I have a few Excursions, but the one I am writing about today is a 2001 6.8l with about 175k miles. My wife drives it daily and lately she has decided she doesn't like the way it handles. I just read a post about RAS and Landyot radius rods. They both sound like reasonable options. It does tend to wander a bit sometimes. She wants new leaf springs. I don't mind doing springs, but I fear it may make the ride feel more harsh. I was thinking about keeping the old springs and adding airbags, or even going to lighter springs with airbags. Thoughts??? We do have a 26' enclosed trailer that we haul ATVs and sometimes a car with, but we don't often use the excursion because I have a Duramax.

 

Is this a 2wd or 4wd? What are you center of hub to fender lip measurement on all 4 wheels?

 



 

what doesn't she like about the way it currently handles ?

answer that and I can make recomendations on how to tune your suspenion more to her liking.

just randomly adding gadgets like Landyots, RAS or airbags will certainly change the way your vehicle handles but not nessasisarly better and very doubtful in a manner your wife is hoping for.

fwiw, landyots are total junk, they acheive their handeling atributes by binding the suspenion, its a poorly desinded product. RAS is just a fancy "Add a Leaf" but rather than a leaf spring it is in the form of a coil spring. it has clever marketing using a bunch of nonsense made up descriptions. Air bags add spring rate and are adjustable which makes them great if your wife needs to increase the payload of the Excursion but that isn't what I hear you asking for.

when it comnes to making suspension changes you need to very deliberate about what you are trying to achieve.

ride quality often gets confused with handeling, while both can be tunes to specific taste its important to seperate them.

for example wandering is a poor handeling trait and can be tuned out, while harshness is a ride quality issue which can also be tuned out but each takes diffrent very specific adjustments.


so for clarity I ask again, specificly what doesn't your wife like about the way the excursion currently handles ?
and vaugly how does she wish it would handle. ( most people when pressed have no idea and just wish it didn't suck )

 

She claims it wanders, bounces or skips down the road. We just had the front wheel bearings replaced and right rotor turned or replaced. It does pull a little to the left while braking which I suspect they just didn't bleed the brakes well. There is a humming sound that sounds like the wheel bearing is bad, but none of that aside from wandering, bouncing, skipping have anything to do with the springs.

 

For what it's worth, I don't feel what she is talking about. That is why I'm struggling.

 

They wouldn’t need to bleed the brakes to turn a rotor or replace wheel bearings, most common cause is sticking slide pins.

baed on the limited info I have on your Ex your issue is shocks and alignment.

I would start by having a alignment done to the folling specs:

caster 5.5* positive
toe in to .03*
camber 0*

have them use spring wedges to set the caster.

make sure to have them check all steering components are within factor spec ( including bumpstops ) as well as rde height at all 4 corners measuring the factory specified way.

also confirm your tire pressure are correct, should be 50psi front 55psi rear.

and install a set of KYB MonoMax shocks.

 

Not sure if the 01 4wd have rear sway bars, but my 01 2wd does not, it would definitely wander without rear sway bars.

 

Your Excursion is roughly 1,500 pounds heavier than a similar wheel base F350. Your Excursion spring rates are set somewhere in between an F150 and an F250. Not very stout.
I went with springs that are similar to the F350. With Bilstein 4600s, it rides tight, but not rock hard.
First, get an alignment done, like what Pirate mentioned and if that’s not it, a rebuilt steering box maybe in order. I’m on my fourth box, now. I have a BlueTop, now. My Redhead was toast after 30 thousand miles. Next, I got a Ford Reman and it did a lot better. That decision is a crap shoot.

 

Pirate,. Thanks for your help. As far as the brakes go, I agree with you based on the information I gave you. They also were supposed to replace a section of brake line to fix a leak where the center line splits at the rear. If the brakes need to be bled, that would be the reason, not the rotor.
. I also agree that an alignment and shocks would make sense. I have replaced the shocks in the last few years, and they look okay, but that doesn't mean they are.

 

sway bars have nothing to do with wander and there is no reason to add a rear bar on a stock height excursion. The front bar is more than adequate.

 

front springs are the same rate as the F250-350

rear springs on the Excursion are 420 lbs per inch and single rate.

the trucks use a lighter 330 lbs inch. Primary rate became the rear of pickups are lighter and then use a 670 lbs inch overload spring that engages when they are loaded. Used on the Excursion the primary spring just collapses onto the secondary at ride height totally negating the point of using the f250-350 lighter 330 lbs inch rate.

using a dual rate f350 spring on the Excursion is pointless other than that is what certain vendors have in stock so thats what they tell you to buy. Using more spring rate than is needed takes you further away from ideal handling not “upgrades” your vehicle. If you choose to overload your excursions GVWR the use of a adjustable air spring is a far better option.

in fact the Excursion rear spring is even more spring rate than ideal And was used by Ford to make the Excursion ride lower and have less wheel travel. If you are going to switch springs a 375 lbs inch rate is a better option. Lower rear spring rate with more wheel travel is going to result is better ride quality. But I digress, OP didn’t mention wanting to change ride height so sticking with the factory 420 lbs inch spring rate is best,

 

Is this an off the shelf option or custom or a mod an excursion owner can make?

 

yes to both.