The Ultimate Family Tow Rig...

I have been browsing truck listings, when I came across this...

I sure wish they still made these!

http://www.liftedtrucks.com/vehicle/...-lifted-d82083

I think if it's an '03 it could be the 7.3L or the 6.0. I'm guessing since they don't say it's the 6.0 because if it was a 7.3 they'd likely be highlighting it as a selling point.

You'd wish that until you were having to have the cab removed to have head bolts and an EGR delete installed on that 6.0L.

My friend has a 6.0 Excursion that's been sitting in his carport for months while he comes up with the $5k or so to have the above done to it and it's only got about 100k.

That's a clean truck! How much are they asking for it?

Love mine 02 7.3L

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Paid over book but it only had 50k miles on it.

Kevin's is where it's at with the 7.3L. Looking at that truck I wouldn't be surprised if a bunch of dudes with fully automatic weapons piled out of it and kicked some anus.

Jeff,

I have understood that most of the problems with the head studs are caused by people chipping them, and then the head studs cannot handle the additional force...true? Most of my local Ford Gurus seem to think that they have had far more problems with chipped 6.0's. They warned me not to chip it unless I did the headstuds too.

I am on 130K miles and it has run fine so far...with no mods from stock.

Definitely hear about the EGR delete over and over and over. Sounds like a must do.

I have understood that most of the problems with the head studs are caused by people chipping them, and then the head studs cannot handle the additional force...true? Most of my local Ford Gurus seem to think that they have had far more problems with chipped 6.0's. They warned me not to chip it unless I did the headstuds too.

In speaking to my techs this is what I hear. We won't even sell a previously chipped 6.0 because of it.

If you're sitting on a 7.3 low mile Excursion you are sitting on GOLD. You should pay over book because they are over book rigs.

I'm far from an expert on the 6.0L but when I was looking for a truck last year I found a disproportionate number of clean, low mileage 6.0s for very reasonable prices. I started researching them and figured it wasn't worth the risk as a buyer. I've heard that they can be good engines once the head bolts are replaced with aftermarket studs and the EGR is deleted.

I knew an acquaintance from church had a diesel Excursion but didn't know what engine he had in it. I hadn't seen it in a while and asked him about it and he told me that it's been sitting in the carport for months with a failed EGR. He said that on the pickups they can repair this with the cab on but for some reason they were telling him the cab had to come off on the excursion which increased the cost a lot. He's planning on doing the head studs while the cab is off as a preventative measure. He couldn't really explain to me what specific differences there were that made the cab removal necessary but he did say the mechanic at the local Ford dealer told him not to bring it to them for the repair because they would only replace things with OEM parts and he'd have the same problems down the road. As far as I know it's stock.

One of my wakeboarding buddies has a 6.0 pickup and he hasn't had any problems with his yet. We also have a 6.0L in an F550 fire truck (Service unit/mini pumper) at the department where I volunteer we've had no engine related problems with it but it's only got like 27k on it.

If I already had the truck I'd probably just keep it and deal with it when the problems arise but I personally wouldn't buy one unless it was just a ridiculously good deal.

Oh, and it seems pretty logical that any power mods would "aggravate" any design/manufacturing deficiencies. So, I'm sure the problems are worse on 6.0s with power mods but I still wouldn't risk buying a "stock" one because they may have reverted it to stock to get rid of it. If I owned one I certainly wouldn't be doing any power mods to it.

I sell ford parts and all I got to say is I love the 6.0 because it makes my check bigger. But I would not own one.

We love our Excursion.

The 6.0 is a mystery engine for sure. As in, you never know what you are going to get. My buddy has an '03 F250 and an '03 Excursion and both of them are chipped, down pipe and exhaust and one has 130k on it and the other over 150k and neither of them have had the head stud problem. Someone told me that they seem to be fine as long as they were chipped when brand new before they were totally broken in. Who knows, total hit or miss! All black Excursions are just so bad azz though!

I love mine... It used to have a 6.0. I swapped a 12v Cummins with twin turbos. It pulls the boat vERY nice and is killer for camping in!

Nothing beats a 12 Valve! Period!

If I needed something just for the boat it would be an 8.1L Suburban

My nephew in Portland OR bought a gas Excursion from the dealership where he's a diesel mechanic and swapped in a 7.3L. I guess he did all kinds of mods to it first, pretty sweet ride, saw it a couple months back and i was quite impressed with it.

Another fan of the 7.3 here, I picked up an 03 with only 40K miles on it 2 years back f/ the original owner, stole it for 25k... He's was a friend of a friend who got in a pinch and needed some cash, his loss was my gain. He's got a ton of receipts, well over 20K + in upgrades and only driving a mile to work the Diesel bills not that rough. With 2 kids comes a ton of gear and everything fits with room to spare. I came from a 01 Tahoe, night & day difference.

I didn't know MasterCraft made a 14' X-Star/X1