Well, I have been saving my money for a while and finally pulled the trigger on some different parts a couple of months ago. After getting everything together, the work started last weekend. The list of things that are going on the truck is as follows -

Firestone R4 Tech rear suspension
Icon 2.5" coil springs and Bilstein 5100s for the front suspension
BD Adjustable Track Bar
Viair on board air system (I have heard that the Firestone system that comes with the R4 kit is junk)
MBRP 4" Exhaust
B&W Turnover Ball hitch
NFab nerf bars
TGC dual steering stabilizers
Second set of air horns
Line X bedliner

So far, I've got the front/rear suspension done, along with the exhaust, on board air, and nerf bars installed. I'm hoping to wrap up the rest of it this coming weekend.

I had to pull the bed off to remove the old gooseneck hitch, which kind of spurred all of this into motion... I figured that it would be easier to do the bulk of this work without the bed, and I got a little trigger happy and ordered it all at once. Getting the bed off was pretty easy, except for one stubborn bolt that had to be cut. While the bed is off, I plan on doing the harpoon mod to the fuel tank.

Anyhow, on to the pictures -

Bed removed (you can see the stock exhaust, old hitch, and my old helper air bags) -







I missed a few pictures, but I pressure washed the frame and sprayed it with rubberized undercoating. I removed all of the old accessories as well. Here, you can see the stock springs gone, and the R4 springs and brackets in place.





The brackets are well designed and fit really well. The instructions on how to install them, however, left a LOT to be desired.



Springs bolted down, J Spring in place, air bags and height control valve installed -





Passenger side airbag and shock -



Air lines run and hooked up -







Viair compressor -



System complete!



I don't have a picture yet, but I have a gauge in the cab that shows tank pressure, and the pressure in the driver's side air bag (I figured that both bags would have roughly the same pressure, so no reason to see both). I mainly want to see how the pressure changes with different loads, which is why I put a gauge on the bag.

On to the front -

Icon springs and shocks installed -







Overall pictures (you can see the MBRP exhaust and nerf bars) -







I can't wait to get the bed back on and see how it all looks. The rear is sitting 2" higher than it was stock (sits as high as a stock F350 now) and the front is 2.5" higher.

I still have quite a bit to do... there is a small leak on the tank side that I have to track down and I am going to clean up all of the wiring that I have installed (wrapping it in wire loom). The hitch has to be installed, but I can't tighten that all down yet because I have to line it up with the hole in the bed. Harpoon mod still has to be done, as well as the alignment cams and adjustable track bar. Hopefully I can knock that all out this weekend. I haven't even taken it for a test drive yet because I ran out of time, and it's been raining the last two days.

I'll take some more pictures and post up when I make more progress. Tires will be coming in the next couple of months to complete the package!

 

Looks good!! Thanks for the pictures.

 

Looking good! Hopefully it will dry up by the weekend.

 

Saturday update...

I finished cleaning up some of the wiring yesterday and also installed the on board air quick connect. Which is mounted right behind the bumper. I need to find some kind of cover for it to keep it as clean as possible.





Here is the gauge that I have in the cab to keep an eye on things -



The black needle is tank pressure, and the orange is the driver's side bag, which should be pretty close to the same as the passenger side bag.

Next, I did the harpoon mod. It was pretty easy with the bed off; I actually bought the Ford tool to remove the large nut on the tank off eBay for $12. Worth every penny. I went and filled up after that to make sure that there were no leaks. Filled it up almost to the top (pump stopped at $99), but it was full enough to slosh around and check for leaks and none were found.

Then I got to work installing the B&W. I just installed everything hand tight because I needed it to be able to move slightly to line up with the hole that I cut in the bed.







After tidying up a bit more, and cutting the hole in the bed, it was time to put the bed back on.





I got the bed tightened down and the lights hooked back up, and then it got dark (and cold!!). I'm hoping tomorrow to get the hitch torqued down and then the rear suspension dialed in (it needs to be lowered a bit). Then I can finally do some road testing and see how it rides. If all goes well, I'll have enough time to install the track bar and alignment cams back in as well, and then I'll be all done!

 

Nice work!

 

Subscribing. Let us know how she drives.

 

Got the hitch torqued down, and all of the rear end buttoned up. I lowered the suspension a bit and have it where I want (I think). I ran some errands in it on Sunday and it drove really well. You can still tell that it's a big truck, but a lot of the harshness is gone. You really feel the bumps in the front end more now than before. I'm really looking forward to putting a load on it and seeing how she handles.

I didn't get around to installing the track bar or alignment cams; I realized that I don't have tools near big enough for the track bar. I may have to farm that out and just have it done.

Here are a couple of pictures of how she sits now -





Hopefully the new tires will be coming in the next two months or so. I'll update this post after a couple of highway trips and let you guys know how I like the system.

 

Update -

I had to pull the bed off again this weekend because my fuel tank was leaking a bit from an improper seal when I did the harpoon mod last month. While the bed was off, I figured it would be a good time to keep tinkering with the suspension, so I added in some accumulator tanks to help soften the spring rate on the air bags. I used 1/2ga tanks because I wasn't sure if anything bigger would fit. Now I wish I'd have gone with 1ga, and may switch them out in the future. I mounted them up to a cross member and then ran 1/2" line between them and the bags (distance was ~12").





This pretty much finalizes the rear suspension. After putting the truck all back together and going for a test drive, I am very pleased with the results. I hooked my travel trailer up to it to see how it would handle the weight (~1300lbs tongue weight) and the system leveled itself right out after hooking up. I didn't tow it anywhere, but will hopefully do that in the next couple of weeks.

Next I moved on to the front end. I removed the old track bar and put a new adjustable BD track bar in its place.



I was not able to get the original alignment cams out. I was working at the passenger side one for a while and ended up breaking part of the ear off and decided to quit while there was still some hope of salvaging it. I will be getting an alignment before I get my new tires, so hopefully the alignment shop can get the old cam out without too much trouble.

To finish it all up, I installed a second set of air horns, along with a second 3ga tank (for a total of 6ga air capacity).

Driver side -



Passenger side -



Other than a few small odds and ends, this pretty much wraps up the project. Overall, I'm pleased with the suspension and the fit and finish of all the parts that I used. Most of the work went smoothly without too many bumps in the road, which is always nice. Hopefully I can get the bed cleaned up in the next few weeks and get the new LineX bedliner put in. The tires will come next and will completely finish this up!

 

What's the benefit of an adjustable track bar over just replacing worn out bushings?

 

My front axle shifted toward the driver's side about an inch because of the lift. The adjustable track bar allows it to be centered again.

 

So if i were to lift my excursion one day i would need the adjustable track bar to compensate for shift and leave it stock just replace bushings, correct? gig em

 

This part of your statement is correct.

Not sure what this part means though...

 

i meant if i were not going to do a lift. I looked at my track bar bushings a few days ago and they are cracking

 

Correct. if you're not lifting, all you need to do is replace the bushing.

 

i plan on eventually doing the upgraded springs only which is a natural 2" lift, from what i am reading i would need the adj track bar for that. Your project looks good btw. nice work