2001 Ford Excursion “Big Black”

The 2000 model year introduced the Ford Excursion, a full-size SUV built on the Super Duty pickup chassis and sharing its frame, suspension, and engines with the three-quarter-ton F-250 and one-ton F-350 trucks. Ford built the Excursion at Kentucky Truck Assembly in Louisville for the 2000 through 2005 model years as a single generation. The 2000-2005 Ford Excursion measured 226.7 inches long on a 137.1-inch wheelbase, the largest and longest-wheelbase SUV Ford ever produced, with a gasoline curb weight near 7,200 pounds and a diesel curb weight near 7,700 pounds. The Excursion offered the 5.4L Triton V8 (255 horsepower) as the standard gasoline engine and the 6.8L Triton V10 (310 horsepower) as the gasoline upgrade. The diesel option was the 7.3L Power Stroke turbo-diesel V8 (235 horsepower at launch, up to 250 horsepower) from 2000 through 2003, replaced partway through the 2003 model year by the 6.0L Power Stroke turbo-diesel V8 (325 horsepower), which the Excursion used through 2005. Ford fitted a steel under-bumper crash bar called the BlockerBeam to lower the front structure toward passenger-car bumper height. Ford ended Excursion production after 2005 as fuel prices rose and demand for the largest SUVs fell.