2003 Expedition Face Lift Begins

[Vancouver Bob]

In a couple of my earlier posts I had mentioned getting the tires rebalanced because of a reoccurring wobble I'd get. I must have done this at least 3 times. Usually felt pretty good right after the balance but the wobble would eventually return. I'd tolerate it for a while but then get tired of it and I'd take it back in for a balance (usually a road force balance).

Well, things got to where it was getting irritating again so took her back in. This time, because of the mileage, I had the tires rotated and rebalanced. I must say that the wobble is gone and the best it's ever been! Not of sign of it even after a month of driving and I've been driving a lot because I loaned my normal daily driver to my brother.

Naturally now I'm think it was one of the front wheels/tires that was to blame. For now, I'm going to leave things be and enjoy the smooth ride. Once I rotate back, we'll see if the wobble returns.

 

[98eb5.4]

Wow just got threw reading this build thread from beginning to end and its better than a book! Thanks for all the awesome pics and descriptions guys. I just bought my 97 rust free Expy here in Aridzona for $400. It was a non runner at an auction and the locksmith came the next day, cut and programmed a key, then I fired her up and drove her off the lot! I took lotsa notes and learned tons while reading your thread so thanks again.

congrats man. these trucks are known for very high milage. you wont be dissapoint if your do regular maintance and preventive. mine is still non running but im looking to take it to Expert fordtechmakuloko once i ger enough $$ hopefully he can point me in the right direction.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

97 & 8 also had alum intake manifolds vs 99 on plastic that were problematic, i'm at ~ 530k original kilometers on my 5.4/98 driveline & doesn't even leak fluids.

 

[Vancouver Bob]

97 & 8 also had alum intake manifolds vs 99 on plastic that were problematic, i'm at ~ 530k original kilometers on my 5.4/98 driveline & doesn't even leak fluids.

Holly crap that's over 300K miles!! I thought I was doing good with 220K miles!

 

[CountrySplatt]

Thanks for sharing your journey, Vancouver Bob!! My poor 2004 Expy went through about 200ft of barbed wire and fencing a couple of years ago when my oldest was learning to drive. Insurance ended up totaling it, but it is still a solid truck...it is just missing the front bumper and a dented driver's front quarter panel, so hard to consign it to the junkyard. We are sitting at about 210k miles and it is solid as a rock still. With your links and the experience in this thread, I am thinking I will hop on the bandwagon with the WAM Bumper, too. I like the look of yours without the A style grill guard, but am leaning toward the plate style grill guard since we have a TON of deer and hogs out here and hopefully that will help with the collateral damage. I am going to have to replace the shocks, so the wisdom you shared with the coil overs is invaluable and is making me lean more toward a small lift while I am in there. You guys are "terrible", I should add... LOL, my wife is going to kill me when she hears about all the things rolling in my head to do to fix up our old Family Truck. HAHAHA!!

 

[Vancouver Bob]

Thanks for sharing your journey, Vancouver Bob!! My poor 2004 Expy went through about 200ft of barbed wire and fencing a couple of years ago when my oldest was learning to drive. Insurance ended up totaling it, but it is still a solid truck...it is just missing the front bumper and a dented driver's front quarter panel, so hard to consign it to the junkyard. We are sitting at about 210k miles and it is solid as a rock still. With your links and the experience in this thread, I am thinking I will hop on the bandwagon with the WAM Bumper, too. I like the look of yours without the A style grill guard, but am leaning toward the plate style grill guard since we have a TON of deer and hogs out here and hopefully that will help with the collateral damage. I am going to have to replace the shocks, so the wisdom you shared with the coil overs is invaluable and is making me lean more toward a small lift while I am in there. You guys are "terrible", I should add... LOL, my wife is going to kill me when she hears about all the things rolling in my head to do to fix up our old Family Truck. HAHAHA!!

Ha ha! Well, you can explain to her that it will keep you from wanting a new truck so it's actually saving lots of money .

Glad to hear you've found some inspiration from the many that have contributed to this thread.

Be sure to post pictures... we all like pictures .

 

[CountrySplatt]

My oldest did surprisingly little real damage to the truck given the stretch of fence he slid down. I truly do mean that he slid down it...literally ran parallel to it with the posts hitting the driver's headlight. I already replaced the headlight, mirror, and bent some of the pieces back into place, so it looks MUCH better than it did originally. I have been toying with the idea of replacing all of the facia and taking it back to original, but didn't fancy the $4k+ price tag attached from the body shop...just to have all that plastic put back on to get ruined. Living in the Hill Country of Texas, it is surprising that we haven't hit a deer yet and destroyed all of the plastic already. Looking at the pictures and wisdom in this thread, it appears that the bumpers you guys put on, might save some headache later when the Law of Averages catches up to us and we "meet" a deer on the way to the store.

 

[JExpedition07]

My oldest did surprisingly little real damage to the truck given the stretch of fence he slid down. I truly do mean that he slid down it...literally ran parallel to it with the posts hitting the driver's headlight. I already replaced the headlight, mirror, and bent some of the pieces back into place, so it looks MUCH better than it did originally. I have been toying with the idea of replacing all of the facia and taking it back to original, but didn't fancy the $4k+ price tag attached from the body shop...just to have all that plastic put back on to get ruined. Living in the Hill Country of Texas, it is surprising that we haven't hit a deer yet and destroyed all of the plastic already. Looking at the pictures and wisdom in this thread, it appears that the bumpers you guys put on, might save some headache later when the Law of Averages catches up to us and we "meet" a deer on the way to the store.

View attachment 34262

View attachment 34263

I’d just order the front bumper cover and two quarter trim pieces. Then would Rattle Can it with duplicate color and clear coat it close to match. A few $$$ in plastic and some rattle cans + patience and the truck will be lots closer to stock look.

 

[CountrySplatt]

Yeah, last time I looked for a bumper cover, it was going to run me $750 without any hardware. At that price, I might as well order a steel one for about the same price and not have to worry at all. But thank you for the thought.

 

[JExpedition07]

Yeah, last time I looked for a bumper cover, it was going to run me $750 without any hardware. At that price, I might as well order a steel one for about the same price and not have to worry at all. But thank you for the thought.

03-06 Expedition Eddie Bauer Front Bumper Cover - Primed $107

https://www.carparts.com/details/Fo...Vh4bACh2NLQ71EAQYBCABEgLmVvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Bonus ~ the quarter trim pieces are already included....only need to be painted beige.

 

[CountrySplatt]

03-06 Expedition Eddie Bauer Front Bumper Cover - Primed $107

https://www.carparts.com/details/Fo...Vh4bACh2NLQ71EAQYBCABEgLmVvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Bonus ~ the quarter trim pieces are already included....only need to be painted beige.

Thank you!! Have you used this bumper previously? I ask because it appears that it is one solid piece, and the one I had originally was 2 pieces at a minimum.