Spent the last 5 days on a road trip and the suspension was mediocre. Floats more like a Cadillac on the freeway, but also has some slight wandering, also the steering is more sensitive. Compared to what I had before, I wouldn’t have spent the money knowing what the end result would be.

I’m still going to try different shocks/springs to see if I can get it where I want it. I’m not too far from King Shocks headquarters so I may go and talk to them directly; also need to determine if I can put 6” shocks and 14” springs on (which according to Pirate I should be able to). I’m too deep in to stop now, so I’ll keep going to get it right. Then will need to see if someone wants to buy the current shocks I have so I’m not out a ton of money.

 

you bought and installed a suspension system that is 100% tunable and capable of producing any desired ride quality, handling and ride height you desire.

unlike most “lift kits” that are a set configuration.

you can drastically alter the current Cadallic Float, wander and sensitive steering by making the appropriate adjustments to your setup.

 

This thread is full of misinformation and needs some clarification. Unbelievable how bad something can spin out of control from those who have just enough information to sound like they know what's going on. Erik, all you had to do was call or email me to be sure of what this vehicle has on it instead of assuming. (we all know what assuming leads to). This customers vehicle has a 22.5" EX x 7" stroke 2.5" King. on it. It has a 16" x 500 lb/in. single rate spring on it. The reason we spec a 500 lb spring is because the 2005+ Super Duty nominal rate is 494 lb/in. We have been using this rate with rave reviews on the literally hundreds of these kits we have sold since releasing this kit in late 2005. It's the same valving code Drew specified way back then. This shock is specific to this kit and not universal. Really disappointed you would assume that. We provided this customer with what stock ride height is per our notes for a stock Excursion and he has chosen to ignore it. His vehicle was already lifted when he started this project and he has no idea what actual net lift he started with. It certainly his prerogative to set it up any way he would like, but that has nothing to do with what we sold him. He has a suspension combo that when spring pre-load is backed off all the way will net around 4.5 of lift. He could have some additional weight in the rear contributing to rear weight transfer, or failing rear springs. This would raise the front slightly. He also says it doesn't drive that great. That's total garbage. If it doesn't drive enormously better as far as on-center feel, then it's not aligned properly. We didn't install it, or align it. The shop that did install it is very competent and has done a couple of these for OffRoad magazine in the past.

Steve- Full-Traction

 

If anyone has questions about our product, please call or email. There's no one on this board that can correctly answer your questions about our product without speculating.

Why speculate?

 

if you are in a tizzy because I called the King shock “universal” then ok, for your marketing purposes I will recant that and be very specific.

it is a King shock that had been configured to Full Tractions EXACT specifications.

that said, each of the race style shock manufactures king, fox, bilstein ect offer a multitude of parts that allows a user to configure the shock to their needs, this is what makes them universal.

aside from that I do not believe I speculated about anything other then my opinion of the Full Traction kit being the best link kit on the market. speculation? sure but it is my opinion.

 

I should have started with, Hello Steve. nice to see you on FTE. hope you stick around, plenty of opportunities to share your wealth of experience and knowledge around here.

competent shop ? perhaps but it would have never left my shop no only crooked but not configured to the customers request. fwiw, I have done more then a couple of these.

 

Erik,

Not in a tizzy at all. I know you're trying to get it right for all concerned. Call me on the number I left you on FB messenger or 800-255-6464 and we can get everyone the right info.

Steve

 

I should have started with, Hello Steve. nice to see you on FTE. hope you stick around, plenty of opportunities to share your wealth of experience and knowledge around here.

competent shop ? perhaps but it would have never left my shop no only crooked but not configured to the customers request. fwiw, I have done more then a couple of these.

 

fwiw, I do not see your number on my FB ? but no matter lets get the info to the Original poster of this thread and the rest of us can learn along the way.

To summarize, OP States he has a PR2508OD-COHR King Shock. Kings website lists this is a Performance Race 2.5" with 8" shaft measuring 16" collapsed and 24" Extended. currently with a 300/16 spring.

Steve is saying the shock is a 22.5" extended 7" shaft ( unknown collapsed length ) originally spec"ed with a 500/16 spring


original install netted a Center of Hub to Bottom of fender arch ride height of 30.5"

Currently ride height is 28" CH-BFA

Customer Desires a 27" ride height. Steve what do you recommend needs to be done to achieve the desired 27" ride height ?
Also, handling wise what are your recommended alignment specs or if you have a personal favorite alignment setup please share it.


* For the record, I am sticking with my caveat stated on post #26

"you need to figure out why one the adjustment collars are not equal in the last pics you posted. if it is because as i suspect the track bar loading one side then my unsprung weight calculation is off. you must resolve the uneven adjustment before you do anything else.
for all we know your ride height may be 27” once the adjusters are even. right now you have a unbalanced weight distribution that needs to be resolved."

 

[QUOTE=pirate4x4_camo;19135283]fwiw, I do not see your number on my FB ? but no matter lets get the info to the Original poster of this thread and the rest of us can learn along the way.

To summarize, OP States he has a PR2508OD-COHR King Shock. Kings website lists this is a Performance Race 2.5" with 8" shaft measuring 16" collapsed and 24" Extended. currently with a 300/16 spring.

Our shock is that same body/shaft combo with a 1" internal spacer to bring it to 7" stroke. It has a .5" shorter cap on it. It starts life with that tag before modification I guess.

Steve is saying the shock is a 22.5" extended 7" shaft ( unknown collapsed length ) originally spec"ed with a 500/16 spring

The collapsed is: 15.5"

original install netted a Center of Hub to Bottom of fender arch ride height of 30.5"

Correct

Currently ride height is 28" CH-BFA

Meaning we're now at 2.5" net or so lift over stock

Customer Desires a 27" ride height. Steve what do you recommend needs to be done to achieve the desired 27" ride height ?
Also, handling wise what are your recommended alignment specs or if you have a personal favorite alignment setup please share it.

We don't offer a shock that short. It doesn't exist in that combo. We've talked to King about this a few times and always come back to having some wheel travel being extremely important to the reasons for doing this conversion in the first place. The relationship of the frame/axle tube is the same for truck/Ex. If he wants to have 1.0" to 1.5" of compression travel he could probably run a 14" - 500lb. with a 2" tender spring. He could also start trimming stages off of that jounce bumper. From the photos, it looks like we're inside of 4.5" of lift which has the track bar bottomed out on adjustment and is kicking the axle to the right. That's why the sway bar arm is contacting the track bar bracket because the collars that keep the sway bar centered are probably to the right as well. Those arms don't normally touch that bracket even at full bump.

 

lets start with the factory specs.

Ford measures curb weight ride height from the bump stop landing pad on the axle to the bump stop mounting surface on the frame.

Factory spec on the Excursion is 4.4”
SRW F250 & F350 is 4.25” to 5.20”

for casual conversation nobody wants to crawl under their vehicle to obtain these measurements and the Center of Hub to Bottom of Fender Arch has become ( at least on FTE ) the default method of discussing “lift”

... rant on..
personally I hate calling it lift because I could care less how much “lift” you have, I care how much suspension travel is available and how that travel is allocated to up/down travel. when building or setting up a suspension my goal is maximum travel and minimum ride height.
....rant off...

anyhow by converting the factory measurements to CH-BOFA or center of hub to bottom of fender arch it is generally accepted the Excursion stock ride height is 23” front and 24” rear.

obviously this method is less then perfect since some Excursions have plastic cladding and some do not. Also the bottom of the fender arch can be interpreted as the body line crease or the edge of the sheet metal in the wheel well. so give or take 1/4 to that 23” but again this is for general conversation not spot on setup purposes.

If we go with the Stock Excursion 23” front measurement then at least in the eyes of your customers the OPs current 28” ride height would be a 5” lift on the Excursion not a 2.5”

The OP is wanting a 27” ride height which a typical or at least a FTE educated Excursion owner is going to call that a 4” lift.

I am not going to assume how or why you call your kit #FTS7856 a 6” kit but using the CH-BOFA arch method a reasonable person could expect that to measure 29” on the Excursion.


anyhow, my point being is it would seem you and the OP are not seeing eye to eye on what constitutes a 4” lift due to different data points.

 

Pirate, thanks a lot for all of your help. Wish you were local to me so you could check it out as you are clearly the expert on Excursions. As stated before, I am no expert in any of this and just trying to get a 4” lift + good ride.

The kit I purchased was the 4.5”, Part #FTS7850, not the 6” lift. Just reiterating what has already been discussed, I installed the 16” 300lbs springs and am sitting at 28” with preload. The 16” 500lbs springs that came with the kit were even higher. Hopefully I will have time later this week or next week to talk to King directly to see if, 1) I got the correct shocks, or 2) there is an alternative solution that will get me closer to 4” over stock (27”).

Supporting what you are saying stock height is, below are some pics from the factory Excursion Workshop Manual as well as the shocks I have.


Factory manual.

Bottom right shows 4.44” front.

Shocks.

 

if you are ever in NorCal I am in the Sacramento area, I would gladly take your Ex for a spin to check it out

for now though I am still of the opinion that the first order of business needs to be resolving the unequal adjustment on the spring collars. until that is figured out you do not really know what your ride height is going to be with that shock.

once that is sorted out I think the sway bar contact will also be resolved as Steve pointed out that should not be happening even at full compression.

My concern even at your current ride height with that shock is the amount of up travel. Looking at the King catalog the listed 2.5” x 6” shock has a compressed length of 14”. I will have to get the rest of the specs from King but it would seem to me that to be 2” shorter overall when compressed then the 8” shock and 1.5” shorter then the 7” Full Traction specific King shock with the 8” body and .5” shorter end cap that the 6” shock body would have to indeed be shorter, this would allow for additional up travel at 27” ride height even though the overall travel will be decreased by 1”

but then again, what do I know as apparently I am not qualified to correctly answer questions on this.

seriously though, get the unequal adjustment sorted out so we can see what the real ride height is and stop mulling over a self induced issue.

In the mean time, stay positive because at the end of this you will have a bitchen suspension. Nobody ever said building custom stuff was easy but you will sure learn a thing or two in the process.

 

Update to my previous post:
I ended up throwing good money after bad, got some custom shocks from King, made some other minor modifications, and everything is absolutely perfect now. Went with a custom 6” shock and 14” 500 lbs springs. Ride and handling are amazing. Height is now 27” in front and 28” in rear.

 

Makes me wonder if PMF's buckets would have helped here:"PMF HD Coilover Buckets are designed to mimic the factory OEM coil bucket dimensions and shapes while being slightly taller and incorporating a coilover mount. The additional height and built in coilover mount relocates the upper shock mount as far up as you can go so you can get as long of a coilover as possible without having to relocate major engine compartment components. This typically gains an additional 2.5-3" of potential travel."

Full Traction could have sold a million of these kits if it they could have come up with a way to option the lift down to 2-3 inches. Say what you want, IMO many of us would choose a bolt on kit vs. the whole axle swap thing. Oddly, for me it's just been the small matter of wanting to keep my current wheels and tires.