Why so few 1st gen Expeditions?

harwood39

Member
May 26, 2010
142
Fargo, ND
So my next vehicle is going to be a 2001 Expedition or 03 Expedition. And I can not find any installs on the first body style Expeditions. I find tons on the 2nd gens. Is there a reason for this? Does anyone have any install pics? I am going to have a blue Whelen 14 strobe Edge Ultra 9000 B-Link on the roof, HAWs, Fedsig Cuda TA, and a few other small window LEDs.
 

Fast LT1

Member
May 24, 2010
2,018
Sedgwick County, KS
Thats because the 1st gens were ugly and were crap! The second gens were better but the explorers were way better!
 

harwood39

Member
May 26, 2010
142
Fargo, ND
How can you say explorers are better, lol. They are too small in my opinion. And yes, the second gens are way nicer looking, and 3rd are just awesome. lol
 

Fast LT1

Member
May 24, 2010
2,018
Sedgwick County, KS
Well from a reliability standpoint, our explorers were way more rugged than the expeditions, they were always breaking!
 

harwood39

Member
May 26, 2010
142
Fargo, ND
Really. I guess I havent seen an expedition put through abuse. My 96 ranger that I am replacing has 218k on it. Only one tranny at 200k. The truck is just getting tired, paints pealing off in places, uses a little oil but not much, and has no rust. I guess the explorers are built with the basically same drive train.


I was also thinking about a sport trac, but like the 3rd row seat option of newer explorers and expeditions. I also like having a climate controlled area to keep gear in back.
 

harwood39

Member
May 26, 2010
142
Fargo, ND
In all honesty im just a ford guy....
 

Ben E.

Member
May 21, 2010
2,417
Iowa, USA
You probably don't see many installs on the 1st gen because they are now OLD! Nobody buys 10 year old vehicles anymore.
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
NJEMT said:
My local police dept has/had (havent seen it lately) a 1st gen. it had red lollypop lights in the grill and an all red advantedge on the roof and that was it.
That sounds like a cool setup... if you see it again try to get pics.
 

harwood39

Member
May 26, 2010
142
Fargo, ND
Pics of both would be great. I am getting a 2001 Expedition.
 

Litebar-Bob

Member
Apr 30, 2013
111
Eastern CT
I have a 2001 police edition Expedition. The 3R's Rust, Repair, Repaint seem to be the downfalls. If you want some photo's of the installs pm me.


2001 Expedition  CT Surplus.jpg
 

RyanZ71

Member
Jun 14, 2011
1,001
Denver, Colorado
harwood39 said:
So my next vehicle is going to be a 2001 Expedition or 03 Expedition. And I can not find any installs on the first body style Expeditions. I find tons on the 2nd gens. Is there a reason for this? Does anyone have any install pics? I am going to have a blue Whelen 14 strobe Edge Ultra 9000 B-Link on the roof, HAWs, Fedsig Cuda TA, and a few other small window LEDs.


1st Gen Expeditions and Excursions & 2nd/early 3rd Gen Exploders were great for family movers but for police/fire/heavy duty usage, they did not hold up very well at all. They were plagued with reliability issues. Ford finally started getting things right in the mid to late 2000 range and now they have great reviews.


Also keep in mind that many departments out there didn't consider utility vehicles such as 4WDs as part of their fleets until the past 10-15 years.
 

iwillits

Member
Apr 9, 2011
92
grant county, IN
As it comes to realiability of the explorers i can agree with realiability. My 96 AWD explorer has been my primary pov for three years now an has almost three hundred thousand miles. the only major work done if u wanna call it major was a cv axle an flushed all the fluids last year. it doesnt burn a bit of oil an would drive it down the interstate at 70mph anyday of the week.
 

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