captain chaos
Well-Known Member
Ok. So here’s the deal: I have a 2000 Expedition 4wd w/ a 4.6 and stock 3.55 gears. Unloaded it cruises right down the hwy, gets decent mpg (for what it is), is comfortable and all is good. The problem is, My family and I really enjoy camping and the second I hook that 24’ TT to it the ‘little engine that could’ it really starts showing its shortcomings. There’s just not enough grunt there.
The thought of running OD with that camper in tow is laughable (I never even try) and even locked in 3rd it has trouble cruising w/ the TC locked if there’s any significant wind (though if the wind is light it will cruise 55-60 just fine). The last camping trip we took had us fighting a 25+mph cross/headwind (basically aimed right at the front fender), I believe “quartering wind” is the term, anyway the old girl was NOT happy. Trying to maintain 56-57mph the thing was struggling to even stay in 3rd. TC lockup was only possible maybe 30/40% of the time. I could just envision screaming hot transmission parts and an engine that was just huffing/puffing as hard as it could. I could clearly use some more grunt. I do realize that those are pretty poor towing conditions though so I don’t expect it to be able to just cruise along happily in 4th fighting a 25mph wind.
Here’s the deal though as there are some complications; I’m not in the market for another vehicle. My Expy is paid for and I have no desire for a car payment on something we drive MAYBE 5000mi/yr (basically just camping and occasional trips). Besides that, we’re looking at possibly moving the in the next yr or 2 so spending is on somewhat of a lockdown.
I know full well the answer is “get a 5.4” but there are some problems there:
-Clean Expys are a hard find around here. Rust is a SERIOUS problem with them and most of the 1st gens are looking pretty beater-ish by now. I really don’t want to get rid of a fairly nice Expedition for what would essentially be a clapped out looking beater. My hatred of car payments prevents dropping enough coin to pick up a newer/nicer version. I know its vain sounding but my wife likes ‘nice-ish’ looking vehicles and I just don’t really want another beater either. I’ve driven PLENTY of them in my day and I’d like to move past that.
-I feel like I get just good enough mpg (~14city/ 19hwy) to justify driving this tank from time to time (which the family and I enjoy). I really don’t want to flush that down the toilet in the name of more HP. I considered looking for a 2wd 5.4 in the hopes of preserving as much of that mpg as possible but those seem to be a rare beast.
So, what I need is a way to get some more ‘umph’ in the 2000-3000rpm range. I don’t care one bit about gaining HP past 3500rpm as I spend 98% of my time in the 2-3k range. That’s where I tow at and that’s where I need the power to be. There are options for gaining hp (headers/tuners/etc) but dyno charts to gauge the difference seem to be hard to find and the ones you do find often don’t show what's going on in the 2-3000rpm range. They all just want to brag about what kind of peak hp they gain (irrelevant).
I feel like a re-gear would help but I don’t want it screaming down the hwy either as 1) it’s annoying when going any distance and 2) it kills mpg.
I was wondering if anyone had some insight or experience that could help me in my quandary. I am open to other vehicles (or even brands) but it MUST have room for 5-6 min (have 3 kids) and be older/affordable (debt=bad).
Thanks. (sorry for the long winded post!)
The thought of running OD with that camper in tow is laughable (I never even try) and even locked in 3rd it has trouble cruising w/ the TC locked if there’s any significant wind (though if the wind is light it will cruise 55-60 just fine). The last camping trip we took had us fighting a 25+mph cross/headwind (basically aimed right at the front fender), I believe “quartering wind” is the term, anyway the old girl was NOT happy. Trying to maintain 56-57mph the thing was struggling to even stay in 3rd. TC lockup was only possible maybe 30/40% of the time. I could just envision screaming hot transmission parts and an engine that was just huffing/puffing as hard as it could. I could clearly use some more grunt. I do realize that those are pretty poor towing conditions though so I don’t expect it to be able to just cruise along happily in 4th fighting a 25mph wind.
Here’s the deal though as there are some complications; I’m not in the market for another vehicle. My Expy is paid for and I have no desire for a car payment on something we drive MAYBE 5000mi/yr (basically just camping and occasional trips). Besides that, we’re looking at possibly moving the in the next yr or 2 so spending is on somewhat of a lockdown.
I know full well the answer is “get a 5.4” but there are some problems there:
-Clean Expys are a hard find around here. Rust is a SERIOUS problem with them and most of the 1st gens are looking pretty beater-ish by now. I really don’t want to get rid of a fairly nice Expedition for what would essentially be a clapped out looking beater. My hatred of car payments prevents dropping enough coin to pick up a newer/nicer version. I know its vain sounding but my wife likes ‘nice-ish’ looking vehicles and I just don’t really want another beater either. I’ve driven PLENTY of them in my day and I’d like to move past that.
-I feel like I get just good enough mpg (~14city/ 19hwy) to justify driving this tank from time to time (which the family and I enjoy). I really don’t want to flush that down the toilet in the name of more HP. I considered looking for a 2wd 5.4 in the hopes of preserving as much of that mpg as possible but those seem to be a rare beast.
So, what I need is a way to get some more ‘umph’ in the 2000-3000rpm range. I don’t care one bit about gaining HP past 3500rpm as I spend 98% of my time in the 2-3k range. That’s where I tow at and that’s where I need the power to be. There are options for gaining hp (headers/tuners/etc) but dyno charts to gauge the difference seem to be hard to find and the ones you do find often don’t show what's going on in the 2-3000rpm range. They all just want to brag about what kind of peak hp they gain (irrelevant).
I feel like a re-gear would help but I don’t want it screaming down the hwy either as 1) it’s annoying when going any distance and 2) it kills mpg.
I was wondering if anyone had some insight or experience that could help me in my quandary. I am open to other vehicles (or even brands) but it MUST have room for 5-6 min (have 3 kids) and be older/affordable (debt=bad).
Thanks. (sorry for the long winded post!)
