I have been reading around here for a few weeks now as I have been looking for an EL for a couple months. I was able to come into a 2016 XLT EL 4wd with 43K miles. A little higher mileage than I was hoping for but but is also a fair amount lower than some that were out there as well.
I have been a Ford guy for 20 years now. With my first car being a 1992 Mustang LX, which I still own. Granted it is undergoing some changes at the moment full suspension front and rear, upgrade to the 8.8, bigger brakes, and have a freshly built 2.3L turbo motor to drop in it, amongst other things. I also have a fully restored 1931 Model A, had a 1996 Mustang GT convertible, 2002 Mustang, 2014 Escape Platinum with the Ecoboost, and a 2002 Explorer. So I am well versed in the Ford Family. I also have a 1969 Pontiac GTO, a 2000 Chevy Silverado Z71, and my wife has a 2012 Highlander Limited. I sold my 2002 Explorer right before having our 3rd kid and needed more room for 3 car seats. I wanted an SUV and was going to get a 100 series Land Cruiser but practicality caught me or so I thought so we got a 2012 Toyota Sienna. Tried that for a year and man did we hate that thing. So the search began for an Expedition EL.
Ended up finding a 2016 XLT 4wd with 56,000 miles online locally but they had sold it. They were kind enough to find me another with only 43,000 miles and a better color silver. I am still waiting to take delivery which I hope to be by the end of the week. They got it in and it had some issues that I said they needed to take care of before I would accept delivery. The drivers headlight had cracked, the back wiper had been ran for a very long time with the rubber falling off the blade so a big rainbow had been etched into the glass, the weatherstrip along the passenger side of the front windshield was damaged (no signs of water getting in along the A pillar), the cord to drop the headrest on the middle row was broken, there was a paint flake on the front drivers plastic fender flare, and the tires were complete crap. So they are replacing all of that at no cost to me.
They are also tinting the windows for me.
I am probably a bit different than most folks that I did not want a ton of options. All I wanted was an EL with 4wd, and a backup camera.
I can't leave any vehicle stock so I am looking forward to doing some projects that I have seen you folks post about here.
I already have WeatherTech floor liners on the way. Well technically Cabelas Trail Gear which are rebadeged WeatherTech. They are currently 15% off on their site and I was able to score 3 $100 Cabelas Gift Cards for $80 each so in the end they were cheaper than I could get WeatherTech on Amazon or their own site.
Plans so far are WeatherTech side window deflectors and hood protector. I had the Ford factory one on my Explorer and the Chevy factory one on my Silverado and feel they provide much better protection than just the clear film on the front of the hood that my wife's Highlander has.
Front Seat Heaters and recover the seats with Katzkins black leather with perforated centers and silver stitching. We have 3 car seats so I have a big waterproof quilted cover of a thing that will be used on the middle row until we no longer have car seats or boosters which will be years down the road. Once those are gone the rear 2 benches will likely be done in the same Katzkins but no need for it now since the 3rd row will always be folded down so the kids don't squawk about wanting to ride back there.
Looks like someone here was able to get the AFE Stage 2 intake from an F150 to work on our rigs so I may get one of those.
Tuning, not sure I am going to venture down that road or not. You just never know.
Hellwig Front and Rear Sway Bars
Rear resonator removed likely. As I hate the look of that thing. I have seen a couple folks have removed it I am curious to if there is any drone in the cabin while driving from it being removed. I have seen the idle videos but not seen any video under load from in the cabin.
I was planning on some beefier tires but since the dealer is putting brand new ones on that will wait.
Brakes I will likely go with a StopTech or EBC setup to get a little more braking power.
I also hope that eventually Fox or Icon will come out with some shocks for this rig. Bilstien would be fine too. But so far in my reading nothing has really come up for better shocks.
I would like to do a lift but when my wife has to work and takes the boys to school she has no choice but to park in a parking garage so a lift would be a no go.
I got just the 4" screen sync system which should really be fine. Though it would be nice if idatalink would make an Expedition kit like they do the F150 so we could use aftermarket units. I especially like that the idatalink has ODBII capabilities built in and can be displayed on many aftermarket head units.
So for now I will likely just use dashcommand or some of the iOS app and have my iPad mini mounted somewhere to see the gauges.
Sure am looking forward to this rig. We put about 11,000 miles on the van last year. That number I hope to go up per year as our boys get older and driving trips and vacations become more frequent.
Hoping to have this rig for 10 more years and 150k miles or so. I am meticulous with maintenance so hopefully that will not be an issue.
Sorry for the long post but just wanted to say hello.
I'll do my best at searching all the past threads to get answers but if I miss something or bring an old thread back to life just bear with me.
Also looking at the FORSCAN stuff a bit. Looks quite interesting, hopefully I will be able to figure it out.
I have been a Ford guy for 20 years now. With my first car being a 1992 Mustang LX, which I still own. Granted it is undergoing some changes at the moment full suspension front and rear, upgrade to the 8.8, bigger brakes, and have a freshly built 2.3L turbo motor to drop in it, amongst other things. I also have a fully restored 1931 Model A, had a 1996 Mustang GT convertible, 2002 Mustang, 2014 Escape Platinum with the Ecoboost, and a 2002 Explorer. So I am well versed in the Ford Family. I also have a 1969 Pontiac GTO, a 2000 Chevy Silverado Z71, and my wife has a 2012 Highlander Limited. I sold my 2002 Explorer right before having our 3rd kid and needed more room for 3 car seats. I wanted an SUV and was going to get a 100 series Land Cruiser but practicality caught me or so I thought so we got a 2012 Toyota Sienna. Tried that for a year and man did we hate that thing. So the search began for an Expedition EL.
Ended up finding a 2016 XLT 4wd with 56,000 miles online locally but they had sold it. They were kind enough to find me another with only 43,000 miles and a better color silver. I am still waiting to take delivery which I hope to be by the end of the week. They got it in and it had some issues that I said they needed to take care of before I would accept delivery. The drivers headlight had cracked, the back wiper had been ran for a very long time with the rubber falling off the blade so a big rainbow had been etched into the glass, the weatherstrip along the passenger side of the front windshield was damaged (no signs of water getting in along the A pillar), the cord to drop the headrest on the middle row was broken, there was a paint flake on the front drivers plastic fender flare, and the tires were complete crap. So they are replacing all of that at no cost to me.
They are also tinting the windows for me.
I am probably a bit different than most folks that I did not want a ton of options. All I wanted was an EL with 4wd, and a backup camera.
I can't leave any vehicle stock so I am looking forward to doing some projects that I have seen you folks post about here.
I already have WeatherTech floor liners on the way. Well technically Cabelas Trail Gear which are rebadeged WeatherTech. They are currently 15% off on their site and I was able to score 3 $100 Cabelas Gift Cards for $80 each so in the end they were cheaper than I could get WeatherTech on Amazon or their own site.
Plans so far are WeatherTech side window deflectors and hood protector. I had the Ford factory one on my Explorer and the Chevy factory one on my Silverado and feel they provide much better protection than just the clear film on the front of the hood that my wife's Highlander has.
Front Seat Heaters and recover the seats with Katzkins black leather with perforated centers and silver stitching. We have 3 car seats so I have a big waterproof quilted cover of a thing that will be used on the middle row until we no longer have car seats or boosters which will be years down the road. Once those are gone the rear 2 benches will likely be done in the same Katzkins but no need for it now since the 3rd row will always be folded down so the kids don't squawk about wanting to ride back there.
Looks like someone here was able to get the AFE Stage 2 intake from an F150 to work on our rigs so I may get one of those.
Tuning, not sure I am going to venture down that road or not. You just never know.
Hellwig Front and Rear Sway Bars
Rear resonator removed likely. As I hate the look of that thing. I have seen a couple folks have removed it I am curious to if there is any drone in the cabin while driving from it being removed. I have seen the idle videos but not seen any video under load from in the cabin.
I was planning on some beefier tires but since the dealer is putting brand new ones on that will wait.
Brakes I will likely go with a StopTech or EBC setup to get a little more braking power.
I also hope that eventually Fox or Icon will come out with some shocks for this rig. Bilstien would be fine too. But so far in my reading nothing has really come up for better shocks.
I would like to do a lift but when my wife has to work and takes the boys to school she has no choice but to park in a parking garage so a lift would be a no go.
I got just the 4" screen sync system which should really be fine. Though it would be nice if idatalink would make an Expedition kit like they do the F150 so we could use aftermarket units. I especially like that the idatalink has ODBII capabilities built in and can be displayed on many aftermarket head units.
So for now I will likely just use dashcommand or some of the iOS app and have my iPad mini mounted somewhere to see the gauges.
Sure am looking forward to this rig. We put about 11,000 miles on the van last year. That number I hope to go up per year as our boys get older and driving trips and vacations become more frequent.
Hoping to have this rig for 10 more years and 150k miles or so. I am meticulous with maintenance so hopefully that will not be an issue.
Sorry for the long post but just wanted to say hello.
I'll do my best at searching all the past threads to get answers but if I miss something or bring an old thread back to life just bear with me.
Also looking at the FORSCAN stuff a bit. Looks quite interesting, hopefully I will be able to figure it out.
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