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Idahome
Joined: Wed May 2nd, 2018
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Also, you own an Excursion... can't find many of them around anymore.
Plowing in the Northeast, the Excursion gets more money than an F-350, but can't carry sand.
I think the Excursion is built on the F-350 Chassis !
Is yours a Diesel ?
ah the excursion
You see I have been fixing Rangers and explorers for many years. While conversing with my customers I listened to the vibe about the Ford diesel trucks. Everyone who had the 7.3 kept them for a long time....but when it was time to upgrade their fleets they went to the Ford dealers and signed their lives away for the 6.0 trucks. Whoops. More time at the dealer then on the road, so a few years of that and Ford came out with the 6.4......bigger whoops. We lost olot of Ford guys to Dodge in those years. Then finally they built the 6.7 powerstroke, yeah! They fixed it. So it goes something like this, the 444ci 7.3 pushrod diesel is a International engine....wicked good engine I might add. Ford wanted to build their own powerstroked, so they teamed up with international for the 6.oh... they had some issues. Now days the 6.0 has been around long enough for the aftermarket to come to the rescue and you can build a wicked wicked 6.0 powerstroke. Regardless of all that the 6.4 twin turbo was Ford first attempt at their own Powerstroke mid duty diesel.....6.4's have some issues. By the time they built the 6.7 they had alot of this sorted out, the 6.7 is a nice nice engine.
My ears were open this whole time.
When it came time for me to step up into diesel trucks I was ready to stick with the 7.3
I am glad I did, I love them.
I am not afraid of the 6.0 powerstroke I would LOVE to have one of those but my commitments are already in place. The 6.0 can be built to get almost twice the mileage and make twice the power of a 7.3..........
We have 3ea 7.3 trucks here, my wife and I
My shop truck is my baby, 1997 F350 crew cab flatbed 4x4 7.3 turbo diesel 5 speed stick
I have built the snot out of this truck on a budget, learned the ins and outs of the 7.3 with this project
She is the shop truck that hauls all Explorers and Rangers...along with everything else back here.
I was lucky enough to trade my old shop truck, a 2001 Ford F250 V10 flatbed lariat (with 70K miles) straight across for a 01 7.3 Excursion 4x4.
I have been building this into our family hauler rig ever since.
Yes I traded pinks for it. My old F250 is worth about $4200, the 7.3 Excursion Limited 4x4 is worth about $20K!
Then there is the van, we also picked up a 2001 E350 7.3 Chateau van with only 60K miles on it!! For $3500....yes 3500 because it has surface rust and alot of bondo
HIjack:
The F350 is one of my daily drivers, I have intercooled it, installed many upgrades including turbo and plumbing, Swamps fuel injectors and tunes.
truck is a BEAST, had no issue hauling home a 10,000# bulldozer last year, 218K miles now
before, $3000 truck broke down on the way to my house, I towed it home for my stepson, he gave up on it, I bought it for $3000 and fell in love.
1997 F350 CCFB 4x4, 7.3, ZF5, 4407, dana 60, Sterling 10.25", 4.10 limited slip
Drove like CRAP when I got it, did not run (drank all of its own oil) barely would shift gears, did not hold the road, and had very little power. I was very worried I made the wrong choice for a shop truck
After about 2 years, some blood sweat tears and sleepless nights
Swamps injection, FMIC, reverse shackle kit, rebuilt everything and started to customize: heated and cooled seats, flatbed, suspension, 4 doors, etc etc.........
Now it handles the trailer like a dream, has GOBS of torque, runs like a new Ford and can hang with newer diesels on the open road
The Excursion is the family hauler, will be getting a upgraded turbo and rebuilt trans soon....220K miles now
I re did the suspension last summer, finally installed our 6" suspension and 37" tires :) Good highway gearing now!
The van is going to get a 4x4 TTB setup, 4wd conversion. We will also swap the body at the same time to get rid of the bondo wagon
had 60K miles on it when I bought it!! These engines are good for 500K+
I am keeping all 3 of these trucks forever, 21.9 liters of Awesome! The 7.3 turbo diesel is right up there with the 302....... reliable as they come and not to bad when you upgrade them either"
Our fleet:
2007 4.0 FJ cruiser (wife's daily)
1988 5.0 Bronco II (my daily)
1997 7.3 F350 (shop truck)
2001 7.3 Excursion (skoo bus)
2000 7.3 E350 (backup bus, airport shuttle, mobile mechanic machine)
Yes Excursion is based on the Superduty F250/350 chassis. the F350 is a full one ton truck before my upgrades, and the Van is full one ton van built at the cab and chassis factory where the ambulances are made
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I build custom RBV, specializing in drivetrain conversions, wiring, suspension and complete custom trucks