Suspension Upgrades
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From: Ohio
Suspension Upgrades
I have a 2005 V10 Limited excursion and I’m looking for suggestions on suspension upgrades for towing/ everyday use. I tow a 8,000 lbs loaded travel trailer and it does great we go camping quite a bit probably 5-7 times a season so I do a lot of towing. I’m looking for better sway control and handling and better curb appeal so I’d like to level it out and maybe some bigger tires on my stock rims just don’t know how big I can/should go. Any suggestions welcome Thanks!
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From: Media PA
I have a 2005 V10 Limited excursion and I’m looking for suggestions on suspension upgrades for towing/ everyday use. I tow a 8,000 lbs loaded travel trailer and it does great we go camping quite a bit probably 5-7 times a season so I do a lot of towing. I’m looking for better sway control and handling and better curb appeal so I’d like to level it out and maybe some bigger tires on my stock rims just don’t know how big I can/should go. Any suggestions welcome Thanks!
I too have an '05 V-10 EX that is our dedicated tow rig for our 11,300 lb TT, we have logged over 37K miles towing this TT and our old 9,500 lb TH over the past 9 years. I have made a few mods to mine to ours to make it a better tow vehicle. These mods include all new springs (modded X codes in front and modded B codes in rear), deeper 4.88 gears (combined with 35" tires for an effective 4.39 ratio), Banks long tube headers and Y pipe, 3030XL muffler, and 5Star tuning' custom tunes. We use a Hensley Arrow sway elimination WD hitch to keep them playing well together. We are very happy with the end result and the performance of the combo, so much better when the EX was all stock.
Tell us some more about your EX and towing setup, what you currently have, how it performs and what you are maybe thinking of doing to improve the experience. Do you currently have a sway issue, if so that is a serious issue that needs to be tamed before anything else. Do you have any scale numbers of your rig and TT?
What gears does your EX have? Tire's? Size, load range and pressures (including the TT)?
OP, Welcome to the FTE! Paging @WE3ZS to the white phone!!
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From: Ohio
I don’t have any scale numbers on my trailer and rig. I just know the sucker feels heavy on any incline. The truck is all stock and I have a Reese wd hitch with anti sway bar and I’m very pleased with how it performs. I don’t get much sway unless it’s very windy. My truck has 3.73 gears, stock rims and tire size, stock springs and shocks and no engine mods. I guess what I’m looking for mostly is to get rid of the sloppy feel of the stock suspension without compromising the towing capabilities while also giving the truck better curb appeal. I don’t want to go too big though mostly just level it out front to rear with some bigger tires.
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Determine the size tire you want is the first step,
step 2 , tire size determines what gear ratio you need
step 3, lift amount is built around tire size.
Step 4. Select shocks based on desired ride quality.
if you decided to not do a gear ratio change and keep the stock tire size then you could just get rid of the sloppy feel by getting new shocks and replacing any worn suspension components you currently have.
help us determine the condition of your current suspension by measuring all 4 corners hub center to bottom of fender arc and posting the results, also a pic of the front bump stop and leaf spring.
step 2 , tire size determines what gear ratio you need
step 3, lift amount is built around tire size.
Step 4. Select shocks based on desired ride quality.
if you decided to not do a gear ratio change and keep the stock tire size then you could just get rid of the sloppy feel by getting new shocks and replacing any worn suspension components you currently have.
help us determine the condition of your current suspension by measuring all 4 corners hub center to bottom of fender arc and posting the results, also a pic of the front bump stop and leaf spring.
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Okay so I went ahead and got the vcode springs for the front of my ex and now I have a reverse rake and I’m wondering what parts I need to correct it to level it out or put a very slight front rake back in.
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personally I prefer a 380 lbs inch spring over the factory 410 lbs inch.
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Yeah so I got a set of 20 in wheels and 34 in tire from a newer f250 and got the correct 2 in wheel spacers. Everything seems to fit good. I haven’t had any rubbing yet. I just want to put a slight front rake back into it cause I do tow a 8,000 lbs camper quite a few times a year and want strong rear springs that will also give me the lift I need to put the rake back in.
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) so go ahead and make a trip with the 34"s and 3.73s to see how you like that new 3.47 effective ratio. I pulled our old 9,500lb TH with our stock V-10 with the stock 31.6" tire's and a set of 32"s and it was a dog and would downshift if it ran over a shadow. But you may have a different experience with your combination, so give it a trip to decide, you won't hurt it but don't expect the same level of towing performance from it now, it seemed like you were not happy with how it pulled the inclines in the past, it should suffer even more there now. With those new 34"s and new 4.88 gears it should be a much better tow rig with a 4.54 effective ratio, that's a step deeper than mine at 4.39 effective and I'm very happy with how my 6.8 handles the 11,300 lbs TT. 