I have done a lot of research preparing to lift my 05 Excursion and although there is a lot of good information out there I found that I could not get all of my questions answered and thought I would post about my experience thus far.

Vehicle:

2005 Excursion 4x4 Eddie Bauer

Lift components:

Springs
X code springs (2C3Z-5310-AF)
C code springs (3C3Z-5560-CA)

I payed $1120 for the springs, these are not the replica springs these are brand new genuine Ford springs. The V/B code springs are the most common swap but I will be putting a HD winch bumper on the front and back of my X and wanted the extra spring capacity and I was hoping for some extra lift to clear the 35's.

Shocks
Front Bilstein 33-028187 - $60/ea through Amazon
Rear Bilstein 24-185479 - $74/ea through Amazon

The front shocks are just the Super duty shocks and the rears are the stock replacements for the Excursion.

Anti Sway Bar
I went to my local salvage yard and picked up a 30mm anti sway bar for $25. My X has the factory sway bar so I will just be swapping them out.

These are the only lift components I have bought so far and I think this is all I will need.

Lift Install (Front):

As of right now I have only installed the X code front springs and the front shocks. The install went pretty smooth even though I did it all by myself but it did consume most of the day by the time I trimmed the fender wells and installed the wheels and tires. I used 4 jack stands, a floor jack, and built 2 - 4.5" tall blocks out of 2x8's to set the rear jacks stands that support the frame on. With the jack stands fully extended (16") and the 4.5" blocks placed on the frame at the transmission cross member the front tires where just barely off the ground. I started on the drivers side spring and completed that swap first before doing the passenger side.

Here are the items that I had to remove on the drivers side starting with the tire then remove the 6 bolts that hold the front cross bar on that is located behind the bumper, I just let it hang by the rubber splash guard after the bolts where removed. This cross member needs to be removed to access the front spring bolts on the drivers and passenger side. Next I removed the three bolts that hold the bumper corner brackets, this is another item that has to be removed on the drivers and passenger side by removing this bracket it makes getting a socket on the front spring bolt much easier. The last thing to remove so the front spring bolt can slide out is the bottom support bracket for the a/c condenser, its a single bolt hidden under a piece of splash guard. This bracket has to be removed on the drivers and passenger side to make room for the front spring bolt to slide out. Next I removed the top nut from the shock and slid the shock off of the bolt. Now that I think about it I am not sure if it has to be done but I disconnected the anti sway bar link. The front drive line also needs to be unbolted from the front yoke so that the rear spring bolt can be removed. After all of that has been removed make sure to place a jack stand under your axle on the side you are working. With the axle supported pull the spring bolts out and then take off the u-bolts. At this point you should be able to remove the spring and put the new one in then re-assemble. The passenger side is identical except you don't have a drive line to mess with.

Lift Install (Rear):

Finally got around to installing the C codes on the rear. The rear install was easier than the front due to that fact that I didn't have to remove anything aside from pulling 3 11mm nuts to drop the a/c lines down to slide the spring bolt out. As with the front I used 4 jack stands and the two 4.5" tall blocks I made under the 2 jack stands that supported the frame. After getting everything in the air and removing the wheels I started on the drivers side and pulled the nuts off of the spring bolts. Next I removed the shock and went ahead and installed just the top bolts with the new shock. With the axle supported by a jack stand I pulled the spring bolts and then took the nuts off the u-bolts and removed them. Since I have air bags I didn't need to support the axle with a jack stand anymore instead I just let the axle hang from the air bag trying to make room for the spring to drop out. With the airbag not allowing the axle to drop very far I was tight on room and removed the shackle off the back of the spring to give me some more room. After removing the shackle I was able to slide the spring towards the front and get it out. With the old spring out it was time to do the modification which is called the b mod but since I have c codes I guess you could call it the c mod. I ended up with a slight variation due to the amount of lift I gained (4" over stock) with the normal B mod instructions. Since the normal b mod gave me a little more lift than I wanted I took out the three thick spring spacers that came out of the stock excursion spring pack and put the thin ones back in. Removing those three spacers only drops it about .25" but I it helped. In my research I found a pretty good explanation of how to do the b mod with some good pictures so I will just steal the from the post I found and post them here.

B code spring mod

"Photo is of the factory spring that you take apart to make a Modded B.

The arrow on the bottom left is the anti-wrap bar - discard that.

The green arrows are the bottom two spring leaves that you will keep and add to the B codes.

The other yellow arrows are the upper stock leaves that you toss.



This pic shows the completed B code. The green arrow is the bottom (overload?) leaf from the B codes. The two red arrows are the two bottom leaves from your stock springs that you added. The yellow arrows are the leaves from your B codes.



Also, you need to keep and re-use the spacers from the stock springs - they are thicker than the ones that come on the B codes:



Ok so that's the instructions for the B mod and I followed them except I didn't end up swapping the top three thick spacers out. The center bolt that came with my c codes was long enough infact it was almost too long I think I was very close to running out of threads. After doing the mod I put the new spring pack back in which at least for me was the toughest part of the swap because I didn't have much room to get the new spring pack back in and it was a very tight fit with the airbag restricting how much I could drop the axle. With the spring in I had to use a ratchet strap from the axle to the frame to pull the axle far enough forward and then used a big pry bar between the spring and frame to pull the spring down to get the bolt back in. Once that bolt was in I re-installed the shackle to the frame mount and used the ratchet strap from the spring to the tow package safety chain slot to pull the spring down far enough to get the spring bolt in. With the spring bolts in I then re-installed the u-bolts, I know that a lot of people say you need new u-bolts and I really thought I was going to have to buy new ones anyway because the stock ones were going to be too short but the stock ones worked for me leaving just a little bit of bolt over the top of the nuts once installed. I see no need to replace u-bolts if they are not corroded or damaged that's just my opinion though. So after the u-bolts were installed I put the bottom bolt in the shock and was done with the drivers side. The passenger side is identical except for having to remove there 11mm nuts to drop the a/c lines down so that you can get the front spring bolt out. Once your done install the wheels and pull your jacks.

With the springs done it was time to install the 30mm anti-sway bar. As stated I got mine from the local salvage yard for $25 and it was a little rusty so I took a wire brush to it and then rattle canned it. Install was straight forward since my x came with an anti sway bar it was as easy as taking the stock one off and putting the 30mm one on. The stock links fit perfectly and I see no need to buy longer ones.

Things to note:

- My X only has 45k on it and none of my running gear or bolts are rusted so I didn't need to use any penetrating spray but I would highly recommend it if your stuff is rusted.
- I re-used my U-bolts, if I thought there was any safety issue with this I would replace them but considering my X is low mile and the bolts look new I didn't see any need to replace them.
- I did not buy an adjustable track bar. Since I did not lift the Excursion any higher than a stock Super Duty with a snow plow package which I am sure uses the same track bar that my excursion has on it right now I saw no need to waste the money on an adjustable one.
- Make sure to loctite those 4 bolts that hold the u-joint to the joke.
- It takes a little prying to get the bolt holes lined up on the springs make sure you have a couple pry bars.
- A hd impact wrench would be nice to have, I did not have a hd enough impact wrench and had to remove everything without the aid of air. If you do not have a capable impact wrench make sure you have a large cheater bar.

Things Learned that I couldn't find the answers for:

- Yes or no on the track bar, I say no
-Do I need long sway bar links, NO
- Total lift from X codes, I got about 3" of lift. C codes gave me about 3". (Note: I should remeasure to verify lift once the springs have settled)
- Will 35's fit with just X codes, I had to do some trimming of the fender liner and bumper valence to make them fit. Read more on this below.

Fitting 35's with X codes:

Wheels and Tires Used

Tires: 35x12.5R20 Toyo Open Country M/T
Wheels: Fuel Coupler 20x10-4.5" Back Spacing

Trimming that was required

After installing the X codes I put the wheels and tires on to see if the would clear and found that I had contact at the front and back. The tire would just barely catch the bottom of the front bumper valence so I took a pencil and free handed what I wanted to trim and used my jig saw to cut it out. The bumper was the easy part. Next I tackled the issue at the back of the fender well. The tires where just barely clearing the fender trim piece and rubbed pretty much the whole bottom of the fender liner. I used a pencil to sketch out what I thought need to be removed which includes the whole bottom of the fender liner and a very small corner of the fender trim which also included a small piece of fender sheet metal that was behind the trim, I used my jig saw and a utility knife. The trimming work was not difficult other then emotionally, I didn't like cutting on my rig. I will take a picture of the required trimming and post it up in a day or two.

Conclusion:

After doing a lot of research trying to determine what the minimum amount of lift was that I needed to clear 35's I can tell you there is a lot of conflicting information out there and you can spend a lot more money than I did if you listen to the wrong people. I got a quote for a lift kit that was suppose to clear 35's using the v/b swap and 3" drop brackets with blocks in the rear, I am sure it would have turned out to be a nice lift and would have probably cleared my 35's without rubbing but I didn't want to spend over double what I needed to. I also really don't like the look of to much fender well which is what you will get if you lift high enough not to rub without trimming. This is also my family rig and I didn't want to lift it so high that the wife was going to start bitching.

So far I am very happy with the way the rig looks and rides even with the heaviest spring ford offers for this size of vehicle the ride is very good, I was expecting it to ride more like a buck board wagon but I am pleased to say it rides very nice and handles the road way better than before the lift.

I don't have pictures right now but will try to update this post with pictures of my fender trimming and final pictures of the rig with the springs settled out.

Link to a better picture since the one attached is pretty small. https://goo.gl/photos/6y6gA6oyTK7ADTZ1A

 

Nice write up and install pics, although I disagree with your u-bolt assessment. It's not how good they look or how few miles they have on them. It's the fact that the U-bolt is a TTY design, and they stretch plastically - meaning they don't return back to original size. This could be as small as a few thousandths of an inch mind you, but they've already been weakened by the initial torquing. Now you've reused them and retorqued them, so they've stretched even more, also increasing metal fatigue.

You wouldn't reuse a head bolt unless it was an ARP or similar who blatantly states that you can reuse them... Same applies to u-bolts

Yeah, people get by with them used - but considering those are the ONLY things holding your axle underneath plus the increased leverage and such exerted by large wheels and tires, I wouldn't re-use a u-bolt that's been torqued to spec period.

 

Nice write up!

I used used X codes and the normal modded B codes that were used as well.

I netted 2"

I run 305 70 18's on factory Harley wheels (narrower).

I rubbed the back side of front wheel well going in and out of driveways. I zip tied them back last summer and it worked until the tie broke, need to do it again. I also hit the rear of the front leaf springs. I tapped the axle / steering knuckle or whatever it was for an adjustable steering stop.

I, like you don't like a jacked up ex with more than necessary wheel well clearance. Also I am happy with the stiffer, but not to stiff the X codes give. Now that I have f and r winch bumpers it's probably a little plusher.

I'm looking forward to your up close pics.

Have you verified that the front tires are even left to right in regards to not using the adjustable track bar? When we hung mine back up I had to ratchet strap the axle over to get it lined up. I went to an adjustable shortly after.



Again, nice write up.

 

Nice write up and sharp rig.

 

Well done on the write up. I agree with @Krazee Matt on the U-bolts, especially for a few bucks more and piece of mind.

Welcome to FTE.

 

@Stewart_H Oops I did it again, another double post.