Noitidepxe
Member
I posted in February that I bought an '04 while visiting my snowbirding brother and sister-in-law in Daytona Beach. Since I had a flight booked to return to New Jersey I left it there with the intention of going back down in March to drive it home. I did that, diving it back on the 28th.
I decided, given the virus situation, to drive straight through if I could and sleep in the Expy if I couldn't. I was able to make it the whole way without a nap, leaving Daytona Beach at about 9:30AM on a Thursday and getting home at 3:30AM the next morning. I believe the Expy is the main reason I was able to do it in one shot, for me (extra tall) it's an exceptionally comfortable vehicle. The only glitch was the cruise didn't work. I made it with 2 gas stops, the 480 mile range is very nice. I was getting 17 to 19 mpg at the speed limit, FYI it's NOT a 4x4 and has the tow package so a 3.73 ratio. It ran flawlessly in every sense, except of course the cruise.
In the time I've driven since I got home I'm reminded why I loved my 2001 F-150 Sport 4x4 so much. The dynamics of this generation of Ford trucks appeals to me. It might not be a nimble handler but it certainly feels solid and I've very pleased given it's age and miles, 182,000 when I left Daytona Beach.
Last weekend I had a look at the cruise. I'd done research and noted that there are 3 fuses to check and the brake switch. I also saw that a lot of owners of this vintage Expy were able to fix their cruise by cleaning the contacts on the switches. I found a test procedure for the cruise in the service manual which I tried and it failed when I pushed the 'on' button so I figured I'd start by checking the fuses then move on to the switches. Fuses looked good so I pulled the switches, a pretty easy process. I cleaned them and put it back together. Next day I took it for groceries and, on the way home, tried the cruise. After fiddling with it briefly it caught so I figured an extended drive home was in order to test the cruise and it performed flawlessly. I may have gotten lucky with this purchase, time will tell.
I decided, given the virus situation, to drive straight through if I could and sleep in the Expy if I couldn't. I was able to make it the whole way without a nap, leaving Daytona Beach at about 9:30AM on a Thursday and getting home at 3:30AM the next morning. I believe the Expy is the main reason I was able to do it in one shot, for me (extra tall) it's an exceptionally comfortable vehicle. The only glitch was the cruise didn't work. I made it with 2 gas stops, the 480 mile range is very nice. I was getting 17 to 19 mpg at the speed limit, FYI it's NOT a 4x4 and has the tow package so a 3.73 ratio. It ran flawlessly in every sense, except of course the cruise.
In the time I've driven since I got home I'm reminded why I loved my 2001 F-150 Sport 4x4 so much. The dynamics of this generation of Ford trucks appeals to me. It might not be a nimble handler but it certainly feels solid and I've very pleased given it's age and miles, 182,000 when I left Daytona Beach.
Last weekend I had a look at the cruise. I'd done research and noted that there are 3 fuses to check and the brake switch. I also saw that a lot of owners of this vintage Expy were able to fix their cruise by cleaning the contacts on the switches. I found a test procedure for the cruise in the service manual which I tried and it failed when I pushed the 'on' button so I figured I'd start by checking the fuses then move on to the switches. Fuses looked good so I pulled the switches, a pretty easy process. I cleaned them and put it back together. Next day I took it for groceries and, on the way home, tried the cruise. After fiddling with it briefly it caught so I figured an extended drive home was in order to test the cruise and it performed flawlessly. I may have gotten lucky with this purchase, time will tell.