I purchased my 2001 excursion limited v10 4wd about a month ago.




it started like this, roof has some sand colored gunky stuff on there, so I had to get rid of that.




Got it back today from the paint shop today.

next, I want to lift it, I am in Florida so the bigger the better.

I want to do the BDS 10 inch lift. I know I will need longer drive shafts, is there any other common things to keep in mind?

I’m thinking of doing a 37-40 inch tire? Any thoughts?

I can get Firestone destination mt2’s for half off due to employee discount, so that’s why I’m thinking 37 inch tires.

I want something capable off road (mud) but not ridiculous on the street.

I have been eyeing the truxus mt’s also.

 

Explain this bigger is better notion because it’s florida notion.

in every measurable way, the taller or higher the center of gravity the worse a vehicle is going to handle.

you can fit 40’s with a 4” lift and a little trimming. Raising the ride height higher than you need to clear tires at full compression is just your ego not any sort of regional advantage due to terrain.

if you are going to wheel it I’d recommend stronger front axle shafts, stronger hubs and stronger unit bearings, the 05+ D60 is a good swap.

obviously will need a gear change and at least a rear locker, front and rear ARB is the cats meow. higher friction brake pads are a must, hawk LTS work well with my 40’s.

offroad kills the stock track bar, PMF heavy duty with 1.25” heims holds up nicely.

PSC ram is a nice addition to the steering with big tires.

6.0 trans cooler will help keep the stock trans alive a little longer but ultimately a $6-7k built trans after you smoke a few stock ones doesn’t seem so bad.

 

Here's what 4" of lift and 37s looks like:



And actually it was closer to 5" in the front. I swapped out that spring for a slightly lower one and the ride is so much better. You don't need or want a 10" lift. It's gonna handle awfully, and look like you skipped leg day...

 

Thanks for all the info. I definitely don’t want it to look ridiculous.

I do like big lifted trucks, can’t help it.

part of my dilemma is the price of the kits. For just a little more I can go to the next size and I would hate to regret not going bigger, but I guess the same could be said for going too big and regretting it.

edit: any recommendations for mud tires?

 

I also love having a bigger truck, but there's a point of diminishing returns. One of the bigger issues at hand here is geometry. When I purchased my Ex, it had a 5 or 6 inch lift spring in the front, and a 4 or 5 inch block in the back. Once I swapped in the Pro Comp 22210 front spring, it dropped me to 4" lift up front and made a HUUUUGE difference in the way it rode

Pirate has compiled a list of parts that has proven results with numerous members in the forums here, and is better than any comparably priced kit out there.

One of many threads with the Pro Comp parts list

If you intend on mudding much, the Bilstein 5100 may not be enough shock for you. I wore mine out pretty quick. I went with the PMF heavy duty track bar instead of the zone, and love it.

Excursion on 40s photos

Considering the age of our trucks, I'd also get some S&B body mounts and swapping in the front suspension from the 2005+ trucks. It's a stronger axle in every way, it will net you 2" of lift automatically, and the geometry is considerably better. I went through the whole process of swapping in a 2003 Dana 60 on mine, and for all the work I went through, I wish I'd just gone for the 2005+ system. The 2005 also has a lot more support in the aftermarket, at least from what I've seen.

Since you've got the V10 and you're wanting to turn big rubber, also consider the Accufab SCTB96-98, some Banks long tube headers, and a tune. There really isn't a lot readily available in the way of performance parts for the 10, so forget camming, etc. If you go with 37s, you'll want at least 4.88 gearing, maybe even 5.13 if you don't do highway driving. If you go all the way to 40", 5.13 or 5.38.

I haven't had my coffee yet, so that's about all my brain will allow for now

 

I agree with your sentiment (so much so that I used your procomp lift recipe on my Excursion), but there is one possible reason to go with a bigger lift than fitting the tires would otherwise demand that is regional to Florida. And that would be swamp wheeling / high water crossings.

The swamp buggies of south Florida put the passengers and engine way high in the chassis so that they don't get flooded out by water when swamp wheeling. They even have tourist swamp buggy rides. So yes, it would ruin the on road handling, but if for whatever strange reason (and lets face it Florida man does some strange stuff every now and then), someone wanted to make a swamp buggy out of their Excursion, a monster high lift would be appropriate to that region to keep the engine & electronics from flooding out.

Here's an example of one of the tourist swamp buggy ride vehicles

 

Not quite that high, but yes in Florida there is lots of deep water mudding. I want thank all of you guys for all the info and I am still in the research phase. Lol at the Florida man stuff.
edit: my excursion does have the factory 4.30’s so I want to see how far I can go with those.

 

“Mudding” a rig is one thing, submerging an axle in water brings up an entirely new set of challenges.

Put your stock Axles in water up to the hubs and it will be very short lived.
at a minimum you need to to change the gear oil every time you funk them. The unit bearings however are going to die a quick death if you dunk them. Switching to a freespin or conventional wheel bearing and repack the grease every time they get dunked….it requires a ton of maintenance.

 

Slight update: ordered some 20x12 wheels which are now back ordered for a few months.

The wife and I drove to Asheville, North Carolina which was fun. Drove all through picgah national forest and that general area. The city of Asheville is full of homeless drug addicts so I don’t recommend that.

Today I scanned the truck and found out my check engine light is burnt out and I have a knock sensor code, and I’m pretty sure my thermostat is missing or stuck open, so that’s next on my list to do.

oddly I also have a p1000 which shouldn’t be there because I have not scanned or cleared codes in the 2500 miles I have had it. Weird.

 

Im sorry every time i look at this picture i see a truck with a giant post stuck up its butt....

 

if you're feeling ambitious, in my build thread I have a post where I cover redoing the back lighting and indicator bulbs in your instrument cluster. Getting it out is a bit of a PITA, but I went 100% VLEDS in mine and she's nice and bright. I don't recommend installing LEDS on the 4x4 lamps, air bag lamp, or high beam. The first two will cause an error code, and the high beam LED is just too dang bright.

 

do you have a link to it?

 

Better Late Than Never - JAck's Build

It’s spread out across a few posts. I address the basics of the cluster on post #5, front HVAC on post #18, and I ran out of patience before I could find a post on the rear HVAC controls. IIRC, they each take a pair of 194s

 

OME 2.25 F250 Lift here with extra Dakar leaf in rear. Tucks the Firestone 37” MT2 up nicely!
Need some wheel well trimming but would fit up to 40”. 5.13 gears really helped and it runs great on the highway also going to the keys.

Followed along with this build. Wanted to do a Land Cruiser but just wasn’t enough space with all the kids and boat in tow.

That 10” BDS is gonna be monster.

 

lots of good info here, thanks. I’m probably going to just replace with factory lights.