Slick 60's

I should know this coming week if I am changing to a work-at-home job, which means I lose my company Sebring. Since my commute will be 0 miles, I can afford to have something around that gulps a bit more fuel than a car. I'm thinking further that, if it could tow my 2500 lb race car and the steel open trailer it rides on, that would be a nice bonus. I could work on the Slick and not have to worry about it being out of commission should I want to go to a race.

Pickups are easy and everywhere. Anything with fuel injection is new enough to suit me. I don't need 4x4 and won't pay extra for it. The downside is they require truck tags, which are twice as much as car tags. Plus, a pickup is sort of redundant when I already own one.

I thought about a Bronco, but they are too short to handle towing such a heavy trailer without getting squirrely.

Expeditions are out there in enough numbers there are some cheap ones with a lot of miles on them. I don't know much about them or their ills other than they share the plug-spitting Triton engines the pickups have. At a glance, they seem to be a F150 underneath. I'm not sure the interior could hold all the crap I take to the track, as I fill up the bed on the Slick (under the tarp) completely with multiple spare tires, toolboxes, fuel jugs, etc.

The Excursion could certainly handle the task (looks to be built on the Super Duty chassis) but they are a) huge and b) not so plentiful in my pathetic bargain-bin price range. Same plug vomiting engines (aside from the diesel, which I can't afford).

I did consider a Econoline but I just can't picture myself wanting to drive it. Ever. Vans just don't do it for me regardless of how practical they may be for my needs.

I wouldn't want to spend more than 3 grand for any of these choices as, aside from the towing chores, really is just a beater vehicle for when the weather is too poor to use the Slick. I could just get a car, but that would be boring. I figure 150,000 - 200,000 on the odo is ok, and a bunch of cosmetic issues won't matter. No serious rust, mostly because if the body is rotten I expect the brake and fuel lines to be close behind. The object isn't to have another money pit; the Slick is already one.

So tell me what is good and bad about these vehicles so I don't get talked into a Suburban like my other racing buddy insists I should get.

DV65CustomCab wrote:other than they share the plug-spitting Triton engines the pickups have

Curious about your comment. I have an 04 F150 with 140,000 miles on the 5.4 Triton engine and have not had problem one and I've driven and towed all over the south and into the Midwest.

Gritsngumbo wrote:

DV65CustomCab wrote:other than they share the plug-spitting Triton engines the pickups have

Curious about your comment. I have an 04 F150 with 140,000 miles on the 5.4 Triton engine and have not had problem one and I've driven and towed all over the south and into the Midwest.

04 got a new head design that eliminated the plug issue. My dads 00 with the v10 threw a plug a couple months ago. The older tritons only had 4 threads on the head to hold the plug as opposed to the standard 8. If the plugs werent torqued correctly they would come loose and fly out of the engines usually stripping the heads in the process. In 04 they went back to 8 threads and all has been good. My dads 250 with the v10 has been bullet proof with the exception of the 1 spark plug ($500 for the dealership to install a helicoil that fixed the head) and its at the 140k mileage mark. No trans issues (despite having a 4R100) and most of its miles are pulling a 28 foot toyhauler.

Well, I'd heard about problems with the diesels, but not about the V-8's and V-10's. Thanks.

This is a real common problem on the early Tritons, and somewhat on the Techsids. Champion's crappy plug design for these applications also resulted in an epidemic of broken spark plugs. Naturally, few of these defects were covered under warranty since most didn't show up until well after warranty expiration.
Grits, I have yet to hear of the diesels throwing spark plugs
I have pulled many a mile with both Broncos and F150's with 302's and 351's. A stock height Bronco does pretty well IMO; a lifted one is an accident waiting to happen, trailering or not! There's an abundance of F150's and F250's from the 90's which would suit your stated needs well, including price range. The 460 powered ones are a drag on the market similar to the gas Exclusion, consequently they would seem ideal for your intent. If you could find an Excursion in that price range, the spark plug problems may have already been addressed.If they haven't, they are probably not apt to fail at the higher mileage found in that price range. Definitely install an auxiliary trans cooler for any of the OD automatics, even with that light of trailering duties.
As far as Brand X, the pre-96's were gutless gas hogs IMO, the early Vortecs were quite good engines save for injector and intake problems.
Paul

I had a 05' with a 5.4, that was a great pull vehicle, (F150) Now I have 12' with the 5.0 hvy payload now I have a great tow vehicle and good gas mileage. Plus it is fun to drive, for a new truck.

Funny that you are shopping right now Dwight. I am going to find a good Expedition---hopefully REAL soon. Been looking around ALOT. My Ranger is on its last ounce of "GO" no reverse and not much forward , cant be long now. Have to watch where I park LOL.
Lots of good reports on the Expedition 03 &04s --thats what I'm leaning towards. I'll keep my ears open for ya as I search.
Tim

My personal opinion of the 5.4 is that you would have a hard time giving me one. Gutless wonders at best. To give you a better feel for the value of one of these engines try finding a used one. You can buy a good used engine somewhere for around 500$ on nearly everything but a 5.4. These engines are hard to find in good used condition. You can find plenty of truck etc. needing one for little to nothing. Give me a 351w anyday over one of these.

Rich

No diesels. Expensive to buy, expensive to fix and I have zero knowledge about them.

I would get on CL and search F250.

Start at the lowest price and work your way up.

No telling wat you might run across.

Im not ever planning on another car payment so I start looking at $1000 and quit when it hits $10,000.

If you are looking @ Expeditions, look at the '03 & older Navigators as well, they had the 5.4L DOHC 32V engine, made decent power, and like most Caddys & Lincolns, depreciate much quicker than their lower line cousins, making them decent bang for the buck....

jamesdfo wrote:If you are looking @ Expeditions, look at the '03 & older Navigators as well, they had the 5.4L DOHC 32V engine, made decent power, and like most Caddys & Lincolns, depreciate much quicker than their lower line cousins, making them decent bang for the buck....

As long as the extra electrics work. Those things do not have manual anything and once you start having problems its all down hill from there.

Not to mention failure prone air suspensions. Did Expeditions have that too? BTW, around here, you can't buy a Navigator without getting into a knife fight with some ghetto gangster poseur who wants to have an 'image'.

its too bad your set against the econolines
3rd gen e series ran for lots of years and i have owned a bunch of them.i was always happy and they pulled quite well.
also you can pack a lot of weight in an E300.

The only thing I will say on the econolines is I have an 02 E250 and I can feel every last little pebble in the road the 02 1500 express van on the other hand rides like a Cadi . I know we are pro ford here and lord knows I am a Ford guy but if this is a daily driver I would look at the E150's if you even consider an Econoline .Also the E250 with a 5.4 gets 12-13MPG on a good day the 1500 with a 4.3 averages 15-17 mpg and theres no noticeable differance in get up and go ability between the 2 .



Rick

rickairmedic wrote:The only thing I will say on the econolines is I have an 02 E250 and I can feel every last little pebble in the road the 02 1500 express van on the other hand rides like a Cadi . I know we are pro ford here and lord knows I am a Ford guy but if this is a daily driver I would look at the E150's if you even consider an Econoline .Also the E250 with a 5.4 gets 12-13MPG on a good day the 1500 with a 4.3 averages 15-17 mpg and theres no noticeable differance in get up and go ability between the 2 .



Rick

ah but that is a 4th gen econoline.

True seems like my 3rd gen E350 ( ex ambullance with a 7.3 ) rode much better and got better milage as well .


Rick

WrongBedDave wrote:

Gritsngumbo wrote:

DV65CustomCab wrote:other than they share the plug-spitting Triton engines the pickups have

Curious about your comment. I have an 04 F150 with 140,000 miles on the 5.4 Triton engine and have not had problem one and I've driven and towed all over the south and into the Midwest.

04 got a new head design that eliminated the plug issue. My dads 00 with the v10 threw a plug a couple months ago. The older tritons only had 4 threads on the head to hold the plug as opposed to the standard 8. If the plugs werent torqued correctly they would come loose and fly out of the engines usually stripping the heads in the process. In 04 they went back to 8 threads and all has been good. My dads 250 with the v10 has been bullet proof with the exception of the 1 spark plug ($500 for the dealership to install a helicoil that fixed the head) and its at the 140k mileage mark. No trans issues (despite having a 4R100) and most of its miles are pulling a 28 foot toyhauler.

The plug shooting issue is common in the 5.4 and the 4.6 2 valve engine, in 05, they went the 3 valve engine that has a revised plug design that has a long electrode that will get carbon around it and cause it to seize into the cylinder head. they ditched that design in mid 08 for a normal plug design again. if you get a 5.4 with the long style plug, you can remove them, its just a matter or following the ford tsb instructions and if you break one off you will need a tool to remove them(lisle makes a good one).

the thread repair tsb for 2v engines is :
TSB 07-21-2

10/29/07

4.6L 2V, 5.4L 2V, OR 6.8L 2V - SPARK PLUG
THREAD REPAIR PROCEDURE - NOT COVERED
UNDER NEW VEHICLE LIMITED WARRANTY

The tsb for stuck plug removal in the 3v engines is:
TSB 08-7-6

04/14/08

SPARK PLUG REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS - 4.6L
3V/5.4L 3V16.8L 3V