Hi folks. I've been reading posts for a while and finally decided to dive in. I'm wondering when you "old timers" will get tired of reading posts about springs on an Ex. Guess what...here's another.

'04 Eddie Bauer Ex, 6.0 PS. The truck has the towing package so it has the steering damper/stabilizer and rear anti-sway bar. We will be using the truck to tow our 34' TT which weighs in at about 10,000#. We tow a lot. We have towed the same trailer with a '98 3/4 ton Suburban and an '06 F250 SD crew cab so that is my point of reference. Gotta' tell 'ya, this is one of the most dangerous tow vehicles I've ever had the displeasure to operate. The trailer sway is real honest to goodness white knuckle stuff.

I'm planning to put Bilsteins on all four corners and replace my front springs with V codes. My plan is to replace the rear, stock leafs with F codes.

I had the truck aligned by a good alignment shop and it was pretty much dead on. The shop said my steering box needs to be replaced but Ford tells me there's nothing wrong with it.

Can anyone offer recommendations/opinions as to what they might do to eliminate or reduce the sway which are specific to my model year?

Thanks a bunch and I really apologize if this stuff is getting old for some of you but we purchased this thing last Fall and we already have many trips lined up for this year, including a big one to San Antonio and Port Aransas, TX late in the Summer.

 

Stewey, I think you've got it pretty well pegged, none of us should have had to make these mods but Ford blew it for reasons we all speculate about. I don't know about the F codes, I (and most others) put the B codes in the rears. But since I did mine a while back maybe the mod has changed. The V codes make an unbelievable difference in this truck and while you can add air bags and Trac bars to the rear, those things are just compensating for the stock rear springs that are too low in weight capacity and too high in "rate" (pounds of compression per inch). Once you accomplish the spring work and the Bils you will have a totally different truck. Then due some test pulls in different terrain and you may be done! If you still aren't happy my suggestions would be as follows.

1. Upgrade your sway bar to the larger diameter bar that the Superdutys use. You already have the mounts, ends, brackets, etc. You only have to buy the larger bar and bushings. Most guys get the bar for less than$100.00 at the dealer and it's an easy install. Some find a dramatic difference with this upgrade, some find a small improvement, but with your trailer I think it would be an inexpensive upgrade that is worthwhile. I installed the Hellwig to my 01 and that and the V codes were amazing.
2. The only other thing you might want to do is air bags. Some love them some don't care for them. I've had them on other rigs but never on my X. I have a friend that has towed big TT's for years with four different tow rigs I remember. The first thing he does is to install air bags and he always springs for the onboard pump so that he can have air for flats, etc. He will tell long stories about tuning the ride of his rig by adjusting the air and the WD hitch until he has a "perfect" tow.
3. Trac bars (Tuff Country or other lift companies), Landyots (custom, hand built for the X). However at least one poster has said that after the rear spring upgrade he never got around to re-installing his bars because he really didn't have axle hop/wrap anymore. You mileage may vary.

But once again with the springs, the Bils, and the sway bar IMHO your close to perfect. Oh and none of those D rated tires. The E's with the right pressure.

Good Luck,
Jeff

 

Jeff...great info. Thanks for the time.

 

Is there a good source of technical information about the various springs that would fit an "X"?

 

www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/index.htm

 

All Xs have the same problems. Like mentioned previously shocks & sway bar will make a huge difference & the biggest improvement you can make is to swap springs. All years from 99-06 SD will fit your Excursion in the rear. I know because i just flopped in a pair of rears off of an 06 F-350. I tihnk they changed the codes in '05.

Steering is horrible. It seems that the steering pumps are weak, & the gears were built loose. The '06 steering box is revised as of '05, tighter than loder X models. I will be putting installing the '06 steering gear in my 2000 X.

Another reason your SD handles so much better than the X is that the drag link mounts all the way on top of the passenger side knuckle instead of midship on the tie rod. There is less play than the older X design. That is something you will have to live with unless you lift the truck later & use an aftermarket knuckle. The SD also has less roll & wandering because the coils are further outboard than your X's springs. Start with springs, then see if you still need heavier sway bars, shocks, traction bars, etc.

These are all some of the reasons that i'm currently swapping in the entire suspension system from an '06 F-350. This is far more drastic than most would dare entertain.

 

Hi, I'm brand new here but I have an 04 Ex with the 6.0 and among the "toys" we tow one is a pretty heavy 32' TT. We load it up as well and the 5 of us (wife and 3 daughters) and all our stuff. I put in air bags with an onboard adjustable compressor. Well worth the investment! I tired WD bars as heavy as 1,200lbs and found the combination of bars and the bags to be the best. I also discovered after too much front end "wandering" that I had worn control arm bushings during a front rotor warranty visit (that's another weak part on the Ex). With the new bushings it made a dramatic improvement. For what it's worth go for the bags and I think you will be pleased.

 

dvblk04ltd,

Welcome to the Forum! Please tell us whether your Excursion is 4x4 or 4x2. I believe you mean front ball joints and not front control arm bushings, correct? And, at how many miles on the truck did you replace these?

We also tow a 32' TT (9,000 lb typical loaded weight). We use a Hensley hitch (also with WD bars) to keep everything shiny side up.

 

Thanks for the welcome note. Seems like a great place with lots of good info. Sorry, being from the Midwest in the snow belt I get used to thinking all trucks are 4X4. Ours is a 4X4 and the front end work was done with about 24,000 miles on it, just before our recent drive to and from FL. I had it in for the warped front rotors, again, and asked them to check everything in the front end because it just felt "loose" and seemed to wander more while towing on the highway than I noticed before. They found the worn parts on the passenger side. I don't have the work order here but I think you are correct and it was ball joints. I'll check my file at the office and confirm for sure. The mechanic said it was "pretty bad" for the miles on the truck but that it's a common wear item on the Ex. I asked was it worn enough to be dangerous and he said no. Not sure if that was just a reply to make me feel good or not. Other mechanics said they typically see the wear at 50K miles. Hey, sorry to change the subject but who has some good info on better front rotor/pads that won't warp so quickly?

Thanks!

 

I have over 76K on mine and have a "rattling" noise in the front end. Also having a lot of wandering issues with the steering. I am thinking that it is the ball joints.

On the brake rotors, I have been nursing mine along for all of these miles. I plan on replacing rotors/pads in June before the long vacation haul with 32' travel trailer pushing us in stops.

What others are saying here on the forum is that Powerslot rotors with Hawk pads are the way to go. You need to hear from those that have actually made this change.

 

Hi, i do not know if this the right place for my question, but this is what my son is working on.
He has a 95psd that he wants to put a dually rear end under it,we have a dually rear end,but the spring perches need to be moved to match up with the springs this appears not to be difficult job if you know what you are doing
It looks like the hardest part is getting pinion angle right,i have never done one of these but i thought if i get rear end in up against springs ready to weld if i put drive shaft into u-joints that may set the pinion angle close to
where it should be. I am getting all my info. from some of the tv shows on how they build up different vehicles on their shows,thanks

 

I would say matching the stock angle would be safe. Back in the day when all I built were Jeeps for off road we rotated every pinion up for more ground clearance. Threw a lot of u-joints. From many trips to driveshaft machine shops I've been told having the pinion angle aligned straight at the transfer case or transmission is not ideal for the needle bearings. Supposedly setting the pinion angle just below a straight shot to the other end is best. This philosophy always sounded counterintuitive to me but it's how mine is set up.