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First thing with steering is to ensure you have zero play in all four of the tie rods, all four balljoints and both front wheel bearings. Also a bad trac bar bushing can feel like slop when turning back and forth. If all of that is rock solid, then the only thing left is the steering gear. Mine is ever so slightly sloppy at the center position. I did notice yesterday that before I centered my steering wheel the slop was gone. I believe the gears are just worn at their most used position;center. However it isn't bad enough yet for me to want to replace it.
Tom, would you mind posting a pic of what the upgraded springs look like when installed? As you know this is on our "to do someday" list.
OK, but keep in mind that my setup isn't the most "typical" of spring mods. My goals when planning my spring swap were to get enough lift to be able to run true 35" tires and to have enough rear lift to have the EX ride nearly level while towing our heavy TT. And of course to get a better ride than the factory springs provided, I was tired of the front bottoming out on bumps.
I was gifted a set of X code fronts and B code rears with the top overload leaf. So I took that top overload off the rears (they MUST come off for use on an EX to avoid AC line damage!) and drilled holes in the ends for the nylon sliders and then bolted the overload leaf to the bottom of the X codes. This resulted in a 3 7/8" gain in ride height over where my 70k mile EX started out.
Top spring is the stock B code rear with the top overload leaf still in place, middle is the stock X code front spring pack and the bottom one is my modded X code with the top overload leaf added to the bottom of the spring pack.
Along with adding the nylon sliders I also installed new slightly thicker UHMW between leaf spacers to the packs along with a new center bolt. Modded vs stock X codes.
As installed with the weight on them, notice the space between the bumpstop and top of the axle.
The rears got the "typical" B mod that is the addition of the bottom two short EX leaves and the EX's slightly thicker between leaf spacers. Along with that I also cut down the factory slapper traction bar and added two sections of that to each side through bolted to the pack. The stock EX 2"-ish lift blocks were swapped out for the 3.75"-ish F-350 tapered blocks. This resulted in a little more than 4.5" of lift over my stock ride height and a more pronounced rear high rake. There is now 6" of space between the rear bumpstops and the contact arm on the F-350 blocks.
I'm very happy with my results, I met my goals of fitting 35"s (305/70R18 Nitto Duras at 35.28" tall), the ride is nice and firm but not too harsh and it doesn't bottom out any more. With the EX loaded up for a trip and the 11k TT hitched up it rides nearly level and rides and handles much much better than stock.
Personal preference here but I switched out my rear shocks to Rancho 9000s to help with towing and they are adjustable so can be switched when not towing. I opted for Firestone airbags when we towed our camper. This completely eliminated the squat we had even with a properly setup Reese WD hitch.
Well look what I got today
Haven't had a chance to install yet but this seems to be a pretty rugged bar, great quality too.
On another note, not trying to go down the rabbit hole but what's the word on an interior conversion? I would love to update the dash and so on, all of course searching the great info here has yielded some not so positive results.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalytic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
