I'm new to FTE. Thanks to the great advice I've found on here already, I bought an 05 Excursion 4x4 Limited with the 6.0.

One of the biggest issues it has so far is the wander. After hours of reading up on it here, I adjusted the steering box. After driving now for a few days, the slop definitely isn't completely gone. The steering is certainly tighter than before. In fact, I have to consciously force myself to correct less and with less movement because I end up making myself weave all over due to over steering!

I won't likely be pulling anything super heavy anytime soon, but I will be putting several thousand miles on it throughout the spring and summer pulling a little single axle 6x12 enclosed trailer. Probably around 2K-3K lbs max. Of course that plus 5-6 passengers inside along with all the stuff that goes with you for a week or two trip at a time.

So, I'm considering moving on to more of the upgrades/fixes I've read about. I'd love some advice from those of you that have done these upgrades to see which you'd recommend next.

Here's my dilemma:

The handling is responsive (since the adjustment I made).
No major leaning or diving in curves, stopping or starting.
Decently quiet, comfortable overall ride. (granted it has Michelins with 80%-90% tread on it)
No severe bangs or knocks over rough road conditions.

The only real symptom I'm concerned about is the slight wandering that remains even on smooth straight roads with only me in truck and no trailer in tow. I realize it is a heavy duty truck chassis. My old Dodge pickup was worse than this, but then I never really enjoyed towing with it. My 03 suburban was terrific on the road, but needed replacing due to miles and my need for 4x4 (I'm an EMT and Lt. at the local VFD and live in a rural area).

The upgrades/repairs I'm considering are:
Hellwig rear sway bar
Replacing the bushings on the front sway bar (if needed)
Upgrading the shocks
Taking it to the the shop to have overall suspension/alignment check done.
Replacing/upgrading the springs

Again, I've read hours of posts on all of these, but I'm a bit perplexed because I don't have several of the other symptoms that many of these fixes seem to primarily address... except the wandering.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

One last thing. While looking under it at the front sway bar bushings, I noticed this bolt end that at the end of the springs. It's bent and split. I didn't see a nut on any of the for spring ends and several seem like they may be split and bent slightly, but none as bad as the rear passenger side bolt (front springs). Is this normal? If not, could it be affecting my alignment?

Here's a pic





Thanks again!

Ken

BTW - Being new, I'm still trying to learn what deserves a new post and what should be asked on an existing thread. I don't want to be one of those guys that asks a question that's been answered a hundred times. I actually starting asking this as a comment on another thread, but didn't know if it would be seen by as many if asked at the end of a thread with 10+ pages of replies already. So, any advice for the newbie regarding this would be greatly appreciated as well.

 

Sorry. I just realized the title for this thread was incomplete. I haven't found a way to edit it yet.

**updated** I figured it out. Title is updated.

 

I've done everything on your list of mods/upgrades and mine still wanders.

 

Thanks, jayjjcc. I'm a little hesitant to spend too much on it at this point. It's not too terribly bad, just wish it were a little better. Im eager to put a trailer behind it and see how it does. I've even heard others say theirs behaves better under a load.

With my luck changing stuff is likely to just ruin the otherwise great ride it has now.

 

The "threaded" split end you see on your spring is just the tab that holds the plastic discs in place to quiet the springs when they move. Nothing to worry about there

 

I filled the back of mine with fire wood and it handled 3x better than when it's empty

 

Do you have load range D or E tires? That can have a lot to do with the wander. Even with load range E tires, which you SHOULD have, tire pressure might need to be played with to get rid of a bit of wander.

The biggest things to help get rid of my wander was new springs, front and back.

 

I have E tires but they have broken bands(?)... each one probably has 3-4 broken... not sure if that affects anything wander wise though (they will be changed out shortly fyi)

 

You`re probably talking about broken belts in the tires! if that was the case you would feel a shimmy while driving.


As far as the next suspension mod.....go with the rear Hellwig sway bar. that is THE mod that cured the wandering for me.

 

I have found the only way to cure "wandering" is to replace the front end suspension. Mine is a 4X4. I replaced the OEM steering box with a Red Head box. I installed Landyot radius rods and Firestone air bags. Still wandered. I finally replaced the ball joints, tie rods and control arm with all MOOG stuff. No more wander. 122K on the clock.

Ed

 

I think you mean you replaced steering components.

 

Yes... belts... my french occasionally flairs up

 

Yes, then I wouldn`t do any more until you got a new set of tires. then check the front and for loose/worn parts and do an alignment. after that I would still do a rear sway bar!

 

Some people say in other threads that people tightened up the steering box, replaced the steering box, replaced other steering components, etc. with no result...and some claim that you can tighten the steering box too tight and cause it to wear out sooner. Yet other threads say that works.

I've seen posts where adding a sway bar did the trick.

I've seen yet other threads where replacing the springs worked. From what those threads said, the rear springs seem to be the culprit.

The front springs are 'weak' (and I'll use that term loosely to not start a flame war). They bottom out often and there are two 'fixes' to the problem - one is the shackle lift, the other is the V swap. Some say that works.

In either case, you get a lift on the front. I saw one post dated years ago where the guy did just the fronts (he liked the 'nose up' stance). That however didn't seem to fix the wander.

Many think the rear spring swap (usually with B codes or modified B codes) does "fix" the issue (or at least greatly diminish the wander). The theory being that the rear springs are so soft that some of the wander is actual 'rear steer'.

I don't know for sure how many if any of the suggestions above is the 'true fix' to the problem. What I CAN tell you is that I had wicked wander on my rig (2000 V10 4x4 w/factory sway bar on the front). It was bad when driving and almost scary when towing.

I wanted to fix the wander AND the front bottoming out, so I swapped the front springs with V codes and the rear springs with Modified B codes. I didn't touch the steering box, sway bar or any other components. Just the spring swap.

For me, that solved the wander. On some stretches of flat straight freeway I can go almost 1/4 mile with no steering input.

Take it for what it's worth, but for my particular ride, springs solved the problem.

 

^^^^^^ Nicely done, Robert. ^^^^^^^^^^^

Some say air pressure adjustments are all that is needed.