SO I have managed to put just under 10k miles thus far on my Ex and its been great in many ways, with the exception of the PO choice in suspension setup. It rides very rough and has since I bought it, oh well such is life but time to make some changes.

I believe it is roughly a 4in. lift (w/o measuring which I will do to be exact) Up front I see there are after market leaf springs- super lift I believe, with a white no name shock doing the rest of the dampening, and its tough over the road with every crack in the road disrupting the overall ride harshly.

In the rear, I am not 100% sure what was done other than there is a large block to level, what I believe are the original springs and the same white no (distinguishable) name shocks. I am away from the vehicle but I have some pictures on my original thread from when I bought the rig and was trouble shooting, I will see about cutting/pasting them here for reference. I did notice when I was pulling my TT a few months ago there was a bit of sag going on as well. Also, in the the vehicle is a switch/gauge for what was once and air bag setup which all still works other than the rear airbags have been removed prior to my purchasing, so I think the PO simply added a rear block and used the airbags to support any extra tongue weight.

My thinking is this, I would like to improve the ride and soften things up a bit (which at this point anything will be a major improvement) In front I would like to put new springs- possibly pro comp, with same 4in lift or a touch higher with some bilstein 5100.

In the rear, I would again like to soften things up with new leafs and deep six the blocks, and add bilstein 5100 shocks, then add back air bags to be able to control ride height when I have tongue weight.

Does the this approach make sense to folks? Can I have an Ex the rides fairly smooth while still being able to stiffen up the rear when towing? Tell me I am or am not on the right track.

 

Well I went back to this thread:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...excursion.html
Copied the pictures from it to put here, I did see mentioned by Pirate 4x4 that maybe all I need may be some new shocks to soften up the ride>? Might work out front, but it may not work out back if the springs are old and worn because it does seem to squat under the weight of my TT. Any advice from the resident Gurus here would be stellar!




rear block?





front springs, actually are Skyjacker not superlift





anti wrap, rear shot





rear set up, with air bag compressor in the top right

 

Typed out a fairly long reply but deleted it because it would have just raised more questions then answers for you.

You have a hot mess going on there.

 

Call Cary at CT Performance and just do what he says to fix the disaster

 

Ahhh come on now, dont be wishy washy now, tell us how you feel! Especially since in the thread I posted you initially said " you may just need new shocks and it may fix the stiffness problem", haaaa! Butt, maybe you were just letting me down easy!!!

I do know the PO or whomever really did me no favors, now I need to remedy that and get it straightened out, for whatever that takes.

 

Sorting your suspension out shouldn't be to difficult, explaining all the techno jargon and why fors on how to do it is the hot mess part. Lmao

For example, you state you want to soften up the ride but then say you want Bilstein 5100

First off how do you know bilsteins are softer then what you have ? Bilsteins are a great shock but not what I would consider softer ( relative to stock) they are on the firm side of the spectrum and lend themself to a improved handeling with a firmer ride.

You have several issues going on and need to come up with a overall goal and then access how each component contributes to that goal and determine if it is the correct part for the task.

The suggestion to call and work with Cary on your suspension setup is a solid recommendation.

 

Copy that! I guess I make the assumption Bilsteins are "softer" based on how stiff my suspension is now, granted I have no sure way of knowing they are actually going to be, other than riding in my Ex now over bumps I cant imagine things being more stiff? Or I could throw some 5100 on there as a blind study and see if they are actually "softer", I do think a lot has to do with the leafs though, even you stated initially that the Skyjacker are very stiff.

I actually got off the phone with Cary about 15 minutes ago and he is going to send me an email out with some options as to how to remedy the current suspension setup. He also mentioned he likes bilsteins, however he does not just use the "off the shelf" version off the 5100, he has custom valving done to essentially fit your vehicle.

Moving forward, things will get worked out eventually, at this time I am just glad I have an Ex the rest will take care of itself in time!

 

What kind of budget are you on ? What size tires/type are you running ?? Do you have any previous EXperience with how a 3/4 ton straight axle rides ??
If you are trying to get a 7000 LB truck to ride like a marsh mellow it could be a recipe for disaster. You might really need to try to find some other set ups to get a gauge as where to start. HOT MESS seems a little harsh ( I crack myself up). If it were mine I'd start with a set of B/C modded springs in the rear ( oh yeah That is what Carry developed & probably 75 members on the board are running). Used is getting harder & harder to find BUT, Jr. @ ATS can set you straight with a new set just like you want them

 

Devon- Cary is one of the innovators of making the Excursion handle as good as possible... great info from him, and he does installations too if you want to spend a little more quality time here in the Silver State!

 

By the way your shocks are not the issue And thinking about, it THE 1st thing I'd do is cut that bump stop on the slapper in half OR remove it entirely..

 

in my experience skyjacker tends to use to high of spring rates. It's been many years since I have delt with them and maybe they hired a different engineer who specs softer springs since I used them but I am not a fan of their setup.

I believe Cary has the skill and experience to setup your suspension to meet your expectations.

I suspect your dismal ride quality is currently due to at least one bad or failed shock so
If you need to wait for a while to afford carys setup then I would be inclined to buy a $200 set of OEM style twin tube shocks and use those for the time being.
That would most likely take care of your harsh ride problem.

 

Maybe I am missing something , What do you see that could be causing a a "rough and harsh" ride ?

Why would you alter the anti wrap spring snubber ?

 

He has a 4" lift so OEM shocks are not an option
If he has a blown shock it should be visible on the truck & if you suspect one remove it & test.
It looks to me that BUMP STOP added to the slapper has got the rear springs in a bind with nowhere to go but STIFF.

The only thing I saw that could come anywhere close to being called a "hot mess" was that

 

Ahh hell What do I know I went & checked all SIX of my rear springs and there is not squat on any of the slapper springs
I'd still like to know his point of reference as to what is he EXpecting a 3/4 ton straight axle truck to ride like

 

I suggested a twin tube OEM "style" shock. not the OEM shocks. plenty of twin tube shocks available to run on a lifted excursion.

as for a "blown" shock. I said a failed shock, meaning it is no longer working properly. not necessarily that it had blown a external seal and was leaking oil to the outside. shocks fail when the oil inside breaks down and lose viscosity.

the anti wrap bar has already yielded (bent) because the additional height block increased the axles leverage on the spring and caused the leaf spring to wrap into a S shape beyond what the bar was designed to accommodate. likely because the snubber was either to tall or did not offer the correct compliance.
either way once the metal has yielded there is no fixing it, it needs to be replaced. however a wrap bar by its design of only extending to the center of the leaf pack does not add spring rate or stiffness to the pack in a way that affects the ride stiffness. it does put the spring in a bind, but it is supposed to do that. that is how it prevents axle wrap.