how far can one go with a ford excursion?

[spacemanspif]

Is the programmer the type with pre-loaded maps or can you make custom ones? For some reason programmers aren't very popular on this site; it could be because they are expensive. Might be able to play with the fuel MAP if you can do custom but make sure you are able to monitor EGT and other critical data so that you don't implode the engine with a bad tune. Water/Meth might also give you a little bit of a boost but can be expensive.

Sorry to tell you, but that truck is HUGE and running around in the city with that big and heavy of a truck is never going to yield good economy unless you shut down a lot but you probably have an auto that isn't P&G with EOC friendly.

Do you do much off-roading? probably not with it being 2wd, a drop kit would help the economy. If you can't figure out a belly pan, consider an air dam (should be plenty of barn doors in TX lol) and side skirts as the next best option.

[Frank Lee]

I would ditch the cattle guard because no matter what you may panel it with, it is disrupting flow along the sides and probably the hood... and all that mess flows rearward.

[sarguy01]

Originally Posted by spacemanspif

Is the programmer the type with pre-loaded maps or can you make custom ones? For some reason programmers aren't very popular on this site; it could be because they are expensive. Might be able to play with the fuel MAP if you can do custom but make sure you are able to monitor EGT and other critical data so that you don't implode the engine with a bad tune. Water/Meth might also give you a little bit of a boost but can be expensive.

Sorry to tell you, but that truck is HUGE and running around in the city with that big and heavy of a truck is never going to yield good economy unless you shut down a lot but you probably have an auto that isn't P&G with EOC friendly.

Do you do much off-roading? probably not with it being 2wd, a drop kit would help the economy. If you can't figure out a belly pan, consider an air dam (should be plenty of barn doors in TX lol) and side skirts as the next best option.

Programmers aren't popular because they do cost a lot, but also, there is no proof they raise gas mileage. There are other forums with members that swear they got better mileage, but can't provide any testing methods. It's almost as if people guess that the programmer is giving them better mileage.

But, there are some folks that use custom dyno tunes and have had good results. But, a dyno tune and programmer/chip is going to cost what, $600? $1,000? That is a lot of miles to pay back the investment and the gains may not be very good, if there are any gains at all.

[Goldenstate]

One thing you need to consider is how much weight the cattle guard is adding to the vehicle. Dump it and the spare tire and probably reduce the total weight by over a hundred pounds. Modding a big vehicle is like climbing a steep hill. Synthetic lubricants in engine, transmission and rear end will be simple and pay off in all driving situations. Air up the tires to the max inflation pressure. When the tires need to be replaced, invest in some low rolling resistant tires with a high inflation pressure. If you do not plan to tow anything, remove the hitch and shed another 50 pounds of weight.

[elhigh]

Are low rolling resistance tires even available for this thing?

(trawling)

I guess so, there are so-called "SmartWay" tires for Class 8 so you should be able to find some thriftier tires.

I was thinking that the running boards were detrimental, you might have to do A-B-A to be sure. If they're bad you could use their hardpoints to install some skirting under your rockers.

[MetroMPG]

FYI, Dodge claims their OEM "wheel-to-wheel" running board design on the new Ram offers better aero than naked.

2013 RAM 1500: New York Auto Show - AutoTrader.com

[hughm]

the programmer is preset, 1 stock and 2 performance programs, and reads codes and resets engine light. sells for in around $275.

[WE3ZS]

Howdy Hugh, I drive an Excursion also, but mine is a gasser V-10. We use it as our tow rig for our large travel trailer and with a couple of mods I have increased it's fuel mileage by about 28% while towing. It used to get 7 MPG while pulling the 11k TT with the stock 3.73 gears, swapping up to 4.88 gears (and going to 35" tires at the same time for an effective ratio of 4.39) and installing headers bumped the towing mileage up to 9 MPG. 9 MPG is about the lowest MPG you will see anyone on this forum bragging about but a 28% increase is a 28% increase!
On your PSD EX I would look to loose the cowcatcher, lower the suspension (a couple different ways to handle your 2X4 frontend drop), keep the load range E tires pumped up to 80PSI (I hope you have E's since you talked about towing 10k lbs), go to a narrower tire than the factory 265s and look for a slightly taller rear tire to give a lower numerical effective gear ratio.
Don't rely too much on the factory mileage meter, they are commonly refered to as Lie-O-Meters, do the math by hand for accurate results. I would also recommend visiting a few Ford truck forums and read up on 7.3 info about boosting MPGs, it gets discussed a lot. (I'm active on Ford-trucks.com, plenty of good PSD info and troubleshooting tips and a great Excursion forum that would be interested in your goals and mods!)
Here's a shot of our EXcursion about to earn it's keep.

[hughm]

So a quick update:
I ditched the cattle guard, which probably saved 80 lbs, along with the spare (another 50). I brought the tires to 70 psi (they are 80 psi tires). I couldn't go higher with the pump I was using. Also, these tires are 235/85 r 16, same diameter as factory. I also started pulling in the rear view mirrors on the highway. I have a panoramic rear view inside that allows me to see better than the side mirrors so it's safe. I also removed the cross bars for the luggage rack and had already removed the third row seats. Also changed the air filter.

At first I took the engine computer back to factory settings and noticed an immediate drop in perceived gas mileage on the onboard computer, so I brought it back to the high performance setting is was on. Then took a trip to Austin and back, with about 100 miles around Austin. This was about 85 percent open road driving, 15 percent Austin traffic. When I got home my on board computer registered 25.6 mpg, and I knew it had to be off. I went to fill up (same pump as first time), and my gas mileage registered at 20.8436725 mpg. So now I know I can't rely on my onboard computer. I know I had gotten a high rating before that I matched with the calculator at the pump, but it turns out my son had borrowed and refilled my truck about 4 gallons last time I calculated, so that explains the disparity.

So I'm not getting the mileage I thought I was, but nearly 21 mpg isn't too bad for the minimal stuff I've done so far. My next steps are to block off some of the grill and then start the process of putting on a belly pan. the gargantuan wheel openings really could use some love too, but that will come later.

I expect this to be a slow process. I also have a '50's house I am in the process of insulating/renovating.

Thanks everyone for the good advice.

[jcp123]

I'd love to see the house. I loved midcemtury modern before it was cool again and I'll love it afterwards too.