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 Post subject: Which diesel SUV would you keep
PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 3:34 am 
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Location: Baltimore, MD
As the result of a long drawn out divorce, I now have 2 vehicles. One is a 03 Excursion 4x4 6.0L (mine) and a 06 Liberty Sport CRD 4x4(was hers, I got stuck with it after the divorce cause she didn't want to make the payments). As a single guy, I can’t justify keeping both, so one of them has to go. I am trying to decide which would be best to keep as a daily driver/BOV. I do my own repairs/maintenance, but some of the bigger things I leave to the pro's.

I love the Excursion on the Highway, it has seating for 8 and tows up to 11k lbs, but the turn radius is rough in tight spots, just like the F250 w 7.3L it replaced. The Excursion has a 6.0L, with the risk of EGR cooler failure. So an EGR repair/delete is in it’s future. It also has mediocre takeoff compared to the F250, so it will be getting gauges, exhaust, head studs and an SCT if I keep it. I think it is coming up on needing balljoints.

The Liberty CRD is smaller than I want, but is all I really need for me so down-sizing to the Liberty is appealing. The turn radius is good and ease of parking is nice. Highway handling is squirrelly, probably because of the 225/75 16 Goodyear Wranglers. I know that supposedly the Liberty in general has a horrible reliability record . A bigger concern is finding affordable parts, or even to find a knowledgeable mechanic willing to work on the engine(I am too chicken to do the timing belt in 20k miles). I am having issues w leg/ hip pain after driving the jeep for longer than an hour, so the drivers seat needs changing and it needs a dvd player for my son. My mom is 84 and wont ride in the jeep, she says it is too small and unsafe. I have done the ORM and EHM mods and the mileage got almost 2mpg better. If I keep it it has a GDE hot tune and a tcm tune in it's future.

The mileage advantage of the jeep never materialized. I have gotten between 17.1 and 21 in the jeep hand calculated. After verifying using GPS I found the speedometer in the jeep was showing almost 7% higher than actual speed. And between 13.9 and 18.7 in the Ex, also hand calculated and GPS verified. I tend to mix city/highway, then every other weekend (visitation) I put about 700 miles on whatever I am driving. Best I can figure, that’s maybe 600 a yr saved with the jeep on fuel (20K miles a year @ $3 gallon), but I am not sure that makes enough difference with the trade-offs to be worthwhile.

I don’t really wheel offroad, but I do drive on a lot of dirt/fire roads and hunt/camp. Hoping to get a small camper (R-Pod maybe) soon to start getting my son involved also. And it would be nice to keep pre-staged in case of a weather related or regional bugout.

And as the economy is big for everyone right now, I can afford to drive either SUV, but would prefer not to keep up both. So I am going to get rid of one of them. I like the Excursion and the jeep, my mom and 3 yr old don't like the jeep and it is smaller than I am used to. So I have been waffling for 3 months as to which to keep. The jeep was supposed to get 26ish mpg and didn't come close. While I am not strapped for cash, if I get rid of the either of them it does free up about 400-500 a month for other things. Unfortunately, neither is paid for. I wish I hadn't gotten rid of the F250 or that I had found a 7.3L Excursion. I got tired of looking and took a decent deal on the one I have.

I realize no one can tell me what to do, but I am looking for suggestions especially seeing as how a few of you here have a lot of experience with the CRD libby and some have downsized from a fullsize diesel truck. I am not considering buying another vehicle, only which of these 2 to keep. I need to keep a backseat, 4x4, and I am a bit of a diesel nut. If Jeep made a diesel Rubicon Unlimited JK I would change my mind in a heartbeat and get rid of both.

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WK CRD, hot, OME lift, quadratec hard rocks, duratracs, MBRP DPF back exhaust,

SOLD-2006 Red CRD Sport 4x4. Hot, Fumoto, Weeks stage 1, ARP studs .
SOLD-2006 blue CRD Sport 4x4. Eco, Fumoto.


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 Post subject: Re: Which diesel SUV would you keep
PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 3:59 am 
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Location: Baltimore, MD
Excursion
Image39254_1430395651145_1570483779_31037983_1663398_n by buddy357, on Flickr


Jeep
Image32566_1375637202218_1570483779_30900731_8181995_n by buddy357, on Flickr

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WK CRD, hot, OME lift, quadratec hard rocks, duratracs, MBRP DPF back exhaust,

SOLD-2006 Red CRD Sport 4x4. Hot, Fumoto, Weeks stage 1, ARP studs .
SOLD-2006 blue CRD Sport 4x4. Eco, Fumoto.


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 Post subject: Re: Which diesel SUV would you keep
PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:49 am 
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Keep the Excursion, sounds to me like you are thinking the same thing. :mrgreen:

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2003 Jeep Liberty Freedom Edition
3.7L 5 speed manual
OME 927/948 w/Bilsteins
245/75/16 Goodyear Duratracs


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 Post subject: Re: Which diesel SUV would you keep
PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 9:03 am 
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I would say Excursion, but then I would tell you to keep a fullsize anything over a Liberty. :mrgreen:

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'99 Tahoe, 3" BL, 285/75/16's , MT II's.
'05 Liberty Sport, -wifey's
'98 Poncho Fireturd, 3.8L, .....the purple pig!
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 Post subject: Re: Which diesel SUV would you keep
PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 10:40 pm 
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Location: Baltimore, MD
I do like the Liberty. It is like a sports car compared to the Excursion in the city. And during the rediculous amount of rain recently I liked being able to put the Jeep in full-time 4x4 and going on, albeit more slowly. I don't like the way water stays on the outer edge of the drivers side of the windshield during heavy rain though

My ex used to get 21/25mpg (city/hwy) on a pretty regular basis in the liberty. And I kept seeing folks getting 28-30 using a GDE tune. I was actually hoping for the same mileage as the ex. I do almost a 50/50 mix city/hwy driving which keeps my average about 16 mpg in the Excursion and around 20 in the Jeep. If I can raise it to 23-24 I would probably keep the jeep.

The excursion Is only part time 4x4. And it is complex enough to keep me busy with fixing it. The AC quit working, couldn't even get it to come on. Then I Found out if that happens and it's not a fuse I had to cycle the Headlight switch 3 times in a row to make it come back on. What kind of quirk is that? And it will cost me at least 3-4k in parts and then labor(if I cant do it all) to make it anywhere near reliable (head gaskets/ studs/Bulletproof EGR repair/oil cooler/ gauges and I still need to replace the shocks/springs and ball joints).
That is part of why I haven't been able to make up my mind.

_________________
WK CRD, hot, OME lift, quadratec hard rocks, duratracs, MBRP DPF back exhaust,

SOLD-2006 Red CRD Sport 4x4. Hot, Fumoto, Weeks stage 1, ARP studs .
SOLD-2006 blue CRD Sport 4x4. Eco, Fumoto.


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 Post subject: Re: Which diesel SUV would you keep
PostPosted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 5:44 pm 
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Location: Baltimore, MD
I have posted the same question on a couple of full-size diesel boards and a prepper board. And it has been almost 2 to 1 to keep the Excursion. I was leery of posting the question here because of the worry about jeep fanboys (I have dealt with them before over a XJ I had in 2001). And one of the guys recommending keep it on the prepper board was saying only"keep it, its a jeep".

But what has been more telling or maybe more worrying about my wanting advice on the jeep is that no one has recommended down-sizing to the jeep from the Excursion (even with the dreaded 6.0L) on this board either. I was gonna get a camper, but it would be maybe a forest river surveyor or an Rpod to keep it small. I figured I can use it for camping in the Blue Ridge and at Lake Gaston, visiting friends/family and going to shooting competitions and not have to get a room.

I am willing and able to do a decent amount of work on my own. I always seem to be fiddling around with my vehicles. And I have actually begun to like having the little Jeep as it feel like a little sports car compared to my Excursion. For the last couple months I have been filling the fuel tanks in both suv's, driving the jeep around town and the Excursion for my visits to my son. And after being more careful driving the last 2 tanks I got 20.3 mpg in town only iiin the Jeep. But on the first time in 6 months I drove the Ex with no ac and got nearly 19mpg on the highway, still getting 14 in town, even though i almost never run without AC. I am still concerned about the rust I found under the jeep on the subframe, but think maybe por15 could help w that.
So I guess the consensus is to keep the Excursion and get rid of the jeep?

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WK CRD, hot, OME lift, quadratec hard rocks, duratracs, MBRP DPF back exhaust,

SOLD-2006 Red CRD Sport 4x4. Hot, Fumoto, Weeks stage 1, ARP studs .
SOLD-2006 blue CRD Sport 4x4. Eco, Fumoto.


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 Post subject: Re: Which diesel SUV would you keep
PostPosted: Fri Oct 08, 2010 8:32 pm 
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If you want a different opinion -
post over in the CRD section - lots of CRD owners don't even look at the rest of the site.


Personally - Ford spent more time and money developing the Excursion so there are Tech who know how to work on it.
However it won't fit the places I want to go. My choices were Liberty or Wrangler - and the Liberty is better on the highway.
(my best is 29mpg - but I don't try for mileage - CRD Joe is close to 40 on the highway - but he drives slower)

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 Post subject: Re: Which diesel SUV would you keep
PostPosted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 12:38 am 
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Ok.. maybe that is a good Idea. I was worried bout breakin a forum rule. Some of the gun forums I frequent can be pretty particular about posting in the wrong place.

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WK CRD, hot, OME lift, quadratec hard rocks, duratracs, MBRP DPF back exhaust,

SOLD-2006 Red CRD Sport 4x4. Hot, Fumoto, Weeks stage 1, ARP studs .
SOLD-2006 blue CRD Sport 4x4. Eco, Fumoto.


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 Post subject: Re: Which diesel SUV would you keep
PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 11:00 am 
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I would keep the liberty but then that's me. I prefer something that's easy to park and handle in traffic or tighter streets. I was looking at the Colorado trucks a few years ago before getting the jeep. At the time with a financing special a silverado was cheaper. The dealer was killing himself to sell me a truck any truck and gave me a silverado to take home for a day. I have a driveway off an ally and when I went to park it that was the deal breaker it went right back I never even got out of the truck from the time I left the lot with it. The 24 hour test drive was less than an hour. I told him I would take a Colorado for the same deal or nothing. I left with nothing new I am biased to the liberty for its size and I am single so space is not an issue. I can take it camping or the bike trails with no issue about space for things. If I added a partner and a kid too I may be saying something different

_________________
2006 Liberty CRD Limited Deep Beryl Green Metallic Clear coat, Fumoto valve, MH ProVent (removed), GDE Eco tune,
OME 790/948 springs, OME struts, OME N132L shocks, Jeepin by Al A-arms, Hercules Terra Trac AT2 245/75R16
Weeks Stage 1 EGR delete, 5 volt steel glow plugs


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 Post subject: Re: Which diesel SUV would you keep
PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 12:05 pm 
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Sell the CRD and use the money to have Ford replace the 6.0 with the 7.3,they did that alot after multiple 6.0 failures.


Or better yet trade both in on a new '11 SD with the 6.7 PS,that is a impressive engine with tons of power.


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 Post subject: Re: Which diesel SUV would you keep
PostPosted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 12:11 pm 
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If you do some research you will find that 2003 was just about the shittiest year for any of Ford's truck line.

Here is a link to the problems you could face.
http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Reliability.aspx?year=2003&make=Ford&model=Excursion

If it was any other year I would say keep it but Ford failed in 2003.

Just to compare the Liberty has 0 issues on the same site, even considering the window regulator problems we have are not even frequent enough to be listed.

http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Reliability.aspx?year=2006&make=Jeep&model=Liberty

DITCH THE EXCURSION!!!!

I second the 2011 SuperDuty option TJKJ stated.

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http://www.pnwjeep.net/forum
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