I’m totally in awe of those builds that just happen. Guy buys truck. Guy disassembles truck. Guy throws a ton of hardware at it. Super truck done.
This is not going to be that build.
Continue reading “The world’s slowest build”Category: Excursion
Rules for modifying my vehicle.
Once I put on the 16 inch wheels, I was bombarded with people telling me that I was wrong to take off the 20’s.
Better acceleration.
Better fuel economy.
According to many of my coworkers, these things should be sacrificed on the altar of lifted trucks.
Upfitter panel, or don’t get ahead of yourself
Conversely, when you see a deal, grab it!
I’m a child of the eighties and as such, nothing looks more bad-ass to me than A LOT of cool switches. (Have you ever seen the space shuttle cockpit?)
At the same time, nothing looks worse than a mish-mash of unaligned switches of different styles.
Luckily, the lazy engineers in Dearborn came to my rescue.
Continue reading “Upfitter panel, or don’t get ahead of yourself”Tow monster (part one (of many, I’m sure))
First time towing with the Excursion.
Had to rent a boom lift in order to take down a tree between the house and the garage.
Honestly, I didn’t even know it was there.
Suspension Thoughts
The factory suspension on the Excursion was a mess the day it rolled off the factory floor.
Now that the factory sized wheels and tires are installed, the four inch “lift” on Fessick looks as bad as it drives.
And it’s not just because of the simple lift kit. The lift consists of just blocks on the rear axle and drop shackles on the front. Nothing was done to correct the defects in the factory suspension.
New Shoes!
I never liked the black wheels that were on Fessick when I purchased him. Also with four 35″ wheels, the size of the spare tire was so different (31.5″) that I really didn’t have a spare.
I was finally able to assemble all the pieces needed to change the wheels and tires last month. In addition to improving the looks of Fessick, the Wander Wagon, my cabin got quieter and my mileage and acceleration improved.
Block Heater Plug
Had a bit of a shocking experience the other morning before work. Nighttime lows have been in the low 20’s, so I had my block heater plugged in.
Started my day with 110 volts of alternating current going through my hand! Continue reading “Block Heater Plug”
Barn door cup holders
Add cup holders to the rear hatch. Perfect for tailgating.
I wish I could take credit for this, but I saw a photo online. These cup holders make Fezzick an even better place to spend time. I’ve installed one of these on each of the barn door panels. The simple version is, “just drop a boat cup holder into the top of the barn door panel.
New Peepers
When I went to look at Fezzick, I thought the headlamps looked great.
Blacked out. LEDs.
Pretty snazzy for a truck almost old enough to drink.
Unfortunately, as headlamps, they were absolute garbage.
Even diesels need electrons
Once I cleaned up all four terminals and reconnected the batteries, my baby roared to life.
No more transmission faults.
No more blinking THEFT light while driving to work.
All was good, for about two weeks.
Took the family camping in late September. When it was time to pack up on Sunday, I had no problems staring the Excursion up at the parking lot & driving to our site. After I finished loading up though, was a different story.
Crank, but no start.
Modern Anachronist 