Big Thrills: YouTuber Buys a Diesel-powered Ford Excursion
Back in the early 2000s, the F-250-based Ford Excursion was a big deal – literally. It still is to YouTuber Tyler Hoover.
These days, it’s just a given that vehicles are enormous. A 2020 Ford F-150 Lariat SuperCrew 4X4 with the 5.5-foot bed is more than 19 feet long, nearly seven feet wide (with its standard mirrors folded), and almost 6.5 feet tall, according to the Blue Oval. The new Ranger is technically a “mid-size” truck, but it feels a lot larger than the last-generation Ranger that Ford sold in the U.S. Things were a little different in the late 1990s. Back then, it was still possible for Ford to produce a vehicle that was shockingly large. And they did. They called their gargantuan three-row SUV with the heart and backbone of an F-250 Super Duty the Excursion. YouTuber Tyler Hoover of the channel Hoovies Garage calls the silver 2002 XLT model you see here “mine.”
Even though Ford hasn’t produced the Excursion in 15 years, its dimensions are still eye-poppingly enormous. Hoover puts them in perspective. “This Excursion is three feet longer than a Hummer H1, it’s six inches taller than a Suburban, and seven inches longer, as well.”
Hoover is no stranger to over-the-top SUVs. The popular YouTuber owns a bright yellow Hummer H2. But he wasn’t prepared for how spacious his newest purchase would be on the inside.
After lifting up the rear glass and opening the Dutch doors below it, Hoover exclaims, “With the third-row seat out, I could do snow angels in the back of this thing. It is so massive.” Even if the rearmost bench was up, Hoover would have plenty of space for his full-size spare tire, air compressor, jump starter pack, and tow hitch and chains.
Hoover’s colossal people-mover has an appropriately huge engine under its acre of hood. Ford offered the Excursion with a 5.4-liter gas V8, 6.8-liter gas V10, and two Power Stroke turbodiesel V8s. The first of those was the legendary 7.3-liter power plant; later Excursions were available with the ill-fated 6.0-liter Power Stroke. Hoover was lucky enough to get his Excursion with the 7.3. It doesn’t have enough power to make his nearly 8,000-pound rig a rocket, but even with more than 200,000 miles on the clock, it should last him a long time (or until he decides to sell the Excursion and buy another unique and quirky vehicle).
Out on the road, the Excursion feels just as gigantic as it looks from the outside. Hoover has to constantly input small steering directions to keep his land yacht pointed straight. “I’m passing a Ford Escape right now. It looks like a teeny, tiny ant.” From his stratospheric vantage point, Hoover can see the roof of a last-generation Ford F-150. Judging by how excited he is by the sheer spectacle of being near an Excursion, it’s clear Hoover can also see why the Excursion remains such a popular vehicle to this day.
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