Have any of you experienced "sloppy steering" in your X? On the freeway, my 2003 X willdrift from side to side and when I correct with the steering wheel I have to turn it about 2 - 3 inches before the steering will start to correct. The Dealer has had some experience with this problem and has had to replace the front ball joints. Gets annoying when driving for laong distances having to continually adjust steering. Already had the truck realigned last fall but didn't help.

 

I have a new 2004 6.0 Excursion 4WD, and the steering has the same problem, it drifts on the freeway.

I have not had it into the dealer since I picked it up 5 days (800 Miles) ago. I am thinking or hoping that a little more toe-in will fix it.

Anybody else experienced this?

-Gordon

 

hey guys i have 04 350 and it does the same thing the dealer changed a shim on the left side and it still drifts so your not alone

 

I was told by the mechanic that he has had to change the ball joits in a few HD350's. Has anyone else had this done?

 

Remember, it is a straight axle...
which has a tendency to do that... but boy can it handle some weight !
and the tires you have may effect that as well...

 

Just did the ball joints upper and lower, left and right........2nd set of rotors (f&r).......2nd set of tires........and am having a hell of a time keeping the front aligned........ohh yeah, alot of pads too......

It is the wifes ride 2001, and it is the first car (or truck) that she has Loved. But what a pain as far as brake parts...........We live in VERY rural Wi. so not like stop and go traffic is wearing tham out. And she is not a "ride you brakes" type driver.

Why couldn't they have stayed with the tried and true king pin dana 60 ?

When she retires it to me, along with a lift , i can see possibly a KP 60 going in it............

Buzz

 

The problem is not in the front end. I eliminated my "wandering" problem by building a pair of bars that keep the REAR axle in a controlled arc.

After installing my radius-rods, I was expecting the ride quality to be improved. Ride quality did improve substantially, but there was more to learn because the Excursion’s wandering ailment was now gone, too. Admittedly, this was not expected to happen, though I’m glad it did.

Thinking it through to determine why the radius-rods eliminated wandering, I theorized that the wandering ailment had been caused by the weak leaf springs in the rear (the X has the weakest of all SD springs). Something I call rear-axle-induced steering. When the Excursion is driven over an abnormality in the road surface that affects only the left- or right-side wheels, the leaf springs allow axle-wrap to occur, but this time the axle-wrap is not equal from side to side. The weak leaf springs allow the rear axle to momentarily become out of square with the vehicle’s centerline. The rear axle then steers the vehicle briefly, and unexpectedly. The Excursion’s wandering was a trait that scared the stuffings out of me.

My first encounter with it found me halfway into an oncoming lane of traffic along a two-lane highway. Thankfully, there were no other vehicles around at that moment. What a relief to learn the wandering had become history after installing the radius-rods. My intent was to smooth out the ride, but I wound up making the Excursion safer to drive.

 

Rear axle movement makes sense, but I never would have thought of it! Do you have any pictures of the radius rods that you built/installed? I'm definitely game to give it a try.
-Gordon

 

See my gallery

 

Some of us have also cured the wandering X with new shocks and the Hellwig anti-sway bar. Just towed for the first time after installing mine....zero wander.

 

I, too, installed new shocks (Rancho RSX9000's) and the Hellwig bar. IMHO, they did not do as much for improving the ride and handling as my rods did. If I had built my rods first, I doubt I would've even bothered changing the shocks (smoothed out the ride greatly). But now with 72K miles on the clock, they would be overdue for replacement.

 

Got the truck back today and the steering problem seems to have been fixed. They readjusted the steering gear preload to 12"/lbs.. Not exactly sure what this means but I have noticed when I got on the freeway that the steering was much more precise. Before it would rotate about 2 - 3 inches before the truck would turn, now it seems to turn right away when the steering wheel is moved less than an inch.

 

LANDYOT - I took a look at your radius rod pictures in your gallery. I am glad that someone has figured out what fixes the sway & roll of the Excursion. I was about to order the sway bars and shocks when I came across your reply on this thread. I located a product for the Ford trucks about 2 years ago that dealt with this problem when towing heavy trailers, but they didn't have anything for the Excursion yet. I looked up activesuspension.com and to my surprise they now have a product for the 2000-03 Excursion. This product is not the same as your invention, but they say that it fixes the same problems. Could you take a look at this website and give us your opinion?

Thanks

 

I Have Had The Same Problem Of Wandering. Make Sure Tire Pressure Is Adjusted To The 38psi Front And 45 Rear And Your Sway Control (shock Absorber Like Thing ) On Your Tie Rods Is Ok. Replace Mine And Cured My Problem.

 

Took the X on a 3 hour freeway trip and found the newly adjusted steering preload worked great. X now stear like and Indy Car. Very precises and controlled with minimal effort on the steering wheel.