I hate to be the guy to mess with info in one's head, but that is the case. LOL. My V10 came with C's in the front. The diesels came with D's. The fact that you put B code rear springs in the rear and lost 1/4" was a coincidence. I thought most gained a half inch, but I can't say for sure. I can tell you that stock F codes yielded 3/4" rise in the rear.

Myself, Bruce and others would love to put a chart together, but load versus deflection charts are harder to put together for the rears. Bruce did create a post on dieselstop for a rear spring data chart, but no one has contributed, myself included. You need a bunch of weight, scale, tape measure and time.

 

To each there own, but I did see the point. I also like soft rides, but I prefer safe rides. It may be a bit stiffer, but I have more travel and an overall better ride and handling. I, like Stewart, wanted a vehicle that went in the direction it was pointed. I changed the springs after everything else failed (ie. shocks, sway bars, steering box, etc.). It was more work up front, but it will be less down the road. For example, I won't have to explain to my wife how to change the pressure depending on the load or replace the bags when they rip in 5 years. That's how long the one's in my F150 lasted. I believe Ford just missed the boat when they sprung this vehicle. Also, air bags do increase the effective spring rate of the suspension. So in a way, you did monkey with the spring rates.

As far as predicting the result, that is what we are all trying to accomplish here. With good folks experimenting and reporting their results, one can make an educated guess on what might work for them.

 

For those of you who have gone to the 'taller' spring, meaning that your ride is now 1.5" to 3" taller, were you able to use the stock shock or correct shock for the X if going aftermarket (bilstein, rancho, etc...) or does that not even matter.....

 

[QUOTE=6686L].

RE SWAY BARS:
I am new to Excursions. I bought a creame-puff late '05 production Limited. I can not imagine what Ford was thinking of releasing these from the factory without a rear sway bar. It wandered when it was EMPTY! Scary when loaded. The addition of the Hellwig rear sway bar dampened the "sway" issue down to "barely noticeable".

QUOTE]


NOW I BOUGHT MINE USED, BUT I LOOKED UNDER MINE AND I HAVE A SWAY BAR. IT DOESN'T LOOK AFTERMARKET AT ALL. LOOKS FACTORY. WHEN DOING THE HELLWIG DO YOU REMOVE THE FACTORY ONE, AND REPLACE IT WITH THE HELLWIG, OR DO YOU USE BOTH??? AND ARE YOU GUYS UPGRADING THE FRONT AS WELL? i HAVENT TOWED WITH MINE YET, BUT ON THE ROAD IT DOSNT SWAY THAT MUCH, UNLOADED. I LIVE IN THE HILLS WHICH HAVE VERY CURVY ROADS, THE X HANDLES JUST AS GOOD AS MY OLD KIA SPORTAGE. ONLY DIFFERNCE IS OVERALL SIZE.

IS THERE A LEAF COUNT DIFFERNCE IN THE DIFFERNT CODED SPRINGS LIKE 4 LEAF VS 6 LEAF OR ARE THEY THE SAME COUNT??

THERE IS ALOT OF GOOD INFO IN THIS THREAD FOR SURE. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

 

Billy
I have V codes and unmodified F codes (new from dealer). They raised my 03Ex PSD 4x4 1in. in the rear and 2in. in the front. Front is now 39in to wheel lip, rear is 40in. I got Rancho RS9000X shocks and they sent me the regular ones for an Excusion and they worked fine. In bilstiens most people use F250 shocks up front and standard Ex shocks for the rear. The rear Ex shocks have a different attachment at the top. A bracket with 2 screws instead of an eye with a bolt.
Ben

 

Thanks for the info, Ben.

Just to clarify, you have V code in front and F code in rears? And when you stated that most that use Bilsteins go with the F250 front and X rears, did you mean those who also do the springs like you did or just in general regardless if updating the springs (or both)

I have sooo much to learn.......

 

For Jack - and his question about adding sway bars

You apparently didnt read mine and some of the other "posts" carefully. Let's try it again. We got the Hellwig rear sway bars because SOME Excursions (apparently only the "Limiteds"), came from the factory with NO rear sway bar. Again, I cannot understand what Ford's people were thinking of, releasing a heavy vehicle with "de-rated" meaning SOFTER springs than the normal 1 ton chassis upon which the Excursion is based WITHOUT ANY REAR SWAY BAR. That is why we put on the Hellwig.

To my knowledge, ALL Excursions have a FRONT sway bar.

 

Don't worry bro, I'm very, VERY glad you corrected my bad information.

One of the things that makes forums so great is the free info, with everyone helping each other out. But it's a double edged sword because there is so much bad info being posted too.

I hate bad info......with a passion. And to think I was the cause of some bad info being posted here at FTE.....grrrrrrrrrrr.

I don't know if I lost 1/4", or gained a 1/4", because I did the front springs, rear springs, shocks, Hellwig sway, and larger blocks all at once. I knew that combo would give me a slight rake to the front, which was my goal. I didn't mean to imply my result matched what I thought was the chart for the rear spring differences, but rather, that just doing the math (using the chart as a reference) it seemed to match my overall finished product.

This whole time I was under the impression that chart Bruce put together was for fronts and rears.

I'm glad back when I did all my research, I based my decisions on other peoples results with the V's and B's, and only used the chart as a reference tool.

I haven't posted there in a long time, and while the tech there is really good, there's a lot more one-upmanship there (not in the Ex forum), so I've tended to pretty much read and post over here.

Dude, you've earned some rep points from me for correcting the info I posted. Thank you.

Stewart

 

Billy
The reference to Bilsteins was for shocks after installing F250/350 springs. For the front Bilstein F250 Front 4x4 shocks Part# BE5-2818-HO and for the rear Bilstein Excursion 4x4 Rear Part# BE5-6209-HO were recommended by Bilstein when people called to order.
These are some numbers I wrote down several months ago. I did not get Bilsteins. I got Ranchos because I wanted the adjustable feature. After 6000mi I am happy with them so far.
Ben

 

I have an 03 Ex Ltd 4x4 7.3PSD. It came with no rear anti-sway bar. I have previously read that no Exs had rear anti-sway until about 04 or 05 and then only those ordered with the tow package had them. The Ford rear anti-way bars that were installed on Exs were a smaller diameter than the Helwig and not quite as effective. I believe I saw where someone had installed an F250 Ford bar that was the same diameter as the Helwig. I have no references for any of that but just stuff I remember reading.
Ben

 

When I talked with Shane at Bilstein. He recommended using the shocks for the F250 4X4 on the front of my Ex, but to stay with the Bilsteins for the 4x4 Excursion on the rear.

Shane said the fronts can use the extra length the F250 shock gives because the front V code springs raise the Ex about an inch an a half, but the Excursion Bilsteins for the rear are long and have a lot of travel. He said you could put a 3" lift on the Ex and still use the stock Bilstein for the rears.

Front: BE5-2818 (OEM length for the F250 4x4)
Rear: BE5-6209 (OEM length for the Excursion 4x4)

Stewart

 

thanks for the clairifcation, mine is a xlt.

 

If B code doesnt give me the two inchs that i want in the rear, then what springs should i get? Do u guys think i should go with bags?

 

How about doing the rear spring swap, along with adding a bigger block like I did, and maybe an add-a-leaf to achieve your height goal.

Stewart

 

Funny how these threads overlap: see nearby "Can I pull/tow this". Some who want more lift in the rear add blocks between the springs and the axle pad. I believe S Harvey may have used that approach-Stewart? You can also use pieces from your original spring pack to give added height, such as a leaf or two or a piece cut from the anti-wrap leaf (the one on the bottom with the rubber bumper) which is no longer needed. As I previously mentioned, I have 1in. of rake from back to front with Vs up front and unmodified Fs in the rear. Not much, but all I wanted. It sits level with my 6000lb trailer attached with a weight distributing hitch. I think if you wanted more rake, one or two leaves from the old springs added to the Bs or Fs might be the best way to go. That supports the first stage of the variable rate spring pack and keeps it from settling on the stiffer second stage big leaf on the bottom. Also adding blocks theoretically would increase your exposure to spring wrap during acceleration or deceleration which aggravates the tendency of the beast to wander. Just MHO.
Ben

Before and After pics of my Ex: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/558111238bzRiOW