FZJ80 vs 7.3 Excursion (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Get a Sienna for kid hauling duties and keep the 80. I have 4 kids and we couldn't live without a minivan.

What's the price on the Excursion? I was looking at them as well last year and settled on a GMT800 Suburban 2500 for towing with the whole family. The Suburbans (long story) I bought, one 8.1, one 6.0 were both half what a comparable 7.3 or 6.0 PS Excursions were going for.
 
We actually have been using my Mother-in-law's Sequoia for the last two years while she lived with us. It worked great and we loved having Toyota reliability. Unfortunately, we have pretty much outgrown the sequoia as well. We have done quite a few road trips recently where we've been packed in like Sardine's and had to consolidate luggage. We are hoping to get away from that and allow us to spread out and take what we need. Still just not sure if it's worth going to the Blue oval. I'm afraid the little things will slowly make me regret my decision. The engine may run forever, but I would like the rest of the vehicle to do the same.
Land Cruisers aren’t immune to “little things” falling apart either. No car is as it ages, I don’t care who makes it.

Do you really need a heavy duty diesel though? Keep in mind they don’t like short trips.
 
Unsolicited input, but 2nd vote for the Sienna. Push button doors, the kids hop in/out on their own during school pickup/dropoff and I dont have to get out of the car, grandma/grandpa can get in/out easy too. Gobbles up 4x8 sheet goods when needed. It just works. I had a handful of guys with me in it a few months ago and I cracked a smile when i heard "damn dude, these captains chairs are awesome". Yes my friends, yes they are.

I still rock the 80 for fun, but the minivan makes the day-to-day grind of life a little easier for sure
 
@JW21 sure you're not thinking of the 6.4? If not what's the major issues people have that causes them to swap to the 5.9 over rebuilding a 7.3?

I haven't seen a whole lot of 7.3 to 5.9 swaps unless they are going for big horsepower since the HEUI injection is the massive limiting factor there.
 
Land Cruisers aren’t immune to “little things” falling apart either. No car is as it ages, I don’t care who makes it.

Do you really need a heavy duty diesel though? Keep in mind they don’t like short trips.
the "need" argument is kind of ridiculous. You don't *need* a land cruiser lol. You need food, water, and shelter.... literally everything else is a want, and that's perfectly fine. I have had more little things go wrong in my old 100 and 80, than in my 7.3L... there is also so much less to that vintage ford vehicle... less to go wrong.

I DD'd a 7.3 for many years and it's still chugging along happy as ever. If you live somewhere COLD it would suck, but otherwise it's fine.
 
@JW21 sure you're not thinking of the 6.4? If not what's the major issues people have that causes them to swap to the 5.9 over rebuilding a 7.3?

I haven't seen a whole lot of 7.3 to 5.9 swaps unless they are going for big horsepower since the HEUI injection is the massive limiting factor there.

I'm more familiar with Superduty's and Dodge Cummins trucks than I am with Landcruisers. I believe a lot of 7.3's are replaced with 12 valves when the 7.3 becomes unreliable or has a major failure. While some do a Cummins swap for performance, I think most people do it for reliability and economy.

I have been stranded by every generation of the 2010 and older Ford/Navistar diesels. I have put way more miles on Cummins powered Dodges/Fords and have never, ever been stranded by a Cummins. Sure, I've had things break and go wrong, but the Cummins got me home, even down a couple cylinders, and was back working the next day for a couple hundred bucks in parts.

They all need maintenance and repairs at some point, but I find 12 valves to be the least troublesome, most reliable engine ever made. One friend has a 12 valve Dodge that is just about to crack one million miles. He tows his excavator everyday. That truck is always over 20K gross and it keeps right up with the new pickups just fine. It spends a lot less time in the dealership though.
 
For your use, Excursion is a better match than an 80 by far. However, I'd say the excursion is some pretty serious overkill for general family duties unless you plan to tow. Suburban would be more practical than the excursion, IMO. Same general shape and size, but medium duty build, 20mpg hwy on regular cheap gas (with a 5.3)

I know your ego may suffer, but minivan is the correct answer. Or sacrifice your least favorite child :hillbilly:
 
Last edited:
I ran the whole getting rid of a kid or two past the wife. She wasn’t thrilled but when I told her it was that or sell the Tundra she started looking for the closest fire station. 😂

We ended up getting an excursion but it’s nots the 7.3. I found an original owner 7.3 with only 90k miles on it and he was asking $40k for it. Hard pill to swallow for a 22 year old truck. Although I’ve see Others going for much higher in worse shape so it wasn’t the worst deal I’ve seen. As many of you said the 7.3 was overkill for what our needs were. We decided to sell the tundra and buy the excursion in its place. BUT, About an hour before I wired the money to the guy I found another X nearby for only $5k. Higher miles and it’s the V10 but I figured I can always pay to repair or maintain the Triton motor. 35k will repair quite a few things or provide a decent amount of fuel. (We’ll see just how much fuel the way things are going). Overall for under $5k we got a limited X with great service history. And in a few years if we decide we love the X maybe I can find a 7.3 in good shape and we can transfer to that. Overall we are all happy with the purchase. Kids love the extra space and my wife loves feeling invincible like she does in the 80. And we keep the Tundra and the 80.
Although when it comes time to fill the 44 gallon tank I may regret everything and have to sell the house. 😂
 
Last edited:
I say go for it, sounds like you can use the space. I want one as an overland rig just for myself. Take out all the back seats and build a bed in the back, living room, kitchen etc. Not sure of 7.3 issues other than block damage from cavitation if the cooling system hasn't been maintained. Probably the reason folks are going to the 5.9 Cummins. Anyway, have fun with your decision.
 
I miss my 7.3 Excursion daily. I loved that truck. It was a great tow rig for my crawler and perfect for my family of 5 and 2 dogs. I could drive from Denver to Houston(south side) and stop once for fuel! It’s a road trip king!
If you don’t plan to tow, and only use it to haul kids it’s overkill.
2BB748C4-BA07-4CDA-81E2-46AB14E8BD72.jpeg
 
We had Excursions in our university fleet 20 years ago. Taking students on field trips in them was fantastic and I was sad when the fleet replaced them.

The biggest problems we had with them were the front brakes. The front discs were very prone to warping and wore out fast.
 
We had Excursions in our university fleet 20 years ago. Taking students on field trips in them was fantastic and I was sad when the fleet replaced them.

The biggest problems we had with them were the front brakes. The front discs were very prone to warping and wore out fast.

I don't ever recall that being a problem with the Superduty's. The 2nd gen dodges were terrible for it. I do remember that. Seemed to me like the Fords had pretty good brakes.

My DD Superduty is a 2003 which has the small 4 wheel discs (05+ got the big brakes). I have panic stopped almost 30K lbs gross (15k truck/15k trailer) without trailer brakes in an impressively short distance with that truck and the brakes have never had a problem. I would say the brakes are all around great.

Now unit bearings... Don't get me started on those stupid things. Best advice I can give on unit bearings is buy the next up from the cheapest ones and pump them 1/2 full of good synthetic wheel bearing grease through the ABS sensor hole before you install them.
 
We have 5 and looked at a bunch of Excursions as a TT tow vehicle few years ago. Didn't end up with a TT so opted for a Sprinter instead. By the time we stopped looking, I had swapped to looking at the V10 trucks, they were much cheaper, easier for me to maintain, and didn't rattle your teeth out. Anyway you slice it, these are old vehicles, and the only reason I was looking at them instead of a newer Suburban or a Navigator was the towing capacity. If you aren't towing, the other full size options are going to much more comfy at the same price point.

We looked at a 4x4 7.3 with 40k mi and it was $35k, and that was 4 years ago. If it is a 4x4 7.3 with under 100k, those prices are through the roof similar to our LCs, maybe you found a great deal, but if a fair mkt deal, I'd consider one of the other trucks.
 
IMG_5935.jpeg


I have both an 7.3L Ex and an 80 and drive both regularly. Ive personally owned 10 LCs, and bought and sold 100s of LCs in my previous profession as a dealer. I love LCs just as much as anyone, but I can honestly say the Ex has been the most reliable, toughest, capable, useful vehicle Ive ever owned. Ive had it for 11 years and put about 160k on it, it now has 260k on it and its still great. Its really unbelievable how few repairs Ive had to do to it. I have a couple door lock actuators that have been out for a while, and the glove box door latch has broken twice. One of the injectors finally slipped an O ring and I replaced all of them, (but could have just replaced the o ring and put them back in.) I went through two alternators before I learned the plug is faulty and should be replaced. Its finally got a glow plug going out, but I haven't replaced it since I dont need them. The power windows are like upside down guillotines! I paid $17k for it and its still worth that, after putting 160k miles on it. Ive recently thought about selling it since I dont tow much anymore, and since diesel is ridiculously expensive, (and mostly because it takes up space in my driveway in front of the b-ball goal that I want my kids to play with more). But I dont know if I can bring myself to do it. I just can't say enough good things about it.
 
I have owned (3) 40s, (2) 60s, (4) 80s, (1) 7.3 Excursion and (2) Siennas (well , my wife had the minivans). I still have the last 80 I bought (the others were sold for various reasons, not related to usability). I do not have the Ford or minivans. I also have four children. The 80 hauled them all, but not as efficiently as the minivans, that's what they were designed for. The Sequoia is a turd. I had one of those too. Never had a Tundra; I had a Ford F250 Super Duty, so I didn't need an inferior copy. I only sold it when I bought an 18' tandem axle trailer. My LX570 pulls that.

I won't bore you with why I bought and sold what I did, just read what I have and sold and draw your own conclusions.
 
I have owned (3) 40s, (2) 60s, (4) 80s, (1) 7.3 Excursion and (2) Siennas (well , my wife had the minivans). I still have the last 80 I bought (the others were sold for various reasons, not related to usability). I do not have the Ford or minivans. I also have four children. The 80 hauled them all, but not as efficiently as the minivans, that's what they were designed for. The Sequoia is a turd. I had one of those too. Never had a Tundra; I had a Ford F250 Super Duty, so I didn't need an inferior copy. I only sold it when I bought an 18' tandem axle trailer. My LX570 pulls that.

I won't bore you with why I bought and sold what I did, just read what I have and sold and draw your own conclusions.
What was wrong with the sequoia? I’ve only heard good things about those.
 
There's a list, where should I start? The transmission was crap, literally. The entire driveline was in the shop more than it was on the road. I refused to work on it. It got so bad, the dealer told me to sell it, and he sold it to me.

I was told not to buy it when I bought it, by a transmission engineer I worked with, when I used to design and build off road axles. He replaced his with a Honda Odyssey, so I chalked his advice up to hate and, with my stellar (literally) Toyota experience, I bought one anyway. Everything he told me about the Sequoia was true. That thing belonged on a bombing range.

Don't ever drive one with the rear window down; the body profile sucks exhaust into the cabin.

The entire electrical system need constant repair. The windows failed routinely. The computers couldn't remember what to do from one day to the next.

Did I mention the driveline breaks your back when you stop? And this thing was supposedly made with the Tundra parts.

This may have been the worst car or truck I ever bought. I'm not sure. I have to think about it, but offhand, I can't remember a worse one.
 
Is the transmission not the same as the one used in the Tundra and 200? Or if a 1st gen sequoia, the same transmission as a GX 4runner or 100? Never hear a peep about these transmissions and I've owned (currently own) a couple vehicles with them. Have a buddy who has run his landscaping business (20' enclosed trailer daily) our of a Tundra for the last 12 years.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom