And yet another one "pirate'd" to death...

You really do come across as a jerk. I'm guessing you're actually probably not.

So how about you just take some time to do full write-up of what you suggest to do instead of picking people to death until they give up in frustration with dealing with you? Mods could even make it a sticky and you can easily refer people to it.

GA, still not dead...

 

rather noteworthy that you are not offering any advice to the OP to resolve his issue. if you were able to help the OP meet his goals then there would be no need for me to drone on.

 

OK. Let's try this again. So far, I'm happy with mods I've done and plan to do. I found a Moog front end refurbish kit that looks solid. I'll install that soon.
I have read about a Borgeson steering shaft that eliminates the rag joint that also looks like a good idea as well. Has anyone done this swap? Can't seem to get a read with a search.
Thanks.
ASFC27FTFBQ

 

Okay fellas, really? C'mon, we get along better than this.

ASF, I do not understand how you've reached this attitude of "good grief" when you haven't provided the necessary information by answering the questions being posed to you. I mean, I can take a shot in the dark and suggest rear springs and front springs for you, but without knowing certain information, I have no idea if my suggestions will fit the criteria you've chosen, such as.....

Right off the bat you can see a problem if I answered "Get XYZ spring, which has a rate of ABC" because that suggestion might raise the height of your rig, which is something you don't want to happen. But you won't grab a tape measure and give us the information that will allow us to give you educated answers. There's no way for me to know if my suggestion will increase your ride height without knowing where your suspension measures, as it sits now.

Do you see the problem?

Are you reading the same posts I am? All I see if someone trying to help, asking questions without getting answers, then getting grief for asking specific questions, so proper answers can be given.

One thing Camo isn't scared of is providing DETAILED instructions on how to achieve a goal for a suspension on a rig, even to the point of proving scanned information from published books backing the information he's providing. But it's not a cookie cutter situation, nor is it a cookie cutter answer. The OP has very specific criteria he wants met, yet he isn't proving the detailed information requested so we can properly answer his questions while meeting the criteria he needs/wants.

It's not rocket science guys. Users come here and ask questions for help with their suspensions. Information has to be provided so those questions can be answered.

I guess on the flip side we (Camo, me, or any Tom, Dick, or Harry who posts) can tell whomever is asking the suspension question (speaking generally here), to purchase a specific spring, and if the OP blindly follows that advice, and he gets more lift than he wants, who will be to blame? Or better yet (specifically speaking), if I tell the OP, "Oh, replace your springs with XYZ springs, you'll be good to go." I bet his next question would be, "But will it affect my ride height?"

How can I answer that question without knowing where his ride height is presently?

Stewart

 

Like i I said above, get the mods done you have lined up, then get the WD hitch dialed in on the Streamer and give it a tow. Only then will you know what you may like or dislike about how it handles that chore. If the TT causes more rear end squat than desired air bags are a good choice as they offer more adjustability than any other spring option. So, tow first, then address any issues that job presents. That's my advice at this point.
Is your factory rag joint giving you a problem?

 

Ok. Got some measurements. Center of hub to fender lip - 20.5" - Front both sides. 22.5" - Rear both sides. Shocks Bilstein 4600. I looked at my last alignment report and on both sides I am in the 3 degree range. On my 2 wheel drive, will a 4 degree Moog caster bushing get me 5 degrees or are their other tricks to get there?
ASFC27FTFBQ

 

Yes,there is also a caster shim available in different degrees º

 

Thanks for the input, but it doesn't help me. I'm looking for a way to get the 5 degrees of caster that Pirate claims is the ticket to issue free steering. I have read a lot about this, but only can find articles pertaining to 4 wheel drive models that use a leaf spring wedge in addition to the caster bushings like the 4 degree ones that Moog produces. I have a 2 wheel drive, thus no leaf springs. I currently have 3.5 degrees caster for the left side and 4.4 degrees on the right side (just looked at my most recent alignment sheet). What, if anything, do I need to get to the 5 degrees, besides the 4 degree caster bushings?

Thanks.

ASFC27FTFBQ

 

I tow with a 2WD. Here's what I've done to date to set it up. Truck pulls nice now (though on-center wander isn't as good as the F-250 was).

- Replaced all front ball joints and steering ends. Lots of looseness in there after 15+ years and 100k miles.
- Used eccentric bushings to adjust caster and camber. Got me to -0.3* camber, 5.7* caster, and we set it to 0" toe. Tracks a lot nicer now.
- Stock rear springs. I wanted to keep the ride quality nice for when I'm just people-hauling.
- Biltein 4600 shocks. Meh. Still not enough rebound for my tastes.
- Hellwig rear swaybar. Honestly, it helped in regular driving but I didn't really notice a difference when towing.
- Airlift rear bags. Big difference for keeping truck level, even when not towing. Gotta keep the bags up at around 25psi if anything's in back (even when not towing) to keep the bags from bottoming.
- Roadmaster Active Suspension, heavy-duty version. Very nice setup, made a big difference in handling and load capability. Bags are now run at 45-50 instead of 80psi. Did it after the Hellwig, would likely not have installed the Hellwig had I done it the other way around.
- Reese weight-distributing hitch with dual-cam sway control. Fantastic hitch. I'm not sure how much the cams do for sway but I've been running that setup for 10 years.- Bilstein 4600 shocks. Meh. Nice replacements but there's still not enough rebound in them, front end gets floaty.
- Hawk LTS pads. Very good pads, no more fade.
- 6L PSD trans cooler. BIIIIIG improvement in trans temps, I rarely see above 180* when towing even on the hottest of days.
- FA1759 Ford air cleaner kit to replace the noisy Koni cone filter that came when I bought it.
- DP Tuner daughterboard. Pulls like a freight train.

Despite all this, the truck still wandered a bit when pulling my 28' enclosed trailer, no matter how much tongue weight I put on it. But it was manageable. Trucks would sway the trailer when passing either direction so you had to be on your toes. We'd take the same exact trailer, loaded the same exact way, and hitch it using the same exact hitch to a dually Chevy 3500 we have, and it's rock solid. But the Excursion would catch your attention towing.

In March 2018 we decided to use the Excursion to pull our 15k# 34-foot 2-car enclosed trailer (the below photo) from NJ to Texas and back. It seemed to tow fine on local streets so we hit the road southwest-bound...boy did this setup catch our attention. We almost could not control the trailer when trucks were passing, it would move us over 1/4 lane or more. All the way down to Austin was white-knuckle driving, and extremely tiring. We had three drivers so we kept moving along at a 55-60mph pace and would brace ourselves each time we were getting passed. It got so that when we hit the Louisiana border we started taking side roads to Austin just to avoid passing trucks on the Interstate.

This, despite all the above mods. It accelerated like a train, and with three-axle trailer brakes it stopped really, really nice, but highway cruising was eye-opening.

After making it to Austin safely, and discussing it over a few beers, we got to thinking that the only thing left to try was better wheels and tires. We could get two guys pushing on the quarter panels of the Excursion in rythm and easily observe the tire sidewall flexing - a lot. I even remember hanging out of the passenger window a couple times going down the highway and looking back at the rear suspension, and it was clear that the tires were flexing badly. This, on stock 16" wheels with new Cooper Discoverer H/T tires, 265/75/R16.

I got on Craigslist and started searching; found a brandy-new set of 2017 F-250 take-off wheels and tires, 20x8 wheels with 275/65-20 Michelin LTX tires. Bought those and ordered some aluminum wheel spacers from Motorsports Tech Inc to accomodate the differences in offset and bolt pattern (since we were racing in New Orleans we had left the rig in Louisiana after the Austin race and flown home). After getting all the pieces/parts installed on the Excursion we headed to the next race track...and it was a transformed beast. I mean really transformed. No more white-knuckle, no more getting moved sideways on the highway by trucks. It was truly night and day. It was so comfy to drive that a couple times I had to discourage one of my co-drivers from going 75-80 mph down the highway all the way back home...

"Some say" it had absolutely nothing to do with the wheel sizes, and everything to do with the tires. Fine, then if you believe that I encourage you to purchase stock-size Michelin LTX tires and see if that helps. But frankly, purchasing those wheels/tires/spacers was the #1 absolute best towing mod I ever made on that truck. And I'll do it again in a heartbeat if I get another one (actually, I'll just steal these off the current truck before I sell it... )

Have fun!

Greg

 

Sounds like you went through a lot of work getting things dialed in. It looks like you have it handled. What, how did you get your caster numbers so high? I'm looking at getting some 4 degree bushings by Moog, but that's all I know. For 2 wheel drive vehicles, what else is there to do?

Thanks.

ASFC27FBQ

 

I brought the truck to a local shop that was familiar with what I wanted. They bought the bushings, installed them, and aligned it. Receipt says simply "Camber/Caster Bushing, OEM Type Plus or Minus 2 degree". "Before" chart showed 4.3L/4.8R caster. Get yours checked, it may be close already...

Have you read this thread? The Definitive 2WD Excursion Suspension Upgrade I have no interest in lifting mine; it *just* slips through my garage door so that I can put one end or the other on the lift to work on an end (my garage is too short to fit the whole truck in there).

About the only other thing I want to do to mine is install a limited-slip diff. Shocked that Ford didn't install that in all 2WDs...my 1WD truck loses grip in wet grass on a slight incline...