I sold an Excursion today that had the V10 and 269,592 miles on it and had no leaks. I was very surprised at how well the engine ran.

You can check out my truck anytime you would like...2001 V-10 98K just had the exhaust done still going strong....BZ

I can attest to that. Drove that rig 600 miles last weekend. Towing a 6k lb enclosed snowmobile trailer at 75-80mph the entire trip, getting about 7.5mpg? My 6.0 Ford diesel would have probably got around 9.5-10mpg on that trip. Considering the fact unleaded 87 octane is cheaper than diesel per gallon, on that 600+ mile trip the diesel maybe woulda saved us 35 bucks in fuel.

The diesels do have more power for towing, but I personally feel the gasser requires less maintainance, quieter, cheaper to repair if something goes wrong.

BZ's truck is a F350 dually. One thing i like about his truck vs. my single rear wheel diesel, is the stability. At 75-80mph, not once in 600 miles did I feel trailer sway, or get pushed around from passing semi's.

His truck has towed a huge assortment of boats, from a 42 Fountain, 43 nortech, Formula 370SS, and several others long distance. Bottom line, the V10 gets the job done.

P.S. don't forget the 43 Black Thunder...LOL

190k on mine and running strong. Suprisingly, never replaced anything on it. Not even a sensor. It's almost a little scary.

Well this is great info, I figured ball joints, trans, starters,alternator, all the little nickle and dime stuff would start right around there.. I feel better now about getting a higher mileage one.

Good info on the gas mileage too,..

Ball joints do need to be replaced on them, somewhere between 50-80k it seems like. If you go look at one, be sure the 4 wheel drive works as it should. The locking hubs tend to freeze up, leak vacuum, and can be problematic. When you engage 4x4, the light will come on, but be sure the front wheels actually lock. Also be sure the front hubs still turn manually by hand. The hubs are like 350 bucks a piece from ford. I think ford made some changes around 2001???in the v10, a little more power in the later ones. Rear firestone air bags wouldnt be a bad idea. Good luck!

My V10 Excursion is a 2001 and I have worked it like a government mule, and just done average maintenance on it. I have used it to plow snow for the last 4 years.

Challenges that I have had include power lock actuators (no big deal), exhaust manifold gaskets (+/- $500), transfer case chain (+/- $600), ball joints ($don't remember), and transmission (+/- $1300)

I have about 150,000 miles on this truck and like I say, I really work it hard. I would have to say that, even with the fixes above, it has been one of the best vehicles that I have owned, including the Toyotas that I have owned.

Someday I suppose that I will need to replace the original equipment spark plugs and I understand that can be a bit of an expensive venture.

I'd buy another one in a heartbeat.

Actually spark plugs are not that bad to do on these. I found it to be much harder to do them on my Dad's 5.4 in his Expedition. While your replacing your plugs, go ahead and test your coils primary and secondary resistance too. Its simple and only requires an ohm meter.
In the book it states you have to remove the fuel rails and replace the o-rings on the injectors to do the plugs. You don't have to, but it would make it much easier.
If memory serves it took me 2 1/2-3 hours-ish to do them. A pro is probably a lot faster, but I made it across the finish line.
It's expensive if you replace all your coils. I think that's like 1300 bucks.

For sure, I have em on my F150 and they are huge help.

As far as spark plugs, Ive had both LT1 and LS1 TA`s.. #8 plug on the LT1 I think I invented new swear words