How offroad capable is a stock Expedition?

[Eddiebauerexpy]

Just wondering, they are opening up an ORV park litrally 10 minutes from my house, on labor day weekend. My buddy is taking his 00 F150 out there and i dont wanna miss out on the fun so i was going to take my Expedition. He has a 3 inch lift and some bigger tires (there like a 31 or 32 inch equilvelent) My Expedition is all stock.

Obviously i wont be able to follow him, everywhere, but do you think ill be able to do decent enough to keep from lookin like an idiot? Anything i should watch out for?

I guess its a mix bag of mud, sand, rocks, hills, and some water. The guy who runs it said he can get his stock F250 Powerstroker around back there. So im assuming i should do ok if i dont get stupid with it.

 

[ELVATO]

What year is yours? Also, is it 4x4?

 

[Eddiebauerexpy]

Oh whoops.

Yeah its a 97 4x4 Eddie Bauer with a 5.4L, Trac Lok rear, and Goodyear Wrangler RTS tires.

 

[98EXPY 5-0]

I know nothing about off-roading but I guess just make sure your buddy has a winch or a tow strap or something.

Maybe take an air-compressor and air your tires down a bit for better traction?

 

[davesexplorer]

I've taken mine on some easy and very mild trails and done alright with less articulation than you will have with the solid axle rear. Take a heavy rated strap, no hooks on the ends please. Grab a couple shackles/clevis's as well. I got a high lift jack to give me a little extra piece of mind as well. If you have alright tires and can air them down a bit do so as long as you have a compressor.

Watch the rocks and expect scratches from tree branches and stuff.

 

[Eddiebauerexpy]

The scratches and stuff dont really bother me too much.

Ive never really off roaded before, ive done mud, but thats kinda easy.

 

[davesexplorer]

Yeah the things you have to be most conscious of are: Rocks, uphill/downhill grades and high centering. Other than that have fun!

 

[Eddiebauerexpy]

How much does parts breakage come into play with a stock vehicle?

Also, as far as hills and stuff go, as long as i stay pointed straight i shouldnt really be in danger of flipping right? If i lose traction whats the best thing to do?

 

[davesexplorer]

Well you never know what you could break out there. Buddy broke the axles on his SAS ZR2 chevy the one time we went out but he was running a dana 44 turning 35's... yeah.

Yeah just stay as straight as you can if you lose traction and giving it more gas isn't helping just drift back down the hill using your brakes. Line up and try it again! As long as you dont go too far side to side angle wise you'll be fine. The skinny pedal gets a lot of people in trouble off road a lot of time you dont need to goose the truck to get up an over objects or hills, throw it down in 4 LO and crawl over stuff.

 

[Eddiebauerexpy]

Thanks for the tips man.

I figured it would be better to crawl over stuff then do wide open thorttle romps.

The reason i was concerned about the hill climbing is because there is a decent size rutted up hill thats like right at the beginning. Supposbly my buddy climbed it with his 2000 F150 (before it was a OHP, he did it on a dare) but he had his stock Michlean Street tires and no lift.

So i assume with my Wrangler RTS i should be alright.

I wish i had the 900 bucks to slap on a set of BF all terrians before i go.

 

[Eddiebauerexpy]

Well i had a blast.

The expedition actually did alot better then i expected. I didnt air down my tires but i only got stuck twice (both times in mud i had no business being in), but i noticed it seemed to flex very well and in 4lo would crawl over just about anything

 

[Blackwater]

Well I am a little late on advice. Sounds like you did just fine! Im not sure what tread your RTS has but if they are street tires your not going to gain much by airing them down. It will do better grabbing over ledges and stuff but your side walls are a lot thinner then a AT or MT so watch out for pinch flats if you do air down.
I have wheeled a lot, maybe to much but have only tested the Expedition out on a few things. You best bet is to find soft stuff to climb over to actually scrub out your bottom so later you will have a reference to judge when eyeing things up. Find your approach angles and docents. The Expedition I have found suck dropping off ledges over the rear. If you have a tow hitch that will help take the weight.
The only thing I would watch out for is water and mud on the Expedition. I don’t think the vent tubes for the axles are sitting up high and Im not sure how well the front drive assembly is against holding out water. I wouldn’t do any puddle skipping or blasting with this rig. Slow and low is the way to go! I made the mistake in my XJ to blast a 3 foot deep puddle for a photo. I was running a cold air intake. If I knew I was going to be wheeling I would have changed over to my stock air box with snorkel. But NO my ******** did it anyway and hydro locked the motor!

 

[rvm1]

Would anyone know what is the maximum water / flood height a stock 2004 EB can safely cross? Thanks.

Sent from my HTC Sensation

 

[tonydiv]

Basically, you can only go to the lowest point of the truck that would cause a problem.

That point on a stock expy would probably be the ignition coils. That is a static level though. When you are fording a stream, etc. you could easily suck up water in to the intake that is splashed up. You'll need to get out the tape measure to see where the coils, air intake, etc actually falls on your truck. I'd take that measurement and subtract at least 8 - 10 inches to estimate the fording depth.

It is also important to check all fluids after the truck has been immersed in water. You want to make sure that no water found its way in to the differentials, trans, etc.

 

[Mikes05expy]

Does this answer any of your questions?

This video cracks me up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0t0G_WOS7A&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sent from my Bag Phone using Tapatalk

 

[Reese]

I'm running my expy in the trail truck challenge this weekend ill post video afterwards

 

[rvm1]

Tony, thanks for the feedback. We get a lot of floods where I live. Fortunately, I've never had to go thru more than a foot of water.

 

[Thermo]

I have probably pushed this envelope as much as should be done. Now, please keep in mind that I have a slightly modified intake (ie, Gotts mod, cut the cone off the end of the filter so I suck under hood air) but for the most part is it stock. I have had water up to the gap between the top of the grille and the bottom edge of the hood and then with a little bit of movement, had water coming up on the hood. Also keep in mind that I am running an oiled/cotton gauze filter. So, this helps to forge through slightly deeper water than what a paper filter will allow. Do I recommend this for everyone to do? By no means. Me, I saw a puddle, thought it was about a foot deep and once I started going through it, I was looking at a water level at the door handle on the side of the truck.

 

[TexasAngel34]

Air ride and mud dont mix, screwed mine up bad.. clean real good underneath the truck once your done...mud messes with alot of stuff ... trust me from my experience...

 

[M1757]

I have a 2001 EB with 111,000 miles and just got back to Philly after driving 400 miles to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. I had the truck off road in the sand dunes to go looking for the wild horses on the island. After driving 4 miles on the beach then an hour or so through those sand dunes we found the wild horses and the truck was awesome in some pretty deep sand. It never missed a beat. People can say whatever they want about Ford but there's a reason their the number 1 truck since 1979.