fordf350

Will with not knowing what has been done with your new ride I am just going to list a few things that have happened to my 01 F350. If you have a stock receiver hitch get up under there and look for excessive rust and look at the bolts real good. I noticed mine was really rusted under there when I was replacing a flat tire a few years ago. It looked bad enough I replaced it. I would recommend looking at your brakes very well. I installed slotted rotors and new not rebuilt calibers years ago and it really helped with eliminating premature wear I was having. Install after market locking hubs. I have had Warn on my 01 for 12 years now. Those stock black ones are horrible. If there are signs of leaking around your turbo inlet pipe seals replace them. Replace your fuel filter regularly. Replace your transmission filter. Your pan gasket is neoprene so you won't have to replace that. I also just replaced the drivers side bearing hub, I appeared that the hub seal had worn bad enough to let water in and rust the bearing. OK I'm done. Considering mine has over 300,000 miles on it has held up very well. Good luck with your excursion.

endeavor1

iTrader: (3)

Lots of good info here. Thanks guys for taking the time to write it all up.

halfgassed

I dont have an excursion but a 02 ext cab shortbed 7.3. I will be installing air bags in the rear before springs this year to help better handle the load when towing my 38 fountain. I just purchased a zone offroad leveling kit that I will be installing this week,. Everything looks like a nice quality kit I can fill you in on the details after I install it.

Sydwayz

iTrader: (1)

If you are installing an air system on your truck, go ahead and splurge for the train horns & onboard compressor.
Trust me, it's the best $800 I've ever spent on a vehicle. I've created a monster, as I had to install a mini set on my GF's Infiniti.
It will be a little tight on the Excursion, but worth it. Look ahead of the passenger side rear wheel, outside the frame for some room.

Knot 4 Me

^^^^^ I've always thought train horns were stupid but more and more I come across idiots in cars next to me or in front of me that I would love to give a blast to! I had an idiot yesterday on a 4-lane road come to a complete stop and roll his window down and wave and talk to a road worker filling potholes in the right lane which was blocked off with two city trucks. Would have been great to light him up with train horns! Of course the tool gets mad when I honk at him. Surprised I didn't get rear ended from someone texting behind me.

halfgassed

The zone offroad kit went in with out too many issues. I'd expect a little more than the estimated 5 hours for install, but then again i did more than just the leveling kit. while it was in the garage. A good suggestion, look at your oil pan, its a common problem that they rust out on the 7.3, Mine took a beating last winter and I wish I would have painted it with POR15 before last winter, I am going to be watching it closely now, it was crazy how much scale rust I chipped off the pan, YIKES! I ended up POR15 it, but I wish I would have done it last year.

I chose the zone kit because unlike most of the leveling kits it comes with "long leafs" compared to some look like a glorified lift block made of 4" long stubby leafs for the front axle. Another reason was they offer the adjustable track bar instead of cheezy drop brackets. Another thing i liked about the zone kit was they also offered longer/proper length front sway bar stabilizer links with new bushing for $50. I also put their nitro shocks on a 4 corners while I was there. Truck rides a tad rougher than stock, but barely noticeable. The only problem I have is no my truck is 1" lower in the rear than the front, probably because I have a tendancy to overwork the rear springs of all my trucks and the springs are now wore out. Now it looks like I will be installing an add-a leaf in the rear, and air bags. I bolted on my friends 315's and they fit comfortably. I'm not shure how the 315's will clear when I put the plow on for the winter, but thats what sawzalls and sledge hammers are for!. Good luck,