Expanding on this thread, I'm at a point where I need to invest some money to maximize the off-road capability of my 2019 Expedition Max (Gen 4). The goal of doing this would be
overlanding. This begs two primary questions:
- What are the best modifications to maximize off-road capability?
- After spending the money, what are the upper limits of the Expedition's off-road capability, i.e. what can you do and what can't you do with a fully modified Gen 4 Expedition?
The overarching reason for this post is to determine if doing everything in #1 is worth the money to get the performance listed in #2.
Why? Because the large vehicle will carry a lot of equipment with a reasonable level of comfort, and it can do so with great gas mileage (and power) compared to a lot of other offerings. Let's face it, this thing is almost like a van when the seats are folded down. One can sleep inside the vehicle, add a rooftop tent or pull a trailer with ease. And the vehicle is fast - having the same/similar motor to the Raptor. The vehicles also have a pretty good set of electronic controls for off road that help augment capability. Let's remember, most of the miles one would travel while overlanding in America are highway miles, until arriving at your series of trails or camps. Comfort getting there is pretty important.
Why not? Aluminum body means lots of twisting (and potential fatigue). Length is working against you for anything off road (in terms of breakover angle and being able to maneuver). It is very low to the ground for a 4x4. The suspension setup limits the amount of lift one can do before hurting the CVs. Fitting large tires (to solve the clearance issue) may or may not become a bit complicated (or a very bad idea).
Roadmap:
- Spend the money and know the limits / benefits of the Expedition. Part of this thread would be to understand where could I go and where couldn't I go in something that was tweaked to the max.
- Abort mission and get something like a Land Cruiser or Lexus GX460 that certainly can be modified to go almost anywhere. There is real overlanding support for other vehicles that gain maneuverability and aftermarket support at the cost of size and probably gas mileage.
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With that all said, let's talk about what I've seen in this thread and others that can be done to the Gen 4 Expedition, and what that might or might not get us in terms of capability.
Lifts There are really 3 options here.
- Spacer type lift (Ready Lift) ~2" to 3" of lift
- Shock only lift (Bilstein, Eibach) ~ 1.5" to 2" of lift
- Coilovers and control arms (Icon, King) ~ 2" to 2.5" of lift??
Wheels/Tires
- 33" to 34" - can easily put bigger tires on the factory rims (18" or 20"), e.g. 275/70/18, 285/70/18, etc.
- 34" - Raptor wheels and tires have been popular with some members, e.g. 315/70/17
- 35" - custom wheels/tires
I've seen all kinds of opinions about this and don't really have a clear answer on, for example, just how well the Raptor wheels with 34" tires would actually perform off-road.
Bumpers/Body
- Bumpers/Skids - We can replace the front bumper with something like that offered by LGE-CTS's Baja Forged tubular bumper with skid plate; or we can just trim/remove the front air dam. They used to offer a rear bumper.
- Flares - Others have added Raptor fender flairs (which look great but seem to be a real hassle to fit).
- There do not appear to be a lot of aftermarket bumper options to mount winches or to mount equipment.
- Sliders are equally not seemingly available, although I recall a thread somewhere they were mentioned.
Load capacity/racks
There are roofrack threads where the load capacity of 165 lbs to 200 lbs has been referenced. A rooftop tent weights around 200 lbs, and an awning weighs around 70 lbs. The best options I've found so far are to
replace the factory rack and:
- Drill Yakima landing pad mounts and install 4 HD cross bars
- Install a Front Runner platform (rated around 700 lbs, which is more than the SUV body itself would claim to handle).
Where do I want to go and where can I go?
Let's start with a basic and popular example, something like the Utah Traverse. That's a classic route with some river crossings and a good 60 or so miles of fairly rough roads. What does it take to allow a vehicle like a Gen 4 Expedition Max with a 300 pound tent/awning setup mounted and gear inside to go on that trail? Or is the answer that we would simply destroy it? Lack of recovery gear seems to be a problem when going on a trip like this with a vehicle that's already being pushed.
Summary
Assuming I spent the money for something like King coilovers or the Icon suspension, Raptor wheels and tires, a new bumper and put a large rack on the top where could I go and not go? We've seen a few Youtube guys driving around, but the primary one going places in the Southwest has already said on his videos he wants 35s (but he says he needs a body lift, which is contrary to other threads on this site).
@Fozzy has said he
can go over a 1 foot ledge with his lifted Expedition. This quantified description is very very useful.
@Fozzy do you think you could to the Utah Traverse in your Expedition?
Long post, but trying to bring together a lot of tire, wheel, lift and other threads into a common area. This thing is called the Expedition, but I'm starting to think my money would be better invested into a Land Cruiser for going on Expeditions.
