Depending on which way your pitman arm is pointing you can use a combination of both:

- Drag link to center the pitman arm
- Pull the wheel to center it

Just my .02

 

Just to chime in about taking the steering wheel off to center it on the column, thats not possible to my knowledge, at least it wasn't on my 2003 Ex. The wheels is splined/keyed so it only goes on the steering shaft/clockspring one way as well as the wiring for the clockspring being oriented specifically, so you have to make your adjustments at the drag link.

Here is a photo when i did my wood steering wheel swap.

 

Thanks for the input on the steering wheel centering. I am learning from you guys now.

OK. Driveshaft that went to the Dana 50 is 1 inch too long when the slip joint is fully compressed. We don't want it compressed, or the slip joint can't do its job as the axle moves up and down in its travel arc. The shaft being too long now is due to the longer pinion snout on the D60. Get the shaft from the donor, or have yours shortened. I was just quoted $100 to shorten it from a local QUALITY shop with a good reputation. $75 to balance it. The new measurement for the Dana 60 is 41 1/4" from flange of the T-case to the yoke on the Dana 60.

 

I got the wheel well liners in. This is an item you might want to consider getting from the donor if they are there. It was not hard to trim them, but if you can get them for free I would grab them. Here is how I did it:


Driver side stock with the blanket on it. The blanket tells you where to trim for buckets.


Trim with whatever tool suits you.


Installed back view.


Installed front view.


Passenger side stock


Trimmed to match the blanket.


Front side view


Back side

After install, I went for a test drive...well, after I removed the front driveshaft. I broke in/set in the brake pads. Once that was done, I could hear a noise from the front right. It ended up being the brake shield sticking up a little and rubbing on the inside of the rotor. Couple taps with a rubber mallet, and it was back to the shape it should be. Hubs lock fine, and they unlock fine with vacuum applied.

As to the ride, it is VERY different. It is much softer on the bumps and pot holes, and....NO MORE POPPING NOISES WHEN I TURN CORNERS! WooHoo!!!! This is certainly a more refined, Cadillac ride with the coils. You 2wd guys know what I am referring to. Test drive wasn't super long. I have an appointment to get it aligned in the morning. I have to say it did not pull either way going down the road. I have no idea about the toe in or out, though. My guy says he will adjust the steering wheel for me using the drag link, so I didn't mess with it today. For $100 alignment, I'll let him earn his money.

 

OK, I couldn't help myself. I took it out for a run down the highway. While I had it down for surgery, I replaced all the door seals. The fronts were salvaged from a '10 F350, and I bought the rears new. Anyway, with the humming rear end gone (my old rear end needed pinion bearings...at a minimum), the door seals installed, and the new tires on...it is SUPER QUIET in the cab now. My 7.3L X has never been this quiet, even with the stock exhaust and before all the mods I have done to it.

No wander at highway speeds (I experienced it, so I know what it feels like!). The steering is very responsive, though. No slack at all in the steering wheel, where I did have about 1.5 inches of play. I attribute that to the better/bigger steering gear box and all new/tight steering parts. I am going to have to relearn how to drive it now.

Brakes...HOLY COW this thing stops fast. I was able to get the ABS to kick in several times when breaking in the pads, and that was on dry pavement. More pedal travel, but MORE STOPPING POWER...no question about it at all! Just like the experts said it would be.

I stopped at a gas station, and a guy walked up to me and told me I had a super nice Excursion. He commented they "used to put 7.3L engines in those", and I told him this one has one. He was shocked. I don't think he thought it was old enough to have one with the '16 rims and 05+ front end.

Very, very happy with the results so far. I will post up the before and after alignment numbers tomorrow evening.

 

Your EX looks great. Congratulations on completing the swap. I can't imagine how many hours you have in it with all of the part research, restoration of parts, and install. Not to mention the time you spent documenting the whole process and posting all of the details. Well done.

 

As far as time goes, 10 hrs to remove the axles and parts off the donor. I counted ~20 hrs on actual install. Lots and lots of time into rebuilding, prepping and research...you are correct about that.

 

Sounds like it was all worthwhile. Congrats Mike!

 

Very nicely done! I can't imagine how many hours you must have spent with all the painting and documenting that you did. I wish I had the time to do this to my Ex. For the record, since I rebuilt my front axle my ex has also been a lot smoother and quieter although I still have a wee bit of wander which I may be able to get rid of with a better alignment. And my fuel economy went up by .2 mpg, and while that doesn't sound like a lot it just goes to show how much worn out parts can hurt fuel economy and NVH.

 

Well, that was the alignment from hell. The machine did not like the '07 axles on the '01 chassis. However, it is now done right.

I almost had it right from just measuring the old setup. I was very close:


The caster specs on the coil setup is maxed out at 3.5* +/- .55* according to the computer, where the leaf setup is allowed 5.5*.

We had the caster on the right set slightly more than the left to compensate for these Texas road crowns.

I had to go in to work, so the wife picked it up. She notes the suspension is very different in how it feels over bumps and dips. She says it has a soft bounce to it now. She is not sure she likes how sensitive the steering wheel is now with all the play taken out. I told her, "OK then, it will be my daily driver." She quickly said she could live with it and it was still hers...

 

Already sold the front and rear axles, shocks, front V code springs, and rims. Got a little money back...

Modified first post with money spent and lots of part numbers I used to buy replacement parts.

 

Mike, you nailed this project not only for you but for the rest of us following in your footsteps! Thank ou so much for taking the time to document and share. Can you tell us more about the eccentric sleeves. Will this be mandatory for the rest of us or is it a case by case situation?
How did the drive shaft shop know the exact length? Did you use the lengtg difference in yoke position from old to the new or just the length from transfer case to diff?

 

David, I measured from the flange off the T-case to the bolt holes on the yoke off the axle. 41.25" now. That is what they need to know, and with the slip joint in the equation, they will cut it down to around 39" or so to accommodate the travel arc of the axle as it goes up and down. I drop it off in the morning to have it modified. I will post up exactly what they do to it with pics. With the slip joint compressed all the way, the axle is currently 42.25" long.

I will get the part number for the eccentric sleeves they used. They were 3.5* sleeves, and they have a two piece body instead of one. I was told they are a pain to adjust, but they are the problem solver for this Frankenstein type problem. The guys that did my alignment are old school guys. They have been Ford mechanics for 30+ years. They told me the machine did not like the numbers from the frame and axle combo, and they had to play with it quite a bit. The 2* sleeves I bought just wouldn't get the camber right without messing up the caster and vice versa. They messed with it for hours, and they have a ton of experience.

This is an example. It has two pieces to increase the options for the guy doing the alignment.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/m...0010=4WD%2FAWD

and another

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/e...yABEgJ1BPD_BwE

 

I went by the shop this morning, and I talked with the owner and the tech. They could not get the correct eccentric caster/camber sleeve before close of business yesterday. That would have been:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/parts/mo...+bushing,13508



So, they used the 2* bushings I had already installed, adjusted the toe on both sides and they lubed the bushing inside and out with anti-sieze (old school trick I am told). When they hooked the wheels back up to the machine, it gave the final numbers you saw on my sheet above. Almost dead on, and now I wish I had bought the 2.5* sleeve. The anti-seize took out the friction factor, and let the ball joint settle in to the sleeve better.

All that said, it drove fantastic this morning down the highway. There is some memory steer with the brand new ball joints and the new sleeves in there. I am told this will go away after about 1000 miles. Hope this helps someone when they go for their initial alignment.

 

FWIW, there are few variants of this kit around. You can add a caster adjusting cam to the lower link mounting hole.