg, I run it in my 6.0L and it does seem to help some. Dynatrac is a great upgrade just costs some $$$

 

[Cambo]

The Dana 50's I've seen break tend to do it at the pinion. I work in a area heavy in oil/gas fields and the trucks are loaded down fairly heavy, remember it's not the wheel spin it's that sudden stop. The outer stubs are the same as the Dana 60 units it's the inner that taper down, the axle internals are very close in size to a Dana 44 way to small for me in a F250 sized truck. Our service manager has a 7.3L Excursion with the Ford upgraded air intake system and a 315 sized tire. Over the holidays he took a trip home out to the Kansas area and got almost 30 mpg, the big trick is keeping the rpm's around 2,000 rpm's that's the sweet spot for making mpg. The boss also swears by Ford's cetane additive claims it gets him 2-3 mpg, I run it in my 6.0L and it does seem to help some. Dynatrac is a great upgrade just costs some $$$

Good stuff Bronconut, tell us more about the cetane. Is that an additive to add to the diesel fuel at every oil change or every fill up? I test drove a 2000 Excursion today and it was VERY nice to drive!! Plenty of power, you won't have any problems with freeway on ramps here. Also, the computer said it had an average of 23.9 MPG and that is with the engine sounding like it has a leak or something. So, I imagine fully tuned it wouldn't be a problem to hit that 25 spot. Very impressive. How about running WVO on a newer diesel, is it doable or too costly? I can also see why they cost a lot to work on, there is NO space in the engine bay. :Wow1:

 

[bronconut]

Quite a few company's sell the additives I run some sold through Ford dealers, you add it to the fuel tank when you fill up. The 7.L is very friendly to blended fuels, our head transmission tech runs his on a 50% mix with used and very filtered ATF I won't do this with my 6.0L though, my 6.0L is a tow rig only and that engine isn't very friendly with blended fuels.

 

[T.Low]

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we are a family of 7 - two adults and five kids it has become increasingly apparent that we simply cannot go anywhere as a family, even on short trips, without quite a bit of discomfort and cramped quarters.
!

"increasingly apparent"?
I'm sorry Dude, but with all due respect, thats hilarious. As if you needed to actually try it first to see if 7 people traveling together would be ok. As if there was a point in time when you specifically thought that 7 people in one vehicle would be spacious and comfortable. You're killing me.

Go the used full size van route. You can find used 4x4 conversions on CL. Personally, I'd hold out for an Extended Body, aka 15 passenger van with IPods and headphones; thats your best bet for 7 happy travellers.

With any suv, including a Suburban, you are still elbow to elbow and shoulder to shoulder with no room to stretch out. People need their space when traveling.