Ways to make the Expedition for user and camping friendly

[dankspeed]

Hey Everyone,

I've had my 97' Expedition for about three years now and at time have grown bored with it and at other times love it. My wife and I go camping pretty often and we take our son and he usually brings a friend and we also bring our dogs.

I should mention it's a 2wd with no third row. How easy or difficult is it to do a small lift on the suspension and also is it possible to add a third row w/ belts?

Also if you have any general suggestions for mods that make the expedition either more fun or more user friendly please leave them.

Thanks
Dan

 

[Thermo]

dankspeed, adding a 3rd row is going to be expensive. In short, you have to get the floor assembly from a truck that has a third row seat setup and have it welded into your truck. At a minimum you have to get someone to cut the wells out and then position them accordingly in your truck. You will probably find it cheaper to trade in your truck and get a truck with the 3rd row than to pay for all the modifications to make it work. Now, there are aftermarket companies that make bolt in seats, but you may find that it isn't quite what you have in mind. Also, they tend to be pretty solidly mounted, which will make camping with the truck a little more difficult.

As for lifting a 2wd Expy, it can be done. You get some lift spindles and coil spring spacers and you can get about 3" of lift for fairly cheap. Installing the pieces is pretty straight forward. Then you would be sitting at about the same height as a 4x4 Expy. Much more than that and you are looking at a lot of expense (about $2000 in parts, another $800 for install, and then getting the larger tires, another $1000).

As for camping, I have used mine for camping. I found it best when I would toss the kids in the tents, leave the dogs in the tent with the kids, and then the second tent would have all the gear. The wife and I would sleep inside the truck on an air mattress with the second row seats folded flat. A double mattress fits in the back really nicely. Just don't get one of the double tube mattresses as that tends to get really wobbly (TRUST ME!!!!!!).

 

[tonydiv]

A roof mounted tent will give you more room to sleep and free up storage room in the cargo area.

For example: Tepui Roof Top Tents - - Gran Sabana

 

[RollinKaos]

I have an 01 XLT 2wd and plan on using mine for the same thing. Lift wise I found 3.5" lift spindles and some spacers to get 5 " up front. Using a set of 4x4 rear coils and a spacer I hope to level out the back. Would like to clear 35" tires but have a feeling I will be running 33" tires. I plan on getting a safari roof rack made to go on top for the gear. Putting the kids and dogs in tents like mentioned and sleeping in the back with the seat down like mentioned before.