Greetings,

This is my first post, as I just found this site. There is a lot of good info here. I have been reading the threads on the subject of towing with my Excursion, and you all have given me some good ideas. I would like to run a few things by you guys that are specific to my situation.

Some details on the truck:
I have a 2003 X with 7.3 and some PHP tunes. I bought it 5-6 years ago and it came with an intake upgrade, exhaust mods, plus it appears to have a Banks exhaust housing on the turbo. It just ticked over 200,000 miles. Tires are E Range Michelin M/S with 60/70 PSI F/R when towing. Stock springs. I have an Equal-i-zer hitch and Prodigy brake controller. I use the X mainly as a tow vehicle these days, so it's not a daily driver.

The power is great with the tunes (yes I have gauges, including a scan gauge). The X is an amazing tow vehicle. However, my rear suspension could use some help when towing my TT. My TT is on the heavy side, being a 32' bunkhouse with three slides, which is actually 36' in total length. Based on an 8655 Lb empty weight, I figure it is 9500-10,000Lb when max loaded, but I have not weighed it. GVWR is 11,055. I have pulled it close to 10,000 miles with the X as-is, without too many complaints. The main issue I have is that the rear end of the X sags too much. Not only does it look strange, but it bottoms out sometimes. I attached a pic below which shows the sag.

After perusing the threads, I really like what I read about the RAS kit, but I have doubts that it would be enough to level the rear of my X on its own. I was considering adding airbags instead (or maybe in addition to the RAS), but I am under the impression that the airbags make the ride more harsh. Is that true? I have also read on this site about leaf spring upgrades, but I don't want to add lift height. Is there a rear spring upgrade that would add some beef to the rear without lift and without making the ride too dump truck like? After reading several threads on this site, I am definitely planning to add a rear sway bar, probably the Hellwig kit. I know there are cheaper options, but I don't have a lot of extra time these days, so going to a salvage yard to pull parts is not really an option right now.

Suggestions? Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

Here is the only pic I could find that shows the rear end sag. It sits slightly high in the rear when unloaded.

 

I use both the airbags and the RAS... I don't tow much, but when I do it's usually less than 4,000 lbs. most of the time it's closer to 2,000lbs but I do load the inside of the Ex to max capacity on some of my vacations. I can't stand the pre runner look, anyway that's why I use both. Airbags by themselves are too harsh for my liking. Just my .02

 

Our resident towing "sherpa" WE3ZS aka Tom is the moderator over here: Conventional (Bumper Pull) Towing; Travel Trailers, Pop-ups & Slide-in Campers - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

Not that the EX people can not help.

 

Thanks mark.
I think that the RAS (I have no first hand experience, only what I have read about them) would be able to reduce your rear squat under load by about an inch or so. If I'm off on this I hope some of the RAS users jump in and correct me.
Air bags are a great upgrade as they are totally adjustable to the load. And most of them only require 5 to 10 pounds of pressure when unloaded to protect the bags if the suspension bottoms out. So when not needed for the heavier loads you can air them down and not have to deal with the more firm ride.
Any solution to fight the rear sag under load will firm up the ride as they all are increasing the spring system weight rating and that will lead to a firmer ride. The goal is to have the spring capacity to carry the load at the desired height and still be able to have the suspension properly deflect when it needs to like on expansion joints and potholes. I like airbags for this role as they are far more adjustable than leaf springs or coil helpers like the RAS. But they have one trait that I think could be improved on. With them aired up to your desired ride height, at lets say 30 PSI and you drive through a dip in the road that causes the suspension to deflect half of it max travel distance (like you would want it to) the pressure in the bags will spike up to 60 PSI making them much more firm than desired, the more deflection the higher the pressure spikes and the firmer the bags become. My idea would be to modify the standard air bag system to include larger air supply connections to the bags (as large as possible) tied to a common tank with 2 to 3 times the capacity of the total volume of the combined bags. The pressure would be set at the desired pressure (let's use 30 PSI again) for the given load and target ride height to this modified closed system. Now when the bags get compressed by half their height instead of spiking up to 60 PSI and getting more firm than we want them they would only spike up to 35 PSI if using a 200% (larger than the combined bag total volume) tank and only 33.75 PSI if using a 300% tank. I think a system like this would provide the best all around load handling and ride comfort while still being fully adjustable to the load and ride height goals.
I currently run modded B codes with the taller tapered blocks and some other bits and I still get some squat with our TT's 1450 lb tongue weight (11,000 lb gross TT weight). Future plans are to add an onboard air system and the above described air bag system.
Unmodified rear B (or C or F) codes will maintain the stock-ish ride height and offer a stronger spring rate, but I'm not sure if they would totally solve your squatting situation, they would help though. The ride from B codes isn't really harsh at all in my opinion, the EX provides enough preload to keep them playing nicely.
You will be very pleased with the Hellwig rear sway bar, a must for serious towing in my opinion and makes the big wagon more fun to drive unloaded too.

 

Do you have a weight distributing hitch? A good WD-hitch with sway control is a good start before suspension upgrades, it will give you a little more realistic idea of what upgrades are needed and considerable towing stability improvements.

 

Living large, what air bags do you have that you can use with RAS, I have RAS but it still sags a little much for my liking. I also tow a 10k pounder.

 

Yes. The Equalizer has integrated WD and sway control. It's a good setup.

 

Question when you engage the WD bars does it remove any squat and if so how much

While I may not be as sharp as Tom or most people I can comment on the Airbags and tank setup. I also have a Heavyweight TT with wore out leaf springs. When I purchased the X it had Air bags under it already T total Crap setup it was. I got it fixed and began to see the spikes in the air pressure. I decided to try to figure something out. I added 2 ea 2 gallon tanks to the system one is my pressure tank and one is a buffer tank. The pressure tanks feed the buffer tank and the bags I run my bags between 50 to 60 psi just depends how it feels. My pressure spikes are between 15 to 20 pounds. The pressure spikes depends on many things. How big of a bump, tounge weight, how well the hitch is adjusted, how wore out are your leaf springs and the amount of pressure in the bags. Less pressure in the bags less spikes.
Tom I never considered the bigger airlines it might be something worth looking into.


Now I will say this before adding any tanks there was spikes between 40 to 50 psi
but I never noticed it being a hard bump if that makes any sense.

yeS I know my grammar capitalization punctuation and spelling suck and I an sorry

 

An accumulator tank for the air bags is a great idea. The larger the air lines between the bags and accumulator tank, the better. Adding volume to the air bags will definitely smooth out the ride.

 

It definitely makes a difference, but I have never measured it. I would guess it removes around 3" of sag. I will measure it next time I hook it up.

 

Air Lift 5000 and it does work with the RAS in place.

 

Ok, based on what I am hearing, I think I will go with a set of airbags and the sway bar. I am looking at the AirLift Ultimate and the HD wireless compressor/controller. Thanks for the input. I will wait a little while before ordering in case someone else wants to chime in.

Thanks again for the input!

Edit: Air bags, compressor/controller, sway bar arriving Friday. Looks like the boys and I have some work to do. :-)

 

I suppose it will work with a 2wd also? I will check the website

 

Sounds like you're on the right track- just one thing to share that I recently experienced. I put on a set of Russell braided steel brake lines (#696490), and the brake feel and modulation is fantastic. They really firmed up the pedal and the thing stops way more solidly. Amazon has 'em for about $150, or $112 in a damaged package!

 

Check Air Lift's website before you order. They sometimes run mail in rebates on both the air bag kits, and their compressor kits ($50 each). I did the rebate on my 5000 kit and ended up being a tremendous bargain.