I bought the truck in my sig this past Oct. She ride pretty rough, please don't lecture me about buying a truck and it should therefore ride like a truck. The suspension on this truck is tired to say the least. It's at 211,xxx mile at the moment and as spring is about upon us I think it is a good time to start looking at upgrade options.
I would like to at the least level the truck out. I would also like to look into full spring replacement (all four corners), as opposed to shackle lifts and add-a-leaf lifts, while also improving ride quality. Through reading I've seen reference to different spring codes people are replacing their current setups with and I've also seen aftermarket kits. What are the differences between the different spring codes, which aftermarket kits are people liking better than others, and would I be better served by getting different code springs and kinda putting my own setup together or looking at a kit.
I know that this is a very biased subject, can someone give me a good breakdown of the differences in some of these setups? For the most part I would like to maintain the durability and capacity handling of the truck, if not improving it, while upgrading the ride. The wife is recently pregnant and wasn't too happy after I drove her to her appointment yesterday...

 

no one has anything to say about this?

 

The only thing things that i have done to my suspension is to add a leaf in the front, bilsteins all around, front sway bar bushings and air bags in the rear. I have put numerous lifts on other vehicles. The only way that you are really going to smooth out the ride that is going to be noticeably different than stock is to change the spring paks front and rear and get a multi-spring pak. There are many lift manufactures as you probably know. The only one i could comment on is the one offered by BD suspension. A friend had the 4" lift kit and it rode pretty smooth. Just remember you have got one heavy motor up front and almost no weight in the rear, not exactly the right combo to get a smooth ride and be able to haul lots of weight. you might try checking your tire pressures, they could be too high which can really affect the ride.

 

ok, so I will try to restate what I previously said. I need to replace my suspension, springs and shocks. I have heard many good things about bilstein shocks, but what would you recommend for replacing springs and shocks. I want a balance of weight handling and ride quality....

 

What kind of ride are you looking for?

What springs do you have on it right now?

You'd probably like V codes up front and B codes out back. It's the most common springs Excursion owners upgrade to when they rip out the POS OEM springs Ford put on from the factory.

Stewart

 

I just did the same, I made my own 3'' lift. I used Pro Comp leveling kit with an extra add a leaf in the front, I did an add a leaf in the back with a 1'' block. Perfectly level rides great. I have air bags for towing. I did not want to stiffen up the rear springs and ruin ride quality in an empty truck situation, hence the airbags. the Pro Comp kit came with 4 shocks, but yeah Bistein is a great shock, cant go wrong.

 

Stewart, this truck is primarily an empty to lightly loaded daily driver right now, so I am looking for a ride that is comfortable and won't make the wife insist on taking her car. I think that anything will be an improvement from what is on the truck now, the suspension is very worn out. I really don't know what springs are on the truck and just about all the stickers and stamping are unreadable from corrosion and wear on other parts so I would assume it is the same with the springs. What are the differences between spring codes, is it weight capacity or what?

Night Crawler, I like the idea of combining springs and bags, at least in the back, so that I can handle the weight when I need to but the truck will ride better when I don't. The only hesitation I have with going the route of a kit is that many come with their own shocks and people here rave about the bilsteins...

 

I have Pro comp replacement 2.5 leaf springs, in front with 9000 shocks, rides great, I would recommend them, or skyjacker, donahue, pro comp, rubicon express, is going to sell out, i don't know if they have truck springs, if they do rubicon springs ride like a dream. Shocks bilstein, rancho, pro comp, get the one's you can adjust, and i would say change the back spring's if you think there wore, and sway bar bushing, you'll think it's a new truck.

 

ah yes I forgot to mention I wanted to do the sway bar bushings as well, thanks for adding that. I'm pretty sure the rear springs are in need of an upgrade, I put a bit of sand in the bed during the winter and the truck sat down just about level with the front...I can only imagine what a real load would have done!

 

years ago I had springs that broke, I took it to a heavy duty truck spring shop and told them to beaf it up! Has been perfect for over 8 years now.

 

I did a search on spring codes and there is a huge amount of information, especially regarding people with Xs putting SD springs on their SUVs. Can anyone breakdown the different spring codes for me, what does the difference in capacity and spring rate translate to in the ride of the vehicle, etc....

 

So I concluded that I have U code springs up front and A code Springs out back. If I were to change to V and B code springs how would I go about leveling out the truck? Would I have to block up the front end or get a spring pack leveling kit? I know you can get the X code springs that bring it pretty much to level but they ride super rough...
Also, I assume that springs fit pretty much 99-04 interchangeably?

 

I've got X code springs on the front and don't know what I have for sure on the back. I'm running new Rancho 9000's and Michelin D rated tires, nitrogen filled. The truck sits pretty level, as you can see in my pictures.
On a decent road the truck rides pretty nice. When you get on a rough road such as cement sections that whoop, for my taste, it beats you up.
That's my take on the situation.

 

Thanks Wayne, input appreciated

 

Your welcome!