Well I finally got my Curt Hitch installed. while up in there I replaced the fuel pump, my buddy had a new in the box Ford fuel pump. I gave him $150 for it. figured now was the time to replace the pump. I also cleaned up the skid plate, removed any rust, POR15`d the rust and sprayed it satin black. the body shop I work at rustproofed the inside of the hitch for me and sprayed the outside satin black so it all looks like new now! the OE hitch came out easily. I welded a nut to each shear bolt to remove them. all bolts came out easily. I had to drill and tap a hole in the top of the hitch for the factory trailer electrical connector. and my buddy just happened to have a brand new bracket, connector and wiring for the X so I installed that. the Curt hitch fits perfect. The 2" opening sits 1" lower than the factory hitch, it also sits about a 1/2 inch farther out past the bumper, no big deal though!


While I was at it I also replaced all my shocks, (87k miles). I went with Rancho 9000`s all the way around. I also replaced my front sway bar links and bushings and cleaned up and painted the sway bar. I used a set of Mevotechs from Rock Auto.com. they were $22.89 ea. normally I go with factory parts, but Ford wants $70 ea. for the front links so for the price I will give these a shot. I also finally installed a new set of front bump stops. I had an old, but good set of rear bump stops from an F250. they fit up front perfect! they use a single bolt, after removing what was left of the factory bump stop there was a single hole in the center that I used to mount them. it will be nice not to hear the axle tap the frame over rough RR tracks!


Now I just need to find my squeaky rattle in the back. it is driving me nuts! It sounds like the jack rattling, but it is tight. I may just pull it out and see if it goes away. it almost sounds like the hatch/barn doors are rattling. has anyone run into that type of noise in the rear inside?


Sorry, I didn`t get any pics, I did all this at work, and I just wanted to get it done. so pics weren`t a priority! I can take some pics if anyone is curious! The X seemed to ride a bit nicer with the shocks set to #1 "soft".


Basically I spent about 2 car payments. it has been paid off for a long time, but other than tires, brakes and fluids and a tune up, I haven`t done anything to it. I figured it was due! Rancho has a rebate program going on right now. I have to send in my rebate for my $106 prepaid card. Rock auto also seemed to have the best price for the Rancho`s $85.79 ea.


Next thing to do is replace the exhaust manifold studs. I found 1 broken stud on each side. that`ll be next....and cheaper! LOL, unless I replace the manifolds with a set of headers!!!!

 

Thread disapoints. All that typing and no pictures.

Sounds like some good upgrades though.

 

 

Sounds like a nice bit of work getting done there 1EX!
Thanks for the info on the Curt hitch too, I think I'll have one in my future and knowing about the different height of it (along with a slightly taller trailer from a future upgrade to LT tires) will help me to plan out some additional suspension mods to go with those changes.
Go with the headers when you address the broken manifold studs, they will improve the towing performance a bit and 5Star will update your tunes to take advantage of the improvements from them!

 

Ok guys I got some pictures.
Here is the hitch

These are the rear bolts. I ended up using one old bolt. Curt wants you to turn one of the nut plates around and drop a bolt and capture plate in from the top. I figured it will be just as good and easier this way!



Here are the front bolts. Curt has you reuse the factory nut plates.



I used loctite on all the bolts, the same way the factory did it. The old bolts came right out!



This is what the hitch looks like from the top.



This is how much lower it sits. About an inch compared to stock.



This is the cleaned up, rust free fuel tank skid plate and hitch. Everything looks new again!



Here is the factory 7-way wiring mount. This is the bolt you need to drill a hole for. I reused the factory self tapping bolt.

 

Here are my rear shocks installed. I had to clearance the lower shock mount to clear the wider body of the Ranchos.



These are the fronts. Bolted in with no problem. I have enough length in the shafts of the shocks to bring the X up 2" without needing to buy new shocks.





Here are the bump stops. Yes they are very close to the axle. But that is about how close they were when I bought the X with 17k miles! If I need to I can shorten them with a hack saw.



I used the same bump stops on the factory traction leaf on the rear springs.



These are my air bags I replaced last year. As you can see they aren't the X specific bags that go between the axle and frame. They are more universal and go from the side of the frame to the top of the spring in front of the axle. I believe this is a better design as it doesn't unload the springs like the X specific air bags do. I had these from a Dodge truck and that is why I am using them.

 

Nothing special here. Just my cleaned up front sway bar and new links and bushings.



And maybe one gratuitous X picture!

 

Now were talking, something to look at.