subscribed...

 

This small forum is outstanding source of mods to the EX..

I listened to Joe's advice. So far:

When I picked up the 04 PSD EX, it had work done at the dealership:

Dealer put new shocks, stabilizer on front, and changed all the fluids and filters. They also shaved the cupping on the tires (to obviously hide a poor alignment). I got it androve it home and it was oversteering horribly and wandering and pulling. It was mushy too. We added some tire pressure up to 65 and got a better ride but still all over the place.

Joe suggested:
New Ball Joints on the front with concentric spacers and postive camber/caster
Hellwig sway on rear
since my everyday driver: XL 9000 Ranchos on the rear
RAS

I have installed the bar/shocks, and did the front end work. It fixed the problem amazingly well. there is a slight amount of roll that Im sure will be cured by RAS (just havent gotten to it yet).

I couldn't believe the difference. IT tracks well and firmly. I will get everthing in order before setting up for tow on my 30foot toybox with 1200 toungue/10,000 pull.

Thanks Joe. He was spot on. My advice: fix the ball joints and alignment first. stop the body roll. then add from there..

 

What is being reccommended for ball joint replacement?
I have Bilstein shocks and air bags other than that the suspension is stock. Run my tires at 65 psi.
Thank you in advance.

 

One other quick question: Does replacing all of the OEM suspension bushings help anything and whic ones would you use? TIA

 

There are not alot of alighment shops that really know the ford exc..well. I got the ball joints with greas fittings and a lifetime warranty from my alignment shop, as well as concentric spacers so he could set the camber and caster on the positive end of the spec. that made the vehicle track straight immediately before doing anything else. mine had 91,000 miles. I have owned 4 of these F superduty type vehicles, and the longest I made it on the OEM ball joints was 50,000 miles before Ihad them changed. IT makes it soooo much easier to turn the wheel and track correctly.

Joe speaks highly of the bilstiens, I have Rancho 9000's because I drive it everyday. Axle wrap is a problem on this vehicle, as well as tipping. I put a hellwig sway bar on it. Joe talked me out of the tembrens and bags into a RAS, but havent gotten it on yet, but it will tighten down the rear of the leaf springs, and that is where the problem is for wrap in the excursion I think from what I have read..

Tipping adjusts your rear tracking on the fly, thus making sway control more difficult.

As far as bushings, it always helped on my hot rods, I dont see how it could hurt, but someone with experience in this vehicle should answer that.

THe biggest improvement for me was the hellwig bar and the ball joints with a proper alignment..

 

I'm about to do the v code up front and a b code in the rear for my 02 ex. I plan to get some of the parts from a yard and pull some rear blocks(3.5") from an f250 to even things out. If anyone has done this, can they explain what mods they must do to the b's to make it work and for those that add a leaf from their original spring pack(in the rear), how do you do this? One last thing, my ex has no rear sway bar. Does this mean I need to go with a helwig or is there factory mounting to pull a rear sway from a 250? Lastly, if I get new shocks do I get them according to F250 spec or ex spec if I do these mods? replies or email is appreciated. wj.knight@yahoo.com
Thanks,
Bill

 

Nothing needs to be done to the springs to make them work. They are a simple bolt in replacement.

If you don't want to use the B-code as is, and you would prefer the "modified" B-code, then take the two shortest leafs from your Excursion spring pack and add them to the B code spring, right between the shortest leaf and the bottom leaf.

Take out the sheet metal spacers on the B codes and replace them with the spacers from the Ex springs. They should be about 1/8" in thickness.

Either or. Your choice. Some find it easier to go with the Hellwig instead of sourcing everything from a donor truck.

If you go with Bilsteines, then F250 OEM replacement shocks for the fronts and Excursion OEM replacement shocks for the rear.

Stewart

 

Just to be a little redundant:
If I source some v's and b's and 3.5" tapered rear blocks, I can probably also get the rear sway out of the same donor F250. By modding the b's (adding the leafs from my ex) to the spring pack I am only firming up the potential sag and not really lifting (the 3.5" block will take care of this). If I am wrong on any count let me know since the yard is a couple hours away that has a donor. I will also need new u bolts for front and back. Did I cover everything??

 

Modified B's will give you more lift than unmodified B's.

Stewart

 

So are we talking enough lift to leave the stock blocks in or will I still need to add the 3.5" f250 blocks? I'm calling the yard thurs. to get everything pulled and could really use the advice.
Thanks

 

Things went well with the v and modded b swap. only problem is after pulling home my new TT I have a leak in the rear pinion seal. Is this a coincidence or related to the spring swap or TT? Either way I could use some advice on pinion seal stuff.
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Subscribing, I definitely have some steering wander in the 2000 Excursion I just purchased last month. Thanks for posting guys!

 

I subscribed also, mine is all over the road. I think my ball joints are one of my biggest probs

 

One of the problems is the ratio ford used in the gear boxes. It is like 20:1 (sarcastic).

 

Rich, with the suspension upgrades you're doing, I doubt you'll ever have to worry about this problem ever again.

After doing the V/B spring upgrade, I've never had to worry about steering wander again.

Stewart