Been in the market for an Excursion since getting an RV. Test drove a bulletproofed one but have never owned a diesel and felt a little overwhelmed by all the meticulous maintenance required to keep it from taking a dump. I have been planning to go with a 6.8(hauling about 5000 lbs plus family of 6 and luggage) but a destroked one has come up for sale not too far away. The price is really good but afraid of it being a glitchy frankencar. They put in a 5.9 Cummins high pressure common rail.

Any advice? Pass? Check it out (obviously take to diesel shop and let them check it out since I'm a diesel rookie)? Certain things to look for?

Last 6.8 I looked at was an insanely good price(exterior was a little rough) then he was honest at last second told me he had put some blue devil in it because it was leaking coolant. I asked if it was puffing white smoke before and he said yes but it stopped after treatment. If he hadn't been honest I'd have never known and blown that head gasket towing in the middle of no where, long story endless now I'm jumpy.

 

My advice: Get a blown up Excursion (with a good body and interior), and buy either an already bullet-proofed engine or have the shop rebuild & bullet proof the current engine. This way you have a warranty and know who to go back to if things go south.

The 6.8l V10 is a gas engine.

 

Ya I knew the 6.8 was gas, I see how what I wrote was confusing. I was basically trying to say I was planning on getting the V-10 because gas is so much less maintenance than a diesel but people seem to be so high on these destroked projects I was contemplating giving it a look.

I recently found the opposite of what you wrote, new engine and transmission on a V-10 but body and seats are pretty beat. I doubt there's any portable warranties(for supposed new eng. and trans.) as they were not advertised. Maybe cheaper to re paint and put seat covers on than bullet-proof one? I definitely see the wisdom in what you are saying but I have been watching ads for a long time and haven't seen many blown up ones that had good body and interior. Seems like people that keep them nice tend to replace the motors when they go and keep truckin.

 

I'd keep looking for a 6.8 gas or 7.3 diesel Excursion. I would not touch one with a 6.0 diesel or a frankenmod. If you find one with a 5.4 it won't be a speed demon but it should tow 5000# okay.

 

Depending on budget, there are also shops converting new 6.7 diesels F250/350 into Excursions


http://www.customautosbytim.com/9.html





6.8L is pretty solid, but it's super thirsty even when unloaded

 

I recommend that you look for the cleanest lowest mileage V10 unit you can find (or7.3 diesel) and pay the market price for it. Why buy something that needs lots of work?

 

I've seen those conversions, pretty awesome. Would be really nice to have the new front end instead of the leaf spring front end of the Excursion but unfortunately way out of my price range.

There's a 7.3 pretty close to the destroked one, it's cheaper and I even like the color better. 250hp just doesn't seem like much in a truck that size, I now it's got good torque but hp still matters . I know it can be modded to make some more power, that's a huge displacement with really small numbers, I've read it can't be pushed as hard as the ones with forged rods though.

Ya the 6.8 mileage is frightening but it would not be a DD so that would help and if it needs an engine swap there's a local shop that'll do it for around 4k. Seems like the economical approach.

 

The 7.3 performs quite well in an Excursion, if you found a nice one I wouldn't hesitate to get it.

 

Thanks. Will make this my first choice and 6.8 if I can't find a 7.3 I can afford. Or I might just make my wife trade her Sequoia and go back to an Expedition el, lol. 400 lbs extra payload would get us there, wouldn't even need a new model Expy.

 

Torque is what gets "work" done including just normal driving.

You need to look at when the power comes in the RPM range to know how it will perform under different circumstances

 

Buy the 5.4 Triton and supercharge it. Heck, get the v10 and supercharge it. Either will do.