Just Upgraded to a 2017 EL

[ExpeditionAndy]

I just traded in my 2005 EB Expedition and picked up new 2017 Limited Expedition EL. We signed the papers on Saturday and I picked it up this afternoon. The dealership offered a 10 year Ziebart super rust protection, underbody sound barrier , Diamond gloss paint protection, ultra fabric protection and leather conditioner, and Aquapel glass treatment. The package includes taking it back to Ziebart annually so they can check the rust protection and reapply the other treatments - with this package it is free for 10 years. Since my last Expedition had rust issues with the radiator supports, both rocker panels, and part of the passenger side floor board, I wanted to make sure that I delayed or at least heavily curtailed any rust issues with my new baby.

Its got the V6 Ecoboost engine which has plenty of power and is pretty peppy compared to the 5.4 L Triton 3 valve V8.

These are pictures from Saturday's test drive. It's dirty because it was sitting on the lot. By the time I got home it was already starting to get dark. I'll take some good pictures tomorrow.

White wasn't my first choice but it became my choice because it was the only EL on the lot and its loaded. If I had ordered it I would have probably picked the Bluejeans color but I wouldn't have changed anything else.

I'm putting Firestone Destination ATs with raised outline letters on it tomorrow. I think that will dress it up a little. The white is the White Platinum Metallic Tri-coat so it has that going for it.

 

[jeff kushner]

View attachment 19163 View attachment 19163 Congratulations Andy!

I took my '03EB off the road when the tranny began slipping just before I got mine. Pretty much the same except since my kids are grown and I live alone, I opted for the standard length. I know that you probably haven't had much of a chance to "go through" everything yet since you just picked it up but if you guys get deep snow out there, be sure to remove the "dam" under the front end. I read that there are 6 or 8 twist tabs that hold it on and removing it allows you to traverse deep snow without damaging the front end body work.

I am close to 8K on mine and I washed it over the weekend and it still doesn't have a single chip in the White Platinum Metallic tri-coat, not one which I'm real happy about since most of my driving is highway.

You are going to love that truck!

Congrats again!

jeff
View attachment 19161

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Thanks Jeff,

I fly radio controlled airplanes. I have at least one that has a one piece 8' wing so this will allow me to carry it with out having to stick it through the front seats. I also haul a lot of stuff for me and for family so I wanted the extra room.

I like your black wheels. Mine came with the same tires, but I'm changing them out for Firestone Destination ATs with raised white letters I think it will make it look a little sportier and then I'm going to put these on Craig's list.

My 05 was still running good but we make a couple trips a year the Harrisburg PA area and it had that cam phaser rattle. I think it would have lasted another 20,000 miles before it needed that work but the rocker panels were rusted through on both sided and the passenger side I could have put my finger through if I had pushed hard enough. On top of that the radiator support was like swiss cheese. I figured it was going to cost over $9,000 to do everything to it that it needed and then I would still have a 12 year old truck.

I caught a great sale on my truck, it was $100 below invoice plus it had $5,200 in rebates. I feel I got a good deal on it and I am happy.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Sweet new ride(s).

 

[USMCBuckWild]

Very nice, both of you!


I iust can't get past white. Almost any other colors but white! Hahaha

 

[GeezingInVA]

I just traded in my 2005 EB Expedition and picked up new 2017 Limited Expedition EL. We signed the papers on Saturday and I picked it up this afternoon. The dealership offered a 10 year Ziebart super rust protection, underbody sound barrier , Diamond gloss paint protection, ultra fabric protection and leather conditioner, and Aquapel glass treatment. The package includes taking it back to Ziebart annually so they can check the rust protection and reapply the other treatments - with this package it is free for 10 years. Since my last Expedition had rust issues with the radiator supports, both rocker panels, and part of the passenger side floor board, I wanted to make sure that I delayed or at least heavily curtailed any rust issues with my new baby.

Nice new ride. I have a 2016 Exp Limited, although not the EL, in the same paint color. After 20 months with it hauling our horse trailer, the weekly trips to the landfill, and the bi-monthly trip to the farmers' co-op for grain, I still love it. The only annoyances are the heavily shiny-chrome shifter and shifter trim that reflect sunlight behind my sunglasses (so I keep an old black sock in the console to slip over the shifter to block the reflection on sunny days), and the trailing edge of the driver's door is out-of-alignment and sticks out a bit more than 1/8" from the leading edge of the rear passenger door.

Sounds like your dealer package includes the free Ziebart super rust protection annual inspections for ten years, which is a good thing, although Ziebart will try to hard-sell you an out-of-pocket re-application every year. At least that was my experience with my 2004 Exp XLT before our local Ziebart went out of business. Also, the reason we got rid of our 2004 was because both rocker panels rusted to dust, even though the vehicle was put through the Ziebart super rust protection application with only 12 miles on the odometer. Hopefully, your Ziebart experience will be better than ours, but still get Ziebart to carefully inspect your rocker panels every single year.

Cheers!

...Karl

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Very nice, both of you!


I iust can't get past white. Almost any other colors but white! Hahaha

I know what you mean. It was almost a deal breaker. If it had been the regular white I would have passed. We tried to find a blue one or a King Ranch EL in the local market but there were none to be had and the sale was only for that week so I didn't want to risk losing those discounts.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

The only annoyances are the heavily shiny-chrome shifter and shifter trim that reflect sunlight behind my sunglasses (so I keep an old black sock in the console to slip over the shifter to block the reflection on sunny days)...

Sounds like your dealer package includes the free Ziebart super rust protection annual inspections for ten years, which is a good thing, although Ziebart will try to hard-sell you an out-of-pocket re-application every year. At least that was my experience with my 2004 Exp XLT before our local Ziebart went out of business. Also, the reason we got rid of our 2004 was because both rocker panels rusted to dust, even though the vehicle was put through the Ziebart super rust protection application with only 12 miles on the odometer. Hopefully, your Ziebart experience will be better than ours, but still get Ziebart to carefully inspect your rocker panels every single year.

Cheers!

...Karl

View attachment 19167

Thanks Karl,

One of things I hated about my 05 was the sunlight would reflect off my shirt and drown out the display on the dash. I couldn't see the messages on the LED screen between the tach and speedometer.

The dealer package was $899 and free checkups and reapplication for 10 years. I will definitely remember to tell them to pay close attention to the rockers. I haven't crawled under it to see how they are boxed in. With the power boards, they have a little more protection (I hope). I take it to a carwash that has a undercarriage wash and I use that whenever they put salt on the roads. So I hope that will help.

And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't get any bubbling on the hatch.

 

[Flexpedition]

Looks great, hope you enjoy it. Really liked how the 20" King Ranch wheels looked on your 05 - did you leave them on when you traded?

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Looks great, hope you enjoy it. Really liked how the 20" King Ranch wheels looked on your 05 - did you leave them on when you traded?

Yes I left them on, I didn't have any other wheels to put on it. It also had brand new tires (under 4000 miles), new brakes and rotors all the way around and new calipers upfront. Just did them 6 months ago.

 

[EX-excursion]

Most of the road noise comes from the fender well liners. I recently put molded mud flaps on mine. From what I could see under my '17 Expedition, the sound deadener there is actually very good. It is 'furry' for lack of a better term, and does a good job on noise. Covering that up with another coating might render that original protection less effective.

 

[07xln]

Congrats on the new truck. I have a 2017 Black EL Limited and LOVE it.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Most of the road noise comes from the fender well liners. I recently put molded mud flaps on mine. From what I could see under my '17 Expedition, the sound deadener there is actually very good. It is 'furry' for lack of a better term, and does a good job on noise. Covering that up with another coating might render that original protection less effective.

I had that furry sound deadener in the rear wheel wells of my 09 Mercedes ML350 It worked pretty well. I don't know where they sprayed it. It has bee raining off and on today so I haven't had a chance to crawl under it to look. I'm sure they know what they are doing or the dealership wouldn't use them.

 

[jeff kushner]

I love the color...it's really not white but a metal flake pearl....I think it looks great but the problem is that if you are 10 or more feet away, it's hard to see the flake.
White looks good when it's clean but dingy when it isn't.

I have a 2 car garage but it's filled with my 2 seater car and a bunch of vintage bikes. Besides, even in a garage that would seem huge by today's standards, my Expy's have barely fit. So because I have a yard full of large oak trees and in the Spring, they rain pollen and other stuff, I've been looking at buying one of these to put where my BB court is, next to the main driveway. This will keep all that junk off my new paint.....they make several different types. Some have the galvanized ribs vertical but they run roughly + $400....so I may or may not pay the upcharge.


I'll bet that Black EL looks sharp as heck!


jeff

 

[jeff kushner]

Thanks Jeff,

I fly radio controlled airplanes. I have at least one that has a one piece 8' wing so this will allow me to carry it with out having to stick it through the front seats. I also haul a lot of stuff for me and for family so I wanted the extra room.

.

Hey Andy,

You fly Gliders or Gassers? I learned to fly gas many years ago at a local club at Ft Meade MD. I flew for a few years then kind of lost interest. I still have my original "Eaglet" that has been re-kitted and re-assembled a half dozen times but it would still fly. The Eagle which I really should have bought as a trainer since it was so forgiving. I got pretty good with it but as you know, they are both very easy planes. I was off work after one of my ACL recon jobs on my knee and I assembled a beautiful Cannard imported from Italy in a kit. Beautiful plane. I fitted a .6 Super tiger but never did fly it....too pretty to wreck!

Good for you for keeping the sport alive though!

I have nice Factory Alum wheels on my SLK but they got dirty so fast. I eventually learned that with ceramic pads, the crud was minimized but when I saw these "tarnish" wheels, I REALLY liked them!

FWIW, in the "How to" section, I posted a couple of corrections to your manual....the low beam bulbs and the rear wiper spec are both wrong.

I agree that the raised white letters will give your truck a nice look. I had briefly looked at installing rear wheel spacers until I spent a whole 5 minutes and learned enough in 5 minutes to keep me from ever doing it<LOL>.

I know a lot of guys like customising their cars/trucks and each to his/her own but for me personally, they are mostly just transportation. I did a couple of mods to to my car to add a 30-40 more HP but to me, it's a fun roadster to drive and it's been bulletproof so why mess with it? I see my truck the same way. I did replace the halogen projectors with LED's and LOVE the difference!

The new truck of course is worlds nicer than my old 03EB even though it's in very nice shape inside. It's still sitting in my driveway so I need to make a decision to get rid of it soon.

Post up the pics when you mount the new tires, I'd like to see how they look.

jeff

 

[Habbibie]

Damn Andy what a hell of an upgrade, and my favorite color too! congrats man.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Hey Andy,

You fly Gliders or Gassers? I learned to fly gas many years ago at a local club at Ft Meade MD. I flew for a few years then kind of lost interest. I still have my original "Eaglet" that has been re-kitted and re-assembled a half dozen times but it would still fly. The Eagle which I really should have bought as a trainer since it was so forgiving. I got pretty good with it but as you know, they are both very easy planes. I was off work after one of my ACL recon jobs on my knee and I assembled a beautiful Cannard imported from Italy in a kit. Beautiful plane. I fitted a .6 Super tiger but never did fly it....too pretty to wreck!

Good for you for keeping the sport alive though!
jeff

I started flying in 1972 when I was 14 I flew for about 5 years then took 20 years off. When we moved to Oklahoma a neighbor down the street found out I had airplanes and he got me started again. I fly gas, glow, and electric. My passion is scale and I have a Cessna 182 with a 95" wing span that I need to put together. I also have a 120" wing span Cessna 182 that is a kit that had been reluctant to start because I had no way to transport it to the field. Now I have the vehicle that can haul it. I also have a 1/3 scale Sopwith Pup (Scout) WWI biplane that has a 90" wing span and it stands about 40" high when it on it's wheels.

Does your rear wiper pivot and pull the blade off the window? My old Expedition did this but the new one does have the pivoting arm. It seems weird to me almost like it's the wrong part. I just replaced the wiper arm, blade and transmission for my old 05 back in January and that arm pivoted. I did the wiper arm upgrade.

I agree I mainly see my vehicles as transportation too. I did upgrade the wheels on the old Expedition to the 20" wheels because I thought it rode better with shorter stiffer sidewalls. There is nothing that I would change on my new Expedition (except the tires). I really like the silver wheels that came on mine.

I got the new tires put on yesterday and the takeoffs up on Craig's list. Here are some pictures.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Damn Andy what a hell of an upgrade, and my favorite color too! congrats man.

Thanks Habbibie! First new vehicle since December of 2008 and that was a lease that we turned back in in 2011. My old Expedition was 8 years old when we bought it. We kept it for 3-1/2 years and put over $8,000 into it over that time and put 28,000 miles on it. It was a great vehicle.

I really love my new Expedition. I've run it through the carwash twice so far - yesterday and today (it rained a little yesterday and a little fog today. White is going to be a pain the @ss to keep clean. I have a monthly carwash plan and I can run it through as many days or times in a row that I want.

 

[ExpeditionAndy]

Most of the road noise comes from the fender well liners. I recently put molded mud flaps on mine. From what I could see under my '17 Expedition, the sound deadener there is actually very good. It is 'furry' for lack of a better term, and does a good job on noise. Covering that up with another coating might render that original protection less effective.

Where did you get your molded mud flaps?

 

[gixer2000]

I'm jealous! Make sure you clean and lube the running board pivot points frequently so you'll have trouble free operation!