Explorer vs Expedition??

[Deleted member 348523]

What is this fascination with plywood? Not once in my life have I ever gone on vacation and folded the seats down, left the kids behind because I wanted to take sheets of plywood with me instead, lol.

My point was sheer size. When you have that much space, you can carry quite a bit more than what the Exploder can.

 

[Dale5403]

Good luck all. I can no longer stand the bullying from Peterk9 to update my profile, and his continued dribble on everything I post.
It is clear that all he does is idle dribble all over the forum.
I have requested that moderators remove all my information from this site.

Hope Peter can continue to help everyone on this forum keep their profile and signature up to date.

Anyone else that has had the same, please message the OTHER moderators if there are any, as I am simply tired of it.

Goodbye. You must have thin skin if you think that Perterk9 is bullying when he posts.

 

[jhu8]

Goodbye. You must have thin skin if you think that Perterk9 is bullying when he posts.

Agreed!

But back to the OP, I think the OP just needs to drive both and really evaluate if the extra size and extra cost makes it worth it. And actually how often that extra space will be utilized.

 

[J_C]

My point was sheer size. When you have that much space, you can carry quite a bit more than what the Exploder can.

It should be large enough to get the job done, with larger than that being a waste, and considerations about plywood being irrelevant if the job isn't carrying lumber.

I don't need anything larger to support travel for 2 adults and 2 children, but if you do then you should buy what you need.

 

[Gary Crist]

Have you ever thought of getting the smaller Ex for your "urban assault vehicle"
and renting the big one for the trips? Just a few hundred for week every once and a while.

 

[J_C]

Good luck all. I can no longer stand the bullying... to update my profile,

I know nothing of these events, but it would be nice if you listed the vehicles (and configuration) you have that are relevant to this 'site, and location can be relevant for various reasons.

Back to perception of vehicle size, when I was a kid, my grade school halls seemed huge. When I went back there as an adult, they seemed quite small. This kind of relative size issue could account for your thinking a suburban was huge as a child, while you probably would have felt similarly about a modern Explorer if it had been available at the time.

Anyway Gary mentioned one option which was renting a larger vehicle for travel, and another is a trailer. If 21" of extra space is that important, a pretty small trailer can provide (more than) that, and it too, could be rented if you don't want to store it.

 

[bcarlson]

When I had an Expedition I had first tried loading up the family in vehicles that used a car chassis (station wagon, mini-van, etc.). The big difference I found was that the Expedition rode and drove almost the same (but accelerated slower) whether it was loaded or unloaded. The smaller vehicles had much lighter suspension, and wallowed and got bouncy when loaded heavily. A light duty car chassis was not good at highway speeds or while bouncing into a campground, while the Expedition handled it with no problem.

I have also found that folks who think an Expedition is really big have usually not driven one. They are shorter than a mini-van, have very good visibility because of the larger mirrors, and the turning radius is surprisingly short. The only unavoidable downside is that they don’t get great gas mileage. Weight and a very boxy shape take their toll on gas mileage.

Bruce

 

[sandsprayer]

What is this fascination with plywood? Not once in my life have I ever gone on vacation and folded the seats down, left the kids behind because I wanted to take sheets of plywood with me instead, lol.

Thanks for the laugh J_C!

 

[Mikey*TX]

My question is, as the o/p has stated he has no intention of buying a RWD Explorer, why is did he not post his thread in the previous FWD gen section?

 

[Mikey*TX]

What is this fascination with plywood? Not once in my life have I ever gone on vacation and folded the seats down, left the kids behind because I wanted to take sheets of plywood with me instead, lol.

Different cargo has different requirements. If you just want the biggest thing possible then get an extended length panel van, motorhome, etc.

Plywood ? Brings to mind "Noah ! ............. How long can you tread water ? Ha Ha Ha Ha .................."

 

[peterk9]

My question is, as the o/p has stated he has no intention of buying a RWD Explorer, why is did he not post his thread in the previous FWD gen section?

Thanks for bringing that to my attention Mikey. The thread has been moved to the correct Forum now.

Peter

 

[aMiranda]

Just checked this, and the truth is somewhere in the middle. An S10 Blazer is 170", 28" shorter than a 5th gen Explorer at 198", and narrower. The suburban is 21" longer still at 219". Width is about the same, suburban 0.7" wider at 79.6".

Why would it matter what the cargo area is with the 3rd row up, if you don't have a 5th person that would sit in the 3rd row so no reason it would be up? I don't see the relevance of fitting a sheet of plywood in unless you plan on building a shed to stay in when you get to your destination.

 

[Odrapnew]

I've had my 14 Sport since March-2014. At that time, I had a (almost) 3 yr old and a newborn.
Kids are now 9 and 6.
Many weekend/week trips with snow gear, stroller and a black lab in the back and I never ran out of room.
The only time I ever really loaded the back was when we went camping. I had it packed to the top in the back behind the 2nd row (cushions and sleep mats were bulky)
I guess it really depends on how much stuff you bring.

One comment about the 2nd row. I have the bucket seats with the center console. That seems to provide a little space between the kids (in reality, it doesn't, but feels like it). Also, with a rear facing car seat, especially the convertible kind, it can get cramped and the front seats might need to be moved forward a bit.

More recently, the same weekend packing (not camping), minus the dog, can be done in my '16 VW Golf. No way I could do that with a newborn or youngin' with a stroller, but with just a few small suitcases and a small cooler, the smaller car works fine.

In the end, the buyer will need to determine if the extra space of the Expedition is needed/wanted.

 

[ExplorerRSM]

I have a family of 5 plus a doggy. I have a couple of teenagers and a pre teenager, oldest is 15, middle is 14 and the last one is 12. oldest is 6 ft tall. All 3 fit in the 2nd row though i must confess the one sitting in the middle wouldn't necessarily have the best experience in the world in a long trip because of the seat belt handle. i'm 6FT tall and i can seat in the 2nd row with enough space not to bang my knees against the front seat. My wife is the one driving the Explorer as i just recently traded in her 14 Dodge Durango for a 17 Explorer XLT.

2nd row seats in the Durango didn't have the issue i'm referring to with the seat belt and the middle seating. If anybody have/has had a Jeep Wrangler JK 4 doors, he/she will know exactly what i'm talking about though in the Explorer the experience is a little better and if you adjust your butt position the handle won't crush your back unless the person sitting in there had some extra lbs or had a big butt

I don't think you'll have any issues if you had small children with the Explorer, i welcome the gas savings as well. I take out my 14 RAM 1500 4 doors on long trips, offroad outdoors etc, so we have no space issues, the back seats in the RAM have a lot more space but the Explorer isn't bad at all, again i'm 6ft myself and i tested i have no issues sitting in the 2nd row or 3rd row though access to the 3rd row is not the more pleasing experience. 2nd row would be a little cramped with 3 adults for sure, 3rd row is not that bad cause the 2nd row passenger side can be move forward just enough to provide the needed knee space, i value that so Thanks Ford. I have no complaints. kids have no complaints. We're all into sports and outdoors life etc so lets just say the Explorer fit us just right. I wouldn't have the same cargo space i have in the RAM with the Explorer, but when we need to seat 7 the Explorer Wins.

I'd say if you need lots of room for Cargo and adult passengers the Expedition will be better. If you travel light and you have small children/teenagers , the Explorer can do the job without any issues + give you a nice saving in MPG. If you have the tow package you can add extra cargo space with a hitch cargo basket and keep your MPG in check. You can also add stuff in the roof (i don't like to put anything there to maximize MPG)