The only experience I have is with the 5100 and the 5160 bilsteins. D rated tires do ride softer and a set of 4 can support more than most people ever carry. I am rolling on E tires right now and recently had them at 20psi for an extended 900 mile off road adventure.

 

People kill me buying a F250 or F350 & expecting it to ride like a Uni-Body CAR

These trucks are made for towing & hauling weight : their not supposed to ride good.

I like Leaf Spring front suspensions up until 2004 but the coil
Spring front ends from 2005 do ride softer

Again, no disrespect

 

You act like that's a good thing.

 

These trucks can ride extremely smooth. They are still made to haul, but this isn't the 90's anymore. Shock technology and valving has come along ways. Even leaf springs have advanced drastically. There are many things you can do to make the ride of your truck more compliant with the road and off road. If you're driving a pre 05, an updated coil spring axle swap can be done. If you're driving a pre 08 truck, you can swap in the rear leaf springs, preferably from a '11 or newer truck.

Better shocks are the best thing you can do. I'm not talking Rancho 9000s or Blistein 5100s. I'm talking Fox 2.0 IFPs or better with remote reservoir. For truly plush suspension travel, King Shocks are top of the line. 90% of the guys here will never even think about spending that kind of money to make their HD truck ride that nice, but will spend $5000 to "bulletproof" their truck as preventative maintenance.

Your choice of tires and their pressure can greatly change the way your track rides. The more sidewall you have, the softer it will ride. People will be amazed at how nice 37" Toyo M/Ts on 17" wheels can ride and not lose any towing capacity or hauling ability if set up right.

It all depends on your priorities.

 

I have never heard of King Shocks. I did look them up, and yes, they are pricey. I didn't see anything listed for my 02 though.

 

Sorry, I was being generic. I was referring to all Super Dutys. Your 02 will inherently ride less smooth than a coil spring equipped truck due to less travel. I would try to concentrate on the brands that specialize in leaf spring trucks. Proper valving becomes even more important with limited travel. The advantage you have is that the Excursion had leafs until production ended. Research is your friend. Good luck.

 

2004 was the last year of Front Leaf springs in the Excursion 4x4.

2005 was the last year of production ....which had front coil springs on the 4x4.

I sure miss my 2004 V10 4x4 I sold

 

^^Corrected by Tom below.

Five to ten years ago I would have said that if you needed to start changing axles and suspension or powertrain components to accomplish what you wanted, you were better off purchasing a different vehicle. With current pricing, especially diesels, those days have past and upgrading your vehicle to your application is the normal.

 

Sorry, but that's not correct. The Excursion never got the 2005 suspension update that the Super Duty trucks got. It got the revised front grille and headlights, and that's it. 2005 4WD Excursions have leaf springs up front.

 

Thanks Tom for correcting the correction!

 

You know it blueheart. Our rigs don't come stock with a smooth ride but it can be bought!

 

Hey, stufarmer... I'm still waiting for some supporting references for this statement.

 

I believe the only time that would come into play would be if your tires were not rated to carry the load on them. And I believe the only way you'd get caught is if you are

A- Running commercially,

B- Involved in an accident and tire failure was the cause.

The 1st set of 285's I put on my truck were D-rated, but they were within 100lb rating of the 265 E-rated they replaced. I do have E-rated 285's on my truck now.

This is of course my opinion and can not be used in a court of law!

 

The question is how much do you want to spend




Full Traction Coil Over Conversion

 

Whether or not a person would 'get caught' is irrelevant regarding the statement that installing tires having a lesser load rating is illegal. If it is actually illegal to do so, it should be a pretty easy task to provide some documentation of that. That's what I'm looking for.