ok, apparently looking at all of the post, putting a lift and tires is more difficult than I thought. I have an 03 Excursion 4X4. I would like to put a 7" lift and 37" tires. Prefferably 13.50s. I recently found out that I will not be able to use my factory 16" wheels to accomplish this. Need ideas for who's lift do I use. Which wheels and tires I should put on. Not familiar with all of this backspacing stuff. I do NOT want to use wheel spacers. Also, anyone one who has this lift tire combo. Please post a pic.

 

Would like to post a pic of the truck. How?

 

Sounds like what I have is what your looking for. I went with a 6" F250 lift from suspensionspecials.com. The 6" F250 kit gives you 8" on the Excursion. I have 18x9 Helo wheels +12 offset. The tires are Interco SS-M16's 37x13.50x18
Take a look at my gallery.Good Luck

 

The only 7" lift is made by superlift, I have heard bad things about them, springs breaking etc. I have an 8" BDS lift which is made in the USA and has a lifetime no BS warranty on all components. The thing about BDS is the price of the kit is higher than the non American made stuff. I got the kit with free shipping for $1,800.

As far as wheels go, if you get wheels like Lowboy suggested you can clear the fenders and the bumper with ease but you might get rubbing on the springs. If you get wheels with a high negative offset you may have to move the bumper. I had a set of 20" motometal rims with -25 offset running 37" mud grapplers and I had to move the bumper forward 2.5" to clear the tires.

The biggest tire you can put on a stock rim is 315/75R16, that is basically a 35" tire. The run fine and rub slightly at full lock... but they are not as good as wider tires with a high negative offset. The 315/75R16 feel a little squirly when you sit up that high.

Also if you are going to jack that thing up like that.... GET A REAR SWAY BAR!!!! That is if you don't already have one. BDS makes optional drop links for the rear sway bar if you have one from the factory (you probably don't) If you get a big lift and a Hellwig rear sway bar, you will need to get a shop to fab some longer stronger drop links to match your lift.

PS, the picture in my signature is of the truck with the 37" Mud Grapplers on there, you can also see that with the high offset rims they stick out past the fenders. You will have to consider if that is legal where you are... or get fender flares. It is NOT legal where I live.

Here are some more pics

 

Lowboy, I was told the f250 lifts would not fit the excursion in the rear? Is that not true? Also, why does it give you 8"?
Computer cowboy,
I don't mind cutting the bumper a little, seen it done before and looks good. Thought about going with 7" lift and true 35s but don't think it will look right

 

I have the F250 kit and it fit will no problems. I paid $1200 shipped to my door for an all spring lift with dual steering stabilizer and dual front shocks.
Like I said earlier I bought it from suspensionspecials.com. The kit was comprised of Pro Comp,Superlift and Rough Country components.
Like Computer Cowboy said before high offset wheels will stick out alot plus wear out front end parts quickly.
My wheels dont stick out and only rub slightly on full lock.


Nick

 

You were given a little bad info, the only difference in design of the rear suspension setup between Super Duties and EX's is the top shock mount, trucks use a single bolt and EX's use a two bolt "T" bar design. Otherwise all F series suspension parts will swap onto an EX, My EX has F-250 springs and shocks on it, I just fabbed up a new top mount for the rear shocks to make em work. As far as the 6" lift giving an EX 8" of lift, it's all due to the fact that the EX got 2" shorter/softer springs from the factory as compared to their F-250 cousins. So a lift designed to move the F-250 up by 6" will move an EX up by 8".

 

Is that all 6" lifts from all manufacturers

 

If the lift in question is made for an F-250 then yes, add 2" for an EX. Just remember all these lifts are not totally exact, but a 4" F-250 lift should get you about 6" or so on an EX. Also remember that the amount of your spring sag/fatigue will affect the end product too, If your springs are very tired (sitting on the bumpstops) then you will see even more lift from a given lift.

 

Will the 6" level the truck out correctly? Or is it 6 in the front and 8 in the back?

 

Is that green truck in your pic the 6" lift with 37s? I tried to view your gallery and it said you have not created one.

 

Here are some pics of my rig

This is the first pic after I finished the install..notice it sags in the back..I need to add more block in the rear to level out.. My thoughts of why it sags it because this kit is for the truck which doesnt have as much weight in the rear of the SUV. Add 2" additonal of block at the time of install and you will be fine






I added more block. I added more than I needed to level because I will be adding an Add a leaf to the front soon. This will sllow me to clear 40's





A common site for all X owners

 

The BDS kit comes out level with the factory block. Most other kits seem to have some rear squat, especially SuperLift.

Mine is perfect... but, the BDS kit cost $1,800 with base shocks, Lowboy got Dual Front Shocks and a Dual Steering Stabilizer for $1,200.... If you get all of that from BDS it gets closer to $3K real quick. My kit was expensive, but I am extremely happy with the quality of the components and the fact that it is American made with a lifetime warranty. Oh yea, and I love the fact that there is no squat.

 

Low boy that truck looks awesome. Is the pic shown with 37s? If so, I think I will get what you have.
I would like to get the bds but this truck will never go off road. If I were offroading I would get the bds.
Now, what about wheels and tires. Thinking of going with 18s and 37s

 

Good that you are NOT offroading if you are going to go with a tall block to level it. The taller the block the more likely you are to rip the axle off the U-bolts when it wraps up.

18" wheels and tires are a pretty good price point, that is compared to 20" wheels. There are a lot of options to choose from. Since you don't want off road capabilities you should be able to save money there also, M/T tires are expensive. Keep in mind that you may be able to find tires with much better road manners in a larger sized rim, 20" or 22". RACERX has some 37" tires on maybe 24" rims. The less sidewall you have the better on road performance you are going to get.

Consider adjustable shocks, there are lots of people talking about them around here. I love my kit, but the shocks are stiff, the ride is rough and bouncy. I am looking at getting a RAS kit to hopefully take some of the bounce out of it. Partly it is because I run my tires pretty hard, 60psi.

Another thing to keep in mind is you will want to gear up for bigger tires. With 37" tires you'll want 4.88 or maybe even 5.13 gears. Upgraded rotors, pad and perhaps even calipers are a good investment also. When I run those Nittos the truck's stopping power is SERIOUSLY diminished.

There is more to pick than just wheels, tires and lift. Gears and brakes are very important!!!!! If you put huge wheels on it will not be fun to drive without gears and brakes. That is why I dropped back to the 315s, the 37" tires where terrible with my 3.73 gears and stock breaks. They were fun off road in 4LOW, but that is maybe 10% of my driving at best.

When I get gears and breaks I'm going up to 38" or maybe even 40" tires. For now I have other things to deal with, like the dreaded exhaust stud breakage issue.