So I've had a chance to drive an Ex without a front sway bar. I was only able to drive it for about 30 minutes over limited terrain. It seemed to have the same road manners as my Ex with a front sway bar. I drove it over a few curbs at slow speed. It seemed to handle it better than my Ex, but that could just be my imagination. By better, less jarring / tossing.

After researching this online, I'm even more confused.

I'd like to hear others experiences with front sway bars (or without). AND, what about rear sway bars? This may be dependent on the Ex's setup, so let's discuss 2 scenarios.

EX1: 90% highway and dirt road. 10% trails and ranch roads. Occasional towing of 3k-7k trailers. 35" all terrain tires. Pirate lift.

EX2: 70% highway and dirt road. 20 % trails and ranch roads. 10% offroad (LA, TX, AR mud). Rare towing of 3k-5k trailers. 40" mud tires. 10" lift.

 

I haven't had a front sway bar on my F350 since 2001. I do have 3 full length spring leafs which was done to help the 2 weak factory leafs and pick the front end up a little so it only has 2" rake front to back...factory was 4". The only draw back I see is it does ride a bit rougher, but it's a big truck. We have 3 daughters and when we all load up in my truck I always ask if everyone has their sports bra on before we go...which is why we take the wife's Excursion most of the time since it rides like a Cadillac...

 

I like having a rear sway bar on my Excursion. I run it in the least stiff position but have tried it on all of them. It gives just the right amount of reducing body roll without introducing any uncomfortable behavior over uneven roads (one wheel bumps but the other doesn't).

In general, increasing the roll stiffness of the front or rear suspension by adding a sway bar increases weight transfer at the other end thus moving the grip balance to that end. So when Ford added a front sway bar only, that moved max grip from the front end to the rear end which increases understeer (the front slides first) vs oversteer (tokyo drift). If you tokyo drift your big ole wagon and it gets away from you and goes sideways down the road, it damn well might flip over. If you panic swerve around a deer or go too fast around a highway cloverleaf, the same thing might happen so to reduce that risk Ford added the front sway bar only.

 

During normal driving around/ low speed stuff, the Ex will ride smoother without sway bars. If you ever get in an emergency crash avoidance maneuver without a front sway bar, well, good luck in not ending up on your side/ roof as a result.

Rear sway bars are optional,but front sway bars are really not optional from a safety standpoint. I doubt even a stock height Excursion would pass the dynamic portion of the rollover test without a front sway bar, much less one with 35 inch or larger tires as the center of gravity would be even higher then.

For me living in Texas where the highway speed limit is 75 mph everywhere, and there are 80 and even some 85 mph speed limits close by (the 85 mph speed limit is on a toll road not far from my house), I keep both front and rear sway bars on my Pirate ProComp lifted Ex running 35 inch tires. Yeah the off-road ride is a little rougher, but I really don't spend even 10% time off-road if I'm honest. If I spent more time off-road, I'd get sway bar quick disconnects (all over in the Jeep world and since Jeep guys often swap 1-ton axles under their junk, they make sway bar disconnects for our size sway bars)
...

 

I have never had a front sway bar on any vehicle I have owned.

my 1965 Plymouth Satellite with Limited slip and 330hp 383cu, 4 speed Hurst shifter, had a sway bar on the rear.
bought that car new to my specs.... shamefully, I gave it away, if I had it today, I could sell it for a new bank account.

 

Ford made Excursions with both front and rear sway bars factory depending on trim level / options and model year, not just front only.

Of the six or seven Excursions I looked at before buying mine , every single one of them ( including the one I ended up buying) had both front and rear factory sway bars. Don’t know if it mattered, but I was only looking at 4x4 diesel models in the 03-05 year model range.
​​​​​​…

 

Neither of my (2000) 7.3 ex's have ever had rear sway bar. When I did the pirate lift on the one I daily drive I removed the front sway bar to see how id like it.
After putting about 20-25k on without it I can't see it ever going back on. The ex rides much better without it in every condition I drive in.
I tow almost every day, up to 10-11k#. I trail ride, beach ride, and of course roll down the highway anywhere up to 80-85 . Spends most of its highway driving 60-70.
For me, I am very pleased to have it gone, don't miss it, and the truck handles better than it ever has.
But I understand that's not everyone's experience.

 

Thanks for the reminder. Over the years I've heard some Ex's had the rear bar but have personally never seen one.

 

My 2000 Ex has the front sway bar and recently swapped out the old bushings and brackets as they were falling apart. I thought that it was a bit odd that there's no load on it even though I run the Pirate lift. Don't know if this is relevant but my 1990 Bronco has a factory rear sway bar that does indeed have a pre-load on it after installing a 4" lift some 15 years ago...I just shrugged it all off as whatever.

 

A sway bar will only have a load on it when one side is higher or lower than the other. What may feel like preload may be resistance in the bushings.

 

Unless the sway bar is not adjusted even on both sides? I've had front and rear since I bought mine in 2016, factory front, aftermarket in the rear. I feel like I'm so use to them, It would be like no training wheels if removed.

 

The factory rear bar is kinda small/ dinky compared to the front bar and the overall size of the Excursion, but there are more beefy aftermarket bars available (hellwig comes to mind). So far I've just been sticking with the small factory rear bar and it's been good enough for me so far.

Maybe if I had a really tall trailer and towed out through west Texas with a strong crosswind I'd wish for a better rear bar, but so far the factory one has worked well enough.
...

 

If you are interested, I tested two rear sway bars for my E350 extended van. The larger sway bar was too much... dangerous in my opinion for my lightly loaded long van. The relatively small sway bar works great for my use.

See post#22 in this thread:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ispreloading=1

 

90% highway/dirt roads:
Let me clarify that I don’t know anything about rock climbing or off road trail driving. I’m an asphalt guy.
Concerning handling, the goal is to balance the vehicle so you have the easiest experience driving through a corner. There are primarily two (2) things to consider: Oversteer and Understeer. For you NASCAR people that translates to Tight and Loose.
Oversteer is when the backend wants to come around in the corner faster than the front. This is because the vehicle is set up that way. Think old Porsches.
Understeer is when the front end wants to “plow” around the corner (front end has a tendency go straight).
In your case, the goal is to find a combination of settings, meaning sway-bars, that make it easiest to negotiate a turn.
With that in mind, and there is personal preference, you either want the vehicle to slightly understeer or slightly oversteer.
Bigger sway bars in front will allow for more understeer and bigger sway bars in the back will give you more oversteer.
I like a little more oversteer. One time I was involved with setting up an autocross circuit and one of the guys made a comment about it being too tight in the corners. (We’er talking sports cars) I jumped in the Ex and, with the rear swaybar in place, I was able to swing the rearend around and clear all the cones.
Stiffer swaybars, having both or either will help keep the vehicle from wobbling around in a strong crosswind.
Hope that helps.

 

Me neither