Hello There I had a few questions about toeing with the Excursion also I have one issue while towing I wanted to ask about.

The rig:
2001 Excursion V10 towng 8,800 LBS of boat and trailer with Equal-i-zer WD hitch.

History:
Bought the truck in Novemember with 145K on the odometer for a Home Depot/boat pulling truck. Not a daily driver but will take it in the office every two weeks or so and down to HD on the weekends. Now that boat season is getting going it will be used about 3 times a month to pull the boat. Some times 150 miles each way to the coast and other times 20 miles each way to the local lake.

Maintenance:
Truck has new tires, I replaced all of the plugs and put in all new coil packs. I also replaced the thermostat with a 170. I have also installed an after market temp gauge in the intake manifold (drilled and tapped for new sensor). The fluid in the rear end has been replaced.

Question 1: When towing the boat the truck will stay around 190. Any way to get this thing to run a bit cooler or am I being too picky? I use the tow/haul mode and try to keep it 55-65

Question 2: The truck feels a bit squirrely on the road. Is there anything that can be done? The ball joints and what not have been replaced. Is this just they way this generation Ford feels?

Issue 1: When towing or the truck is under load I get a really bad rattling noise noise under the hood. I now its hard to say what it may be but I don;t know if there are any known issues.


I am open to any general advice to better towing with this thing or any information about known mods that work well. Also if anyone can share information with me about known issues I may not be aware of.

Thanks,
-AG

 

What is your tongue weight on the trailer?

 

Welcome to FTE. We love pics, so post some up.

1) 190 is normal temp. There isn't a user selectable tow-haul mode, maybe you are referring to locking out OD? If so, don't lock it out unless it's hunting for gears when towing. Perfectly fine to tow in OD and it will run cooler.

2) Is it 4WD? If so, there are some issues with wandering which is an all day read. (Search wandering here) Quick easy fix may be air pressure. Changes the handling quite a bit. Too much, too little can cause that squirelly feeling.

As to the noise, first thing I would think of is a heat shield on the exhaust. Hard to tell without hearing it.

 

Thanks guys. The tongue weight is about 820LBS. As for what it is with the WD hitch, no idea I do know that per the setup directions the suspension level is where it should be.

As for 190 I figured that would be normal, it rides around 160-170 when not towing which is why I was wondering. I was using the OD lockout button, I will take that in to advice next time I tow and leave it on unless it is hunting for a gear.

The truck is a 4X4, I figured the wondering was just the way the truck was based on some comment I have heard from other people.

I was thinking heat shield too, I guess I will have to get under there and see if I can see anything loose.

Here is a photo of the rig before I got the WD hitch working properly.

 

Agree with all above. I'd like to add...

when I tow heavy my truck actually feels/felt less squirlly. For me adding the rear sway bar helped a lot, good rear shocks B code springs.... but 275x65-20 tires and wheels helped the most. Those 16" OEM ballon tires do not help.

 

Nice set of toys!

I would go back to the OEM thermostat (190). At 170, the engine is never warmed up enough and will run a tad rich.

Wandering can be fixed.

What air pressure are you running in the tires?

 

As previously mentioned:

Change air pressures, What are your tire psi currently?

Add a rear sway (Hellwig)

Replace rear springs (at least) and consider your front springs as well.

 

I think my tire pressure is set to the max PSI per the sticker in the door. I will have to check. I will look in to the rear sway link.

 

Sticker in the door is for soccer moms, not towing.

Check max rating on tire probably 80-85 then inflate to 60 front 65 rear.

 

BTW, nice rig. Excellent color on the EX.

 

Nice Bayliner, is that a 265?

 

Thanks, Its a 2012 255CR. We like it, works well for us for the time being. We started off with a 21 foot Stingray went up to the cruiser. We are spending more and more time cursing and not on the lake so we may step up to something that is meant for more all weather cruising like a Ranger-27 or 25.

As for the tire PSI I will have to check what the tires say and up the PSI. One thing about the tires is the dealer who put new tires on it did not put E load tires on it.

 

I just noticed your 2855. We wanted to get the 285 and its a consideration for upgrading I am just worried about towing something around with the extra beam. You have any issues hauling that thing around?

 

Any pics of the WD hitch properly set up?

While admittedly not a WD hitch user, that still seems like a lot of rear end sag (even before getting it dialed in). Are you still on the factory rear springs?

Here is mine with a V/Modded B Spring setup with maybe 250 lbs or so in the third row seat area:


And here it is with about 7900 or so lbs, with about 12% on the ball (940 or so lbs), and the hitch is much longer than a standard one so that weight 'feels' heavier to the rear suspension:

...the lines are horizontal to the ground to illustrate maybe 3/4" of sag

And here it is with an Air Lift set of bags (65psi) on it, same weight:

...pretty much level.

I'm thinking if you haven't already swapped the springs, you could get a level ride with just V/Modded B springs and your WD hitch.

Tires should be E rated, I tow with 80psi at all 4 corners.

Before all of this (OEM springs, same trailer) towing felt outright dangerous. Spring swap cured my steering wander (towing and empty), the air bags made it feel like it was built to do this. I run 15psi non-trailered, 65psi with this particular trailer. I would suspect if you use your WD hitch, you'd have a similar result to my air bag setup, but you'd probably get more sway control depending on your type of hitch.

I wish I could use a WD hitch with this rig, but it's a surge brake setup and I think there is only one manufacturer that makes a compatible system - and it's not cheap.

 

I've got an idea for you to help with the ride difference and handling while towing. I suggest trying out the StableLoad by Torklift International. It is a suspension upgrade for factory leaf spring lower overloads that reduces side to side sway, sag and bounce. It disengages when not towing or hauling for your stock ride, plus it's an easy DIY. Shoot me a picture of them and I can help you find an application if you're interested. Enjoy your boating adventures!

-Torklift Jen