First Off, not asking about tires, im well versed in tires and their speed ratings(from my mustang /racing days), im more concerned with the handing and maneuvering aspects of the excursion in its stock 2WD coil spring front end form.

Mine feels pretty firm in the front as far as travel and does not exhibit any squirreling like i have felt in other large vehicles before, my Expeditions have seen 100 in a pinch without issue and they are sort of in a similar ball park.

I also do not have any play in the steering which is something i noticed was really bad on a couple of Excursions i test drove, but one of them had a front end collision in its past, so i dont know if it was the leaf spring setup as that one was 4x4, or if the steering box or steering demensions,were actually screwed up from the impact. It actually had a 3-3.5 inch dead area in the center where you could turn the wheel back and fourth about 3-4 inches and have no effect on the actual vehicle path on the road, and i cannot believe that is normal.

I have had my Excursion to 90, maybe 95 a couple times going down sloped on-ramps ***** in and having fun but i have not sustained any high speed in it as of yet, where as in my red 05 Expedition, i did a moonlight run from San Diego to Phoenix with an average speed of 90-95 the whole way without issue going over the I-8 route even in the hills, but that truck is tuned up also, and is a 3V 5.4 4x4 which are quite torque happy when tuned properly, and with all the throttle smoothing grannies removed(don't believe me try it.)

I do not intend to sustain any more speed than what the Expedition has ever(thats what the Mustangs are for), (Except in event of emergency), but I also do not want to do that if there are suspension and handling nuances that should first be addressed to do it safely and properly. If this was a Mustang, i have a suspension guy, and some personal familiarity, but on these trucks, rather than "wing it" with my Mustang knowledge, I would rather just get sound advice from those who actually know the suspensions on these vehicles.

Im sure plenty people here have tested the waters of the Excursions speed constraints, and im interested to hear your experiences, FYI I am aware the Excursions were governed out at 95, However, mine is not, and i suspect many others are not also, at least not anymore.

In one of my Mustangs(3 of them now), I may or may not have pulled 155 MPH out in a pinch for "reasons" out in Cali about 7-9 years ago(foggy on the time) on the I-15, and i have done my share of both Street, and Track Racing, im familiar with performance driving, handling, etc, Im not going to be the one to post back next week saying i bent it around a pole, and then landed it in a ditch, and then it sank, lol. And I have never wrecked any of my vehicles during a race or while practicing/having fun, I always make sure to learn the limits of any vehicle i drive long before im pushing those limits hard, and never on tires that have even a ghost of a question on their health and quality which is why my Mustang runs Nitto 555 G2s religiously. I practice in safe environments, where if i were to spin out/loose control, which has happened a few times, there is nothing to hit, or run over, etc...

 

Go out and run it up to 90. Then lay into the brakes with all you have. Then signal and change lanes.

 

traffic around here is ~80 mph, there is no laying into the brakes even when i do 90 down the onramp, its more like let off the gas for 3 or 5 seconds and your now synced with traffic speed lol, im on the outskirts, not downtown, in the HOV lane people are usually pushing 85-90 sometimes more as it is.

Traffic here reminds me of downtown LA Cali sometimes, except its not bumper to bumper while doing 80+, and motorcycles dont fly between cars breaking peoples mirrors off lane splitting at 95-100 mph like kamikaze bombers.

 

Our friend @Krazee Matt set the Excursion Land Speed record 143 MPH, best I did was 129 MPH (IIRC).

Both 7.3L Diesel.
GPS recorded level road.

 

I recently had my 03 Excursion 6.0 in Chicago on the belt line around and was above 81 the whole way around... takes about 45 minutes from South to North end. Slowest I was down to was 81, highest around 95. I didn't like running all the RPM in my diesel though, but it ran phenomenally! Can an Excursion do it, yes? Do I recommend it, not sure? I felt safe in mine or I wouldn't of done it, but to each their own. Mine has ceramic pads all the way around, and slotted and cross drilled front rotors, so it stops good too. I drove from Columbus Ohio to Oshkosh Wisconsin and got 18.4 MPG with my 5 star 50HP tow tune installed, and didnt baby it.

 

I don't think im likely to break that, tho it might be fun to try, but in the Mustang 155 felt like 100-110 smoothness and handling wise. Aluminum Driveshaft eliminated a lot of the high speed vibration, and rotating mass inertia and actually made it "feel" like i bolted on some HP and Torque numbers even though i know its just been free'd up and allowed to accel/decel faster due to the less inertia and resistance on the Drive Shaft. Doing over 125 in this car made you feel nervous due to vibration and some noise that turned out to be from the 2 piece steel drive shaft from the factory which has a center joint, new one is solid front to back and certified for 1000 hp, so do not think i will ever break it.

 

To be fair, my rig had more upgrades than most. I haven’t posted on here in forever, but Mark gave me a tap on the shoulder.

The steering dead zone isn’t super uncommon, the boxes are old and have a good bit on wander to them. Most Excursion’s also don’t have a rear swaybar, so if you’re after a bit more stability - Hellwig has a nice unit for the X. The leafsprings contribute a bit to it as well - most have found that a 5° shim wedge to alter the caster has worked beautifully in helping the 4x4’s inherently vague steering woes.

Once I had new suspension and steering under mine, it was a marked improvement over stock - but again, 4wd vs 2wd - not sure what to do for the coil side of the house. I also lifted it, which is somewhat controversial for speed goodies. I had no intentions of ending up with something being way faster than it had any business being, but fortune smiled on me an a heap of upgrades ended up being free.

I used to, and still do, make a lot of long distance trips for work. Being in Texas, there’s a LOT of flaaaaaat and straight boring roads. I was perfectly comfortable in my X setting the cruise at 100-110 (GPS based, speedo runs out) for hours on end. I do the same in my current truck as well, just... faster.

I get the 2-piece driveshaft woes... a lot of RCSB Ram friends of mine have had to go aluminum one-piece as the stock 2-piece blows to pieces at 115 due to the harmonica of everything.

 

I remember that!!! Twitch and I are/were both gunning for that record