With the 2004 coming with bars (mine 03 has one F/R don't know why), does anyone know if the aftermarket ones will bolt in, using existing OEM mounts. I know the aftermarkets ones are larger in diameter.

 

I have an early '03 that came without an anti-sway bar on rear axle. I added the Hellwig rear anti-sway bar. Diameter 1-1/4".

Helps mainly with exit ramps and high speed curves. Body roll is decreased significantly. Have not towed our travel trailer with it as yet.

Gary.

 

Gary, way weird, I to have an early 03, well it is March………

Mine came with a bar, but is only 1”. My experience from road racing is even a small .250 increase in diameter of a bar… that has as many bends… and is as short as it is………would be a tremendous increase in roll stiffness. Could you feel the difference in the roll, did you replace the front also? I would have thought that you could feel an appreciable amount of roll control with the new bar.

How long was installation on the rear bar.

 

I think I spent about 2 hours on the Hellwig sway bar installation. The Hellwig drop links attached outside the frame rails, and I believe the OEM links are inboard. After seeing an OEM bar with my own eyes, the decision was made to buy the Hellwig bar.

 

Landyot, was that front and rear you did?

 

Tim - That was the rear only. I haven't done anything with the OEM sway bar up front ... though I am waiting for some polyurethane bushings to arrive for the front bar.

 

All this is form Hellwig?
Bushings also?

 

Tim - No. Not all Hellwig. Sorry. I should've been more specific. The rear sway bar is all Hellwig. The front bushings are from Energy Suspension. An Excursion owner offered them up for sale on another forum, and my timing was good enough that I jumped on them at a bargain price. They're in transit to my place at this time. The front OEM bar looks sufficient ... and I figured some stiffer bushings would "tightent" it up a bit.

 

Let me knoww what you think of the Energy stuff.
I have looked at it before, it is better to ahve a personal view.

 

Tim - You may have to remind me about in a week or two ... after received & installed. In the meantime, have you seen the following thread here on FTE?

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...hreadid=164271

 

Interesting………….just read it. Something else I wanted to ask you. Have you seen or know if anyone has gone to a wider tire for the X. NOT larger in diameter just wider, and if it has helped with any of the stability issues.

 

oops probably would need wider wheels, and wonder if there are any issues doing that.

 

With tires in the load range required by the Mighty-X, you would be hard-pressed to find wider tires without going a little larger in diameter. You can go to a different aspect ratio, but most I've seen for trucks also are larger in diameter.

On the other hand, you could get some of those 20" or 22" rims, and buy some wide low-profile tires ... hopefully in the necessary load range ("D" minimum) ... but then you're exposing your rims to pothole damage because of the small sidewalls on those tires.

My personal opinion is that a wider tire will not gain you any "general" stability ... it might provide more cornering traction, but not necessarily stability. Running tire pressure too low will cause an unstable feeling ... I run mine at 60PSI at all 4 corners.

I tend to believe that if a vehicle gives you an "unstable" feeling, and the tires are properly inflated, changing the tires is not where you should start any efforts to remedy this issue. I once had a couple Toyota Landcruisers (FJ40 ... jeep-style), and they handled like go carts, both on & off road. Had sway bars front & rear, rear radius-rods, and aftermarket coil-over shock absorbers. They didn't ride like the plush Excursion, but they were designed to spend most of their time offroad ... and the X is designed to spend most of its time on the road.

Last of all, I cannot discern your exact meaning when you mention "stability" issues.

 

Not so much stability issues. Probably poor choice of words, more the item that seems to be with an X, sway.

Although I do not have it, there is talk of the problem. The tires, I really dislike the 20/22 rims, just does not look correct. I am defiantly going to stay with the size I have now.

Thanks

 

Tim -

I took about 4 hours to install Hellwig bar on rear axle. The main problem I had was with poor quality of hardware (bolts of wrong length, short on washers, etc.). Also had problems understanding how to bolt through the driver side emergency brake clip. Instructions stink, IMO.

Truck now drives much more stable in a straight line, not "dog-tracking" as much.

Gary