Hello fellow Excursion fans! I have an 2004 Excursion 4x4. I recently did the typical wear and tear maintenance on the Excursion. New brakes, resurfaced discs, new rancho 5000 shocks, upper and lower, etc. Pretty much everything to have a smooth ride. What I should have done was give it a small lift but too late now due to the expense I just made. The truck stands pretty tall compared to a 4x2 Excursion. My concern is when I fill up the tank or tow it drops in the rear (obviously) and was wondering if anyone might have any suggestions about putting rear lift springs or air bags? I have rear a/c but I noticed that there is an a/c line near stock springs. So I'm cautious about not installing helper springs due to the line. Might pinch according to "Super Spring" on a hard bump. I'm trying to improve the lift and the sway. Your input would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Welcome to FTE and the Excursion Forum.

Well, you asked the right question, and in a few minutes (or days) You will recieve a plethora of information about fixing just that issue you speak of. As a matter of fact, it is one of the most talked about perennial subjects here.

The Excursion has soft springs from the factory. It was to improve the ride over the superduty trucks that are it's brothers. However, as you noticed, the springs get old and sag a bit. If you have a V10, your front springs have probably about 1 1/2 inches or less from the bottom of the bump stop to the spring. Not a lot of travel, is it? With a Diesel, the spring sags until it is sitting right on the bump stop, and has NO travel.

The rear springs being so soft are problematic with a load.

Over several years, the folks here and at other great website forums have worked out different ways to go for the front and the rear.

The best thing is to search for the answer, as there is so much to read and compare. But I will try to give you a short list of options. Every option that is shown here is going to lift your Excursion. Can't be helped. The Excursion was designed almost like a factory lowrider. To get enough room for the front springs to operate well, they just have to be higher. So here are just some of the options:

First option: Get a set of airbags for the rear. It sill eliminate the sagging. You will need to have air on board or air them up or down for every change in load. It will solve your rear sag problem but do nothing for the front.

The second option is to get a entire new spring kit from an aftermarket maker like procomp, fabtech, tuff country, etc. This can be a really expensive way to go. However, it does allow you to choose how much lift you will get, from a 3 inch mild to a 11 inch wild.

First, the solutions for the front, simple to wild:

Have your springs rearched at a spring shop. Costly and the arch will sag back in a year or two. Not really a good option.

Since the springs from the 1999 through 2004 F250/350 will fit without issues on the Excursion, You can get spprings from your Ford dealer or take them off of a pickup in the boneyard. This is, I estimate, what about 50% of the folks do. The springs are delineated by letter codes, which relate to the capacity, spring rate and arch for that spring. For example, your Excursion came with CG codes, C for the front, and G for the rear. Most popular swaps are with th V, W, and X codes for the front, and the B and F codes for the rear. This option, V's and B's along with f350 rear spacer blocks, are going to give the least height increase. Just search for v code or spring code (among others), and you will find a lot to read.

From there, you get into experimentation. For example, I have B code rears, but they have been modified with leafs and parts from the old Excursion springs. I wanted much greater height and strength, and they gave me that. But at a price of a bit stiffer ride.

My front springs are V codes, and are stiffer than the originals, but again, for my needs I needed a stronger spring in the front also. They do not have the amount of lift I want, so I am about to add a "spring pack" that really does nothing except safely add 2.5" of hight to the front.

Enjoy, use the search function, always ask even what you think is the dumbest question (we rarely flame around here if someone is serious), and above all, read, read, read.

Welcome to the Excursion Brotherhood


Edit: forgot another option for the rear. It is called the RoadMaster Active Suspension (RAS) system. It is a type of coil overspring (not what you may think) that vastly improves rear ride, handling, and sag. Many here have used them with good success.

 

Thank you Housedad for the information. I will go with swamp spring route. Seems to be practical and affordable and get decent results. What's puzzling is that I creeped underneath the X and to look at the front spacing and you were right on the money! Kudos my friend...but what was really weird is that I measured from the gound up to the edge of fender in the front. It measured 38" then I measured the rear it and it measured 39 1/4". However it has the illusion that the rear is lower than the front? I read the leaf spring numbers there was two rows. Front said 3C34AHA/RPN 3383 and Rear:R3273/3C60BA. I will check this site for codes. Same goes for the differential. Curious about the gears too the tag#731054A18 / V423F. I called a junkyard and the guy says he has a 2001 F250 with complete springs and blocks. Asking $340.00. Good price? I told him I need to check them out for codes. Unless you think there ok without checking codes? Thanks!

 

To find the spring codes on that truck in the junk yard it's as easy as looking at the tag in the drivers door jamb. Find where it says "SPR" and you will see two letters. The first letter is the front spring code and the second letter it the rear code.

I have V's and modified B's and like them a lot.

Nice write up by Bion BTW.

 

On the boneyard springs. On the door sticker of the truck, (it may be on the pillar when you open the door) there is a sticker. That sticker will tell you what codes for the springs.

If you try to use the codes like t3C34AHA/RPN 3383 that are on the springs themeselves, Only a saavy parts man at a Ford dealership will be able to decode them. Try to use the skicker codes.

These are the codes for the springs from those years., I lifted this from a post from the old Tech folder which was wiped a while back.

Front Springs — F-Series
Base part number — 5310 (RH/LH)
Pre-fix — F81A
B — Suffix BA
C — Suffix CA
D — Suffix DA
E — Suffix EA
F — Suffix FA
G — Suffix GA
H — Suffix HA
I — Suffix RA
J — Suffix SA
K — Suffix TA
L — Suffix UA
Pre-fix — 1C34
S — Suffix AAA
T — Suffix ABA
U — Suffix ACA
V — Suffix ADA
W — Suffix AEA
X — Suffix AFA
Front Springs — Excursion
Base part number — 5310 (RH/LH)
Pre-fix — YC35
G — Suffix G
H — Suffix H
S — Suffix S
Pre-fix — 1C34
AG
AH
AJ
Rear Springs — F-Series
L — Rear air suspension
B — 1C34-5560-CB, F-250, F-350
C — 1C35-5560-DB, F-250, F-350
D — YC35-5560-EA, F-250, F-350
M — YC35-5A975-AA, F-450, F-550
N — YC35-5A975-BA, F-450, F-550
Auxiliary Springs — F-Series
A — YC35-5588-A (wide frame)
D — F81A-5588-D (narrow frame)
Rear Springs — Excursion
Base part number — 5560 (RH/LH)
Pre-fix — YC35
A — Suffix A
Pre-fix — 1C34
B — Suffix B


Take a look at a sample door sticker:


Number 11 will be the spring codes. They are listed on the Excursion as CCGG. That shows what each spring is. Two front C code, and two rear G code. For a pickup with the v/b codes, it would read VVBB.


This should help you figure out what that truck in the boneyard has.

 

Thanks DaveandJennyP...I just did that on my x...reads CG. However I will call the boneyard and see if they could check the door jamb and see what codes that F250 has on it.

 

Thanks for the info Housedad. That will really help and clarify things when I make the call to the yard tomorrow. Hopefully it has some good codes. I'm also going to call this guy at his shop because he told of an owner of a F350 wants to upgrade his suspension and will not want it. So I will tell him to read the codes as well. I read my tag info on the x and it read CG. I also plan to order the hellwig sway bar this week and hopefully it will help with wander?

 

340 seems a little steep for used springs. Then again, depends on the condition and miles. I bought my rear springs used. I arranged to get them from a 4x4 shop that was taking them off a good truck to do a lift. paid $100. But the front ones were new from the dealer. The front ones really take abuse.

 

To further aid you in your quest, and to make some searching easier for you, here is the famous front spring chart developed by Bruce1954.

Front axle weights used are 4080, & D code springs for the PSD and 3680, & C code springs for the V-10


Application---Code---Capacity-----Rate----Travel --------- V-10 ----- PSD
--------------------------------- /spring---to Max Cap ----height ----height
--------------------------------------------------------- change --- change
Exc V8 ------- B ----- 4100 ----- 330 ----- 5.02 ---------- -0.25 --- -0.66
Exc V10 ------ C ----- 4300 ----- 350 ----- 5.01 ----------- 0.00 --- -0.37
Exc PSD ------ D ----- 4700 ----- 380 ----- 5.14 ---------- +0.33 ---- 0.00


F250/350 All springs are computer selected
Also the use of a rear sway bar and what size it is package dependant

Application---Code---Capacity-----Rate----Travel --------- V-10 ----- PSD
--------------------------------- /spring---to Max Cap ----height ----height
--------------------------------------------------------- change --- change
SD-250/350--- S -----4000 ----- 370 ------ 4.34 --------- +1.22 --- +0.88
-------------- T ----- 4400 ----- 390 ------ 4.63 --------- +1.42 --- +1.11
-------------- U ----- 4800 ----- 410 ------ 4.89 --------- +1.60 --- +1.32
-------------- V ----- 5200 ----- 430 ------ 5.13 --------- +1.77 --- +1.50

F450 -------- W ----- 5600 ----- 450 ------ 5.34 ---------- +2.77 --- +2.52
F550 &350/ DRW with Snow Plow prep Package
-------------- X----- 6000 ----- 470 ------ 5.54 ----------- +2.90 --- +2.68

 

I also got my V's new from Tousley Ford Online and paid $304 shipped to my house. I got lucky on the B's, I placed a wanted ad on craigslist and a guy called and said he had a low mile set he took off his truck and were just laying around. I asked him to check his door jamb for the code and they were B's. He was only a few miles away and only wanted $50 for the pair.

 

Great info! Just made some notes on my phone so when I make the calls I got the info with me. I'm not in any rush...and I don't want to jump on the first truck. However if any good truck has the right code then I will buy them at least for the rear and consider buying new ones for the front. Am I ok with the Rancho 5000's since I just bought them recently?Would it be an overkill to go W? Primary use is to travel and pull TT few times a year.

 

I bought a pair of V codes from Tousley and for $129 per side plus $34 shipping. It only took a few days to get them. Also ordered new bumpstops, $17, local dealer said they wanted $74 for a set! I didn't have time to install myself so I had a spring shop do it. They wanted $240 per spring, that's why I ordered online. They installed for less than $250. Raised the front about 2" to nearly perfectly level. I have rear airbags and radius rods so no need for the B codes in the rear. I tow a 9000-10,000 lb travel trailer and I keep it level with the airbags. Very happy with the V codes.

 

In post #3 you mentioned that the bone yard has f250 springs and blocks, I think you already have 250 blocks in the rear, you probibly want 350 blocks off of a 137" wb or a 142" wb, the blocks on shorter wb trucks are tapered for correct drive line and pinion angle. Blocks off of longer wb trucks won't work corretly. Just don't want you to spend money on something you don't want or need.

I have done the front springs on my 2000 X, I went to a heavy truck shop and bought new front springs with the same capacity as stock "V" codes. The rears are next! One reason I went with new, I plan on keeping my trucks for a long time and don't want to do it again. I paid about 380 for front springs, u bolts, nuts washers. I also made sure that my new springs are made in USA!

Good luck!

 

$$200 It was off of a '02 v10 crew cab 8' box, but mine is a '05 6.0... Does it make a difference? BTW, the springs only have 36k miles on them. The shop states that it is the same spring for each and that the part# for aftermarket only gives a difference for the small 5.8 vs. v10/6.0...

 

V codes are used on all trucks regardless of engine. Seems from my jaunt at the salvage yard looking at 8-10 trucks all had Vs upfront but one had Xs. North End Auto Salvage 130 pair n they will ship. 800-545-8885 in Dubuque Ia. Seemed A's were popular in back, all I found anyway.