I don't need the high performance shocks...but I would certainly like competent quality shocks...what would you say?

 

The ones in my signature. It's the best you can get

 

Looking for something for our family truck. We do a bit of camper pulling but mainly only a few weekends a year and maybe one week-long trip. We drive a lot of country roads.

 

Oh, well in that case...

 

Are you looking for springs also, or just replacing the shocks? The two main ones that people go back and forth on are rancho and bilsteins. If you use the search button, there will be more pages than you can read on the topic.

 

Not everyone wants to blow almost $400 for Bilsteins. I went with the KYB Gas-A-Just shocks which were just under $160 for all four. I have run KYB products on previous cars without issue.

Once installed on the Excursion, there was a noticeable difference compared to the old OEM ones which were pretty much blown. If I had to do it over again, I would make the same purchase.

KYB has several flavors. There are also Rancho, Bilstein, and Monroe (yuck). Check RockAuto and then if you find something you like, check the part number on Amazon as it might qualify for Prime.

If you're mechanically-inclined, the install is a piece of cake and can be accomplished in about an hour with only simple hand tools. You don't even have to jack up the car or take the wheels off. Check the tech folder for a good how-to.

Good luck.

 

Rich.........


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If your X is stock go with the Blistein 4600's, if it is raised the 5100 are the way to go. You will love the ride, way better than stock.
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the kyb monomax is available for stock height Excursions and is roughly equivlant to the bilstien 5000 series valving but almost 1/2 the cost.

the bilstien 4000 series is in my humble opinion not much of change ftom factory valving. they seem to have a little more compression valving and rebounnd seems equivlant.

 

I put the factory shocks on my 2005 V10. I'm well pleased.

After reading reviews here...which were helpful....I found that only Ford offers a different shock for the front of the Ex depending on whether it's a gasser or a diesel. The aftermarket doesn't make that distinction.

 

v10 weighs about 650 lbs and a 7.3 weighs about 920 for a diffrence of 270 lbs.
270 lbs is about 3% of the curb weight of the ex. honestly i doubt if they valve them diffrenty and if they are i seriously doubt you could tell in the ex given its overall handeling. you would notce a 250 lb or 3% difference in a lightweight high performance sports cat but not in a 8000 brick

 

pirate, you certainly could be correct but there was/is a different part number in the original equipment and still a different part number from Ford for the front shocks depending on the engine.

Another part of my decision was the number of different responses I read about when researching new shocks for my Ex at the time. It seemed (probably 2 years ago) that one person loved (insert shock brand and model here) while others had problems with same.

I was content with the OEM ride etc when new, so I figured it was a safe bet....

 

Yeah, that's something I noticed as well. IIRC Matt (Krazee) had/has the same as I have and ran his into the ground (after like 100k miles or something crazy) and they worked great for him. That was my main reason for going with mine.

 

I am leaning toward Monroe Reflex...they have many models of "reflex". Which one do I want?

 

i think its awesome you are keeping your Ex as original as possible as far as ford part numbers go, it is not uncommon for all the auto mfgs to have vehicle specific part numbers for the exact same part. ford is also known for changing part numbers for seemingly unknown reasons. and yes, ride quality is subjective. what one person loves another person hates. just have to find what works for you.