Next Tow Vehicle: Excursion 6.0L Diesel

Last weekend I borrowed an '03 Excursion with the 6.0L diesel from work to tow my boat out to Greenville, IL. I was completely blown away at how well it towed my boat! I set the cruise on 80MPH and it never downshifted out of overdrive once to maintain speed up hills. My 5.4L Expedition would've been in and out of overdrive constantly and down to second up hills to maintain 80MPH. Here's a pic of the setup from last weekend.

I'm thinking about ordering an '04. If I do, I'll definitely check the "Pimpdaddy Appearance Package"(22's and a 3" drop) box so that it looks like this F-250 below.

Dan I have always herd that you should not tow in over drive. It will kill your tranny.

Even if it doesn't shift out of overdrive on the hills, you should always turn off overdrive when towing. It's not a matter of the engine being able to handle it, it's the transmission. The excess heat generated will kill the tranny pretty quickly. It might be okay when towing in a flat area but not up hills.

On the other hand, don't take it out of overdrive or downshift going down hill to order to keep your speed in check. With surge brakes they will overheat really quickly.

I love mine! You can honestly barely tell you are towing a boat at all. Mine has the V-10 but it is still great at towing! Plus, you can fit 8 boarders and their gear!

Towing in overdrive is not an issue as long as the trans is not constantly shifting in and out of overdrive. The shifting is what generates the heat. On my Expedition I would lockout overdrive because it would do just that, shift in and out.

Chase, nice setup. The room is what sold my wife. In the Expedition it was seating for eight OR room for gear, not both.

Guys, Ford is stopping producion after 2004 on the Excursion...........Why drop that much cash on something thats going out of production???

Because if I don't buy it in the next year, I won't be able to buy it new. What else is there that has that much room and diesel power? Last time I checked, Chevy wasn't offering the Suburban with the Duramax. For me, a pickup box is useless, I need room for passengers and luggage.

What does going out of production have to do with it being an ideal vehicle for me? I happened to get an insane deal on mine so re-sell isn't a problem. So why does it matter?

As I understand it, when towing in OD the fluid flow is decreased due to lower RPMs, the powertrain is being "lugged" and this allows for heat buildup which is the enemy of any tranny. Constant "hunting" for the right gear also causes heat build up.

And of course you need to make sure you change the tranny fluid regularly too.

Um, what many of you say about towing in OD is right, but were not talking about grocery getters here. We're talking about diesel trucks that are made to tow 15K. These trucks have serious transmission coolers and most have tranny temp gauges. Mine's never been above 190 towing about 8K up a 6% grade at 75 in OD. The red zone isn't til 280 and normal is 160. As for not down shifting on down grades....you're right, the Torque Shift and Allison's will do it for you..damn cool. So everything Bill says is true, if you're driving a regular truck, but does not apply to the Powerstrokes/Torqueshift and Duramax/Allison. Cummins.....well, so far they haven't been to successful putting a good automatic behind that beast so all bets are off.

Personally, I think I'd give Ford a little time to work out some of the kinks with the new 6.0's. As long as he's gotten a good one (most likely has if it was manufactured in the last couple months), I hear they're a beast.

BTW, the Duramax is scheduled to come out in the Burbs but not till something like '05'....That'll be tempting

I have a '02 Blazer. It is not the ultimate towing vehicle, but it works for us. As with most new trucks it is equiped with a 'lockup' torque converter. I only pull our boat in OD when I know it won't 'unlock' the converter, such as on the flats. If it stays locked up it will not generate excess heat, because nothing is slipping. Now, granted that isn't that often because of the smaller motor especially on trips to area lakes. But when I'm on the Interstate above 65 and on the flats I have noticed a signigicant increase in gas milage (2k vs. 3k no brainer). Just my .02 on small trucks. Why won't Detroit put a small (~3.0 L) diesel on smaller SUV's or light trucks? Imagine the milage and ease of towing for us not looking for a huge vehicle.

I think the Excursion will make a comeback. With that 6.0 L International making less noise, getting better fuel economy, and producing more horsepower than the previous 7.3's, it makes the Excursion more attractive. Also, Chevy did release the Suburban with a diesel engine. I've only personally seen one, but it was definitely diesel. I don't like the looks of the Suburban though, at least when compared to the Excursion.

pwork, Ford is going to start putting a diesel engine in the F150 line for 2004, at least that was the plan anyway. I guess the F150 would classify as a "light truck" .

As far as towing in OD is concerned I've also heard it's not a good thing -- BUT -- the Ford manual for my F150 (5.4l)with the electronic transmission says to leave it in OD while towing... go figure.

Unless it's shifting in and out all over the place, I go by the book.

The new 6.0 Ford and the Chev Duramax use the 5 speed Alison transmission, which is bulletproof. It won't matter if it is in OD or not. I'm not sure if you could even tell if you were pulling a boat.

Ford canned the smaller diesel project for two reasons. 1) Until the oil companies are required to switch to ultra low sulfer diesel fuel the smaller diesels cannot meet the new emissions requirements that are coming next year. 2) The 4.5L v6 Navistar engine was scrapped by Navistar because of problems with the fuel system and Ford's decision not to put the engine in their 1/2 ton line of vehicles.

3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks are not required to meet the same emissions requirements so they can get the big powerful diesels.

When the new ultra clean diesel fuel replaces the current fuel you will see a surge in diesel powered vehicles coming to market. The epa has mandated the switch in 2006 but it will probably get delayed because the oil companies will have to spend enormous sums to change their refineries.

BTW, Paul the Ford uses a Torqshift automatic that is built by Ford. It operates in a similar fashion to the Allison in the Chevrolet but they are as different as the Powerstroke is to the Duramax.

I hope the manufacturers offer a smaller diesel powered engine for the 1/2 ton line of trucks in the future. My wife's Jetta TDI gets 45+ mpg and I would welcome getting 1/2 that in a truck.

Quote: Towing in overdrive is not an issue as long as the trans is not constantly shifting in and out of overdrive. The shifting is what generates the heat.

Not necessarily true. Just because your tranny is not shifting back in forth does not mean it is not generating heat. When towing in OD your torque converter is much less likely to lock up. Cruising down the highway with an unlocked converter will create a lot more heat than towing out of OD with the converter locked up.

For the right price you can get a Burb with a Duramax, yo just gotta know the right people, The Chevy People, I know the sons of the Local chevy dealer one has a Cadillac Pickup (silverado body, everything Cadillac) it is cool as hell! And of course a duramax GMC Denali XL with fat 22's it pulls one of those huge cigarette boats like a 45footer!

More diesels will be here in the next five years. Just watch.

I tow in OD, I do not have an issue, I watch my tranny temps, I have real gauges, not the idiot lights. No half tons here.

Greg
Are you sure about the tranny in the new Ford 6.0? My Chev service tech said that they were the same, only a slightly different model # to denote the difference between the Chev and Ford versions. And a fellow employee has a new 1T Ford dually with the 6.0 and says it has the Allison too. I'm no expert, only know what I'm told

Paul, the Torqshift 5-speed trans is an all new trans designed and built by Ford. They are made at Ford's Sharonville, OH transmission plant.

hopefully the new tranny's on the PSD are better than the old ones, talk about a POS.