experience with Ford excursion diesels? - Page 2

Chevy454 · #11 08-03-2006, 02:26 AM

Here you go, Bill, this guy over at one of my diesel hangouts is thinking about selling his '02 496 Suburban...

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82372

**bilede** · #12 08-03-2006, 08:36 AM

thanks guys for all the info and links. I have owned a couple suburbans before and one would be my standby but loved the diesel torque and mileage and the excursion seems to be the only available. wishing for duramax suburban..

**tom406** · #13 08-03-2006, 09:01 AM

My wife's uncle has a diesel Excursion 4x4 he uses to tow his boat. He's been happy with it for the most part. It had a bad tie rod end or ball joint or something in the front end when he got it. It took all your concentration to keep it on the road, since this joint was tight and wouldn't let the steering center itself. That's been fixed, but it took a sharp tech to figure it out.

He was really underwhelmed by the performance (and mpg) at first, and several other farmers told him to "put a chip in it". So he bought the programmer (SuperChips, I think) and reprogrammed the computer, and has been super pleased since. His mileage went up 3 or 4 mpg and he must have found 50hp (Went from a pig to having a guy in a new Duramax corner him to find out how his Ford pulled away from him on a hill). Obviously the tune on them is overly conservative, but rumour has it that its to protect the tranny. Check the boards to see if this rings true. Good luck.

lzdick · #14 08-05-2006, 04:53 PM

Yes, the early ('03) 6.0 diesels had problems. I have an '04 and it's great. It gets 21.5 mpg on the road, 13.0 mpg hauling, and 14.41 on the 1/4 mile. I put a K&N breather on it and a SuperChips programmer...the best truck I have ever owned. Certainly beats the gas-powered '97 GMC big block in both economy & performance. If you can find a deal on an '04, IMO you should at least check it out. Happy shopping!

Chevy454 · #15 05-30-2007, 08:23 PM

Just took a 4-day trip to central Texas in my buddy's diesel Excursion...I'll have to say I was pleasanly surprised. With 4 couples, all of our luggage, a luggage toter on the roof, and a rather *brisk* pace down/back, we got right at 18mpg. Luckily his rig is heavily loaded, so the leather & dvd made the trip a LOT easier...only complaint was from a couple of the girls who got stuck in the 3rd row with the bench seat that doesn't extend all the way to the driver's side, and my wife said her stint in the 3rd row was a bit "cramped" in the legroom department (she's 5'9"). It did seem a bit more pitchy/rolly at times than I care for, but I wasn't sure if it was just the sensation from sitting towards the rear of the vehicle or the fact that my buddy added just a *tad* more tire to the rig? Just didn't seem quite as planted as our 3/4 ton Sub. The thing's had a SuperChips thrown at it, so it screams...and the mileage is rediculous for a rig of this GIRTH.