Gents,

First off great forum with a ton of useful info, but on the flip side it's fairly overwhelming when you're trying to figure out where to start on upgrading an ex. Looking for some help on where some seasoned owners would look for maybe overlooked maintenance on wear and tear items and the what they would upgrade. Background: Bought a 7700lb travel trailer for the family and sold an F-150 for 9,500 more than I paid for the ex. I plan on using the ex to get to work and tow the trailer. Want to spend about 5k plus or ideally minus a bit to fix any issues and make it the ideal road trip truck.

The ex or as my wife call it the "scurg" is a 2001 2 owner V-10 160k miles with maintenance records and all. Body is in great shape with some chips here and there in the paint. New michelins 8k miles ago. Spark plugs 12k miles ago. Other than that it is a stock truck with standard maintenance being performed. Think the normal maintenance that someone would do in accordance with the owners manual but nothing above and beyond. Engine runs great and shifts smooth so I don't foresee many issues there except for potentially the manifold bolts. The suspension and steering are where I need to focus my efforts.

The shocks don't look like they have ever been changed. I haven't went over 60 in it yet since I went out of town right after I bought it, but it does want to hop and skip over the never ending bumps and potholes all over Tucson. There is a clunk in the rear when stopping and at initial acceleration. Something is definitely shifting back there. The steering is sloppy like I would expect in a car with that many miles but I would like to tighten it up.

I've been browsing on here a lot, but with the issues I have and the mileage on the truck where would you start? I know there has to be a ton of worn out bushings and other parts I should replace. And then if there is money left over what would you upgrade and in what order? I would like to knock out any fixes/upgrades together if it will reduce time and labor. Thanks for any help.

Almost forgot to add that I'll definitely be installing a rear view camera. I don't want to start every camping trip arguing with the wife.

 

You can't go wrong with replacing the shocks especially if they look like they were never replaced. I had a clunck in the rear when starting and it turned out to be a broken shock and they only had 46,000 on them I went with Blisteins after reading the reviews on FTE. Many members recommend them , the improvement in ride was great. Don't forget to replace the steering stabilizer as well. Welcome to our family.

 

take the rig in to a local mechanic you trust and get an inspection list of worn items that need replacing then you know you are not just throwing parts at it.

if you intend to upgrade regardless then your list is actually not that long.

I just bought my rig in the last few months also.

i have rebuilt the worn items in the front, lifted and upgraded the suspension with x/b code springs, had the gears done, sway bars, rims and tires, in dash navi, and i do not feel like i spent too much money.

Using the factory replacement spring i got all the lift i wanted with a factory quality ride

I am still less than $5000

springs, shocks, $900 ish, self installed
swapped factory gears to 4.56, $1050, yeah i know my guy is a bit cheaper than most
new black rhino wheels, and 34 inch tires $1630 $90 for mounting
jensen vx720 navi, 4 channel alpine, component speakers, $700 self installed
front receiver $200 self installed
new detroit axle bearings $147 installed at time of gears
new RC dual steering stabilizer $160.00
helwig rear sway bar $210

 

Thanks for the info. I'll definitely get the hellwig, shocks, and steering stabilizer. I'm still reading into all of the suspension options. I'm not trying to lift it at all. The stock ride height is a lot easier to maneuver a car seat into, but I would like to make it better at towing while not causing my wife to complain every time I hit a bump. I'm also curious about the brakes. My 07 F-150 supercrew was much better. I know it was also a lot lighter, but this thing just seems like it would prefer not to stop. Is it normal for a vehicle this size to be so different from an F-150 or should I look into the brakes?

 

Give the brakes a good look over for pad thickness, free movement on the slide pins and give it a complete brake fluid flush till you see new clear fluid from each of the four bleeders.
The clunk from the rear on stopping and starting may be a dry slip joint in the rear driveshaft. You can unbolt the shaft from the rear flange, open the metal clip that holds the rubber boot on then pull the shaft apart. You can then grease the splines on the slip joint up and reassemble. Ford had a specific grease for the slip joint but others here have had good luck with regular bearing/chassis grease.

And WELCOME to the EX forum and family!

 

I may have missed it, is yours 2wd or 4wd?
We have a 7k 23ft WW toy hauler we tried towing with a 2002 Exped, but decided to upgrade to a 2002 V10 2wd Excur Limited 110k 3.73 traction lock.
Our trailer has a tongue weight of 1050 lbs and came with an Equalizer weight distribution hitch.
The suspension needed some help.

Here's a list of my upgrades for towing:
Hellwig front and rear sway bars - rear is a must
Bilstein shocks - ours were shot at 104k
F250 Super Duty rear leaf springs - raised rear about 3/4"
Dorman 918-216 trans cooler, large stacked place trans cooler (both with 1/2" fittings), filter
2008 F250 differential cover - I figure Ford wouldn't have started installing these without good reason
Stock rims, load range E tires
Tow mirrors - aftermarket
GPS mounted on dash - works when no cell reception
Koso trans temp gauge & voltmeter
Rear view camera
1/2" bolt under receiver to lock slide-in from rocking
Exhaust Y-pipe from ebay
Dexter E-Z Flex tandem axle equalizer kit

Handling and towing has been great, no swaying, sometimes forget the trailer is back there.
We had a thunk in the front end when turning, but new tie rod ends fixed that.

 

Welcome Prepare for more advice than you can ever imagine. It would be good for you to fill out your signature locaated under user cp. Fill out the main information about your vehicle. I assume yours is a 4WD based on your response regarding the steering stabilizer.

The first thing most of us do is attempt to get rid of the wander even at moderate speed and to stay going straight down the road when you hit rough areas. With those in mind consider these common things whidh are done:

Alignment changes--there is a thread on alignment curing wander

Rear Hellwig ant-sway bar

Steering stabilizer

Shocks- you will get a number of suggestions

You may or may not need to adjust or replace your power steering gear box

Front anti sway bar bushings and end links if needed

Consider radius rods f you find you hit a pothole and go off in different directions than you intended. There are articles you can read about spring wrap. There is a fellow member(not me) who makes these.

Spring changes to X code in the front and D code in the rear

Experiment with air pressure front and rear. You will likely get many reccomendations based on what you are doing with your rig

Those are the major issues I can think of regarding steering and suspension which is where most people start. Welcome to the family

 

Thanks for all the input. I've ordered most of the parts already and now I just until I can get some time for the install. I decided to go with ATS and ordered new springs all around to fix the body roll and mushy feeling in the turns while helping with the towing (went with the V/C combo), hellwig and the new trailer brake controller already arrived and I'm currently looking at shocks.

For the spring and shock replacement did anyone use a lift? I saw in the tech folder that they did it on the ground, but I wasn't sure if it is required to do it on the ground or if a lift would help out? I'll have access to one this week.

Once the suspension is done I'll get the alignment knocked out and find some more ways to spend money.

 

Having a lift available means a lot less rolling around on the ground.
Those springs are heavy SOBs, so having some help is recommended. The only thing you need the ground for is to have the truck's full weight on the springs to torque everything up when finished with the swap.

 

My favorite spring thing wasn't the weight. It was the fact that Ford turned every nut and bolt backwards from the way it should have been so you would have to cut half of them off. BE sure you have a GRINDER or life will be a living HELL! Other than that, it's not too bad

 

Figured I would post an update to the mods so far. I found some time to throw the V codes and Bilsteins in the front which resulted in a 2" lift from stock. Replaced all the bump stops up front as well. I ran out of time for the rear, so I've been riding with the opposite rake I would want for a couple of weeks. I'm hoping to throw on the rear C codes, bump stops, and bilsteins this Saturday. I also changed the end links and bushings on the front sway bar, and I have a steering stabilizer waiting to go in the garage. The rear Hellwig was the first mod to go in. Even without doing the rear suspension yet it has made a gigantic difference in the handling.

The brakes are getting upgraded with the powerstop combo soon since I blew through into an intersection the other day with the pedal to the floor and the brakes made no attempt to lock up and I didn't feel the anti lock engage. I haven't done a flush on them yet, but I have the pulsating brake issue so I figured I would do it all and start with a clean slate.

I also threw in a Pioneer system with rear camera and CarPlay/HDMI inputs. Definitely worth the upgrade.

Thanks for all the input and ideas. It's coming along great, but I'm having a hard time convincing the wife to drop 2K for the 4.30 upgrade and another 2k for headers, exhaust and 5 star tuner.... Then there's the paint, updated front clip, removing the cladding. The list never ends.