When searching for a vehicle, I had a short list of requirements..
1- had to be capable of light offroading. We would like to visit much more of Utah, and it needed to handle places like the Swell and such.
2- had to be able to hold enough gear for a family of 5 to do at least 1 or 2 nights on the trial.
3- had to be independent front suspension.
4- had to be cheap.
I put my mind on an expedition, and decided to give it a shot. I researched it a bit, and found that a 3" lift was cheap, and easy to come by. once lifted they had enough ground clearance to be very suitable for offroad.
I found a great deal on an '03 expedition and pulled the trigger.
She came with a little dent in the plastic, but I think it will pop out.
The expedition has 3rd row seating that folds down, and will provide plenty of room for our gear for a over night trip. I am planning on building a drawer/platform setup that will leave one of the back seats down at all times, but will allow the other 2 seats to pop up and be occupied if needed.
The first order of business was to be tires and a lift kit. We have a trip planned in December, and will need it ready. I was reading a couple last reviews on lifting the expedition, and found one feller who says the A-arms become too angled, and the balljoint gets stressed once lifted. No one else had said this, but it caused me some hesitation, especially after coming off of our jeep issues. So the lift is on hold until I can research and put eyes on one that has been lifted.
However, it sits low and I would like all I can get. I picked up some wider rims to run larger tires, and then picked up some used tires to run until I can decide on lift or no lift. These are the rims we got, and the tires going on are 285/70r17's
We are looking forward to putting many miles on this expedition, and hope it is up for the task.
1- had to be capable of light offroading. We would like to visit much more of Utah, and it needed to handle places like the Swell and such.
2- had to be able to hold enough gear for a family of 5 to do at least 1 or 2 nights on the trial.
3- had to be independent front suspension.
4- had to be cheap.
I put my mind on an expedition, and decided to give it a shot. I researched it a bit, and found that a 3" lift was cheap, and easy to come by. once lifted they had enough ground clearance to be very suitable for offroad.
I found a great deal on an '03 expedition and pulled the trigger.
She came with a little dent in the plastic, but I think it will pop out.
The expedition has 3rd row seating that folds down, and will provide plenty of room for our gear for a over night trip. I am planning on building a drawer/platform setup that will leave one of the back seats down at all times, but will allow the other 2 seats to pop up and be occupied if needed.
The first order of business was to be tires and a lift kit. We have a trip planned in December, and will need it ready. I was reading a couple last reviews on lifting the expedition, and found one feller who says the A-arms become too angled, and the balljoint gets stressed once lifted. No one else had said this, but it caused me some hesitation, especially after coming off of our jeep issues. So the lift is on hold until I can research and put eyes on one that has been lifted.
However, it sits low and I would like all I can get. I picked up some wider rims to run larger tires, and then picked up some used tires to run until I can decide on lift or no lift. These are the rims we got, and the tires going on are 285/70r17's
We are looking forward to putting many miles on this expedition, and hope it is up for the task.
