Your wife is going to drive it? Awesome, I couldn't get me wife in the driver's seat if I begged. I know if she drove it, she would love it, but it's a no go. Best of luck with the project. Sounds like you are on the right track. The Excursion looks great.

 

Sorry for hijacking your thread, but sweet 4-runner. Is it on 1-tons? I've got a 87 on 1-tons and 39.5" Iroks. I'll be going to Pit Bulls as soon as I wear out the Iroks.

 

1 ton 60's front and rear - 39.5" Rockers. Feel free to check out my website, plenty more info on it there.

From a few weekends ago:

YouTube - DRM climbs the Ledges @ WITC, 5/30/10

 

Awesome Yota there man. Here's mine 60 front and 70 rear.



Sorry, back to the topic.

 

Well, took about 3 hours tonight but the truck is now "near-stock".

Swapped in the stock F250 front springs, shocks, and track bar mount.

In the rear we ended up taking out the stock 2" block and using the aftermarket 3.5" block with the stock springs that were already in there. I need to look at another Excursion, but it looks like someone installed some kind of torque leaf with a snubber on it in the rear. Regardless, the rear is now about .75" taller than the front at rest, which is what I wanted. I will get pics and measurements in the morning.

Driving it home without the sway bar installed yet was fun to say the least, gotta get that installed tomorrow night. Evidently the stiffer lift springs made the lack of a swaybar manageable, but back to stock - it's a necessity for sure.

 

BTW, I downloaded the "Mileage" app for my android phone to start logging the mpg. First tank we put through it got us 9.78 MPG. That is with lots of lift and stock tires, an exhaust leak, and it is throwing O2 sensor codes.

With the lift off, I'll address the exhaust leak an dcodes this weekend and see if I can get it up a little more.

I'll be perfectly happy with anything north of 10, and 12 would be great.

 

Here is a comparison picture:

 

Just got done installing the Helwig front sway bar. Like I said, the stiff lift springs kept it mostly under control, but you could tell it needed some sway control. Last night on the way home after dropping it back to stock-ish, you could tell it *really* needed the sway bar.

Since I didn't have a stock bar under there, I can't compare the Helwig to it, but this thing is BEEFY for sure, and it does the job.

I had to use standard bolts from TSC that didn't seem to be a perfect fit, so I am contemplating ordering OEM end link bolts for a better fit... comments?

 

I'm close by if you want to take a look at my EX.It's still stock

 

Actually, I might take you up on that. I really need to take a look at what he stock rear suspension looks like so I can figure out what is different that the PO did to mine.

 

O2 sensor replaced, gutted cat replaced (uggg - previous owners SUCK!), exhaust leaks fixed, EGR hose replaced, and all codes have been resolved and cleared. Also threw a new air filter in last night as well.

I have currently put 3 tanks of fuel through it. First talk was 9.78 mpg, second was 9.96, and I just wrapped up the 3rd tank that was 100% interstate driving at 75-85mph and netted 11.14 mpg.

When I get back from this trip, I am going to look into the front auto/manual locking hubs - I think they are locked in and that has got to be robbing me of some of the mileage that could easily be retrieved with just a little time cleaning and re-greasing... at least that is the hope.

Talking over with the wife, I think I am going to mix in some of the leaves from the 6" pack I removed to lift this thing a little more to be able to clear some 315/75-16's on the factory rims. After checking the odometer against 100 miles of interstate mile markers, I am about 3% under on the odometer than actual mileage, so a little larger tires will put me just a bit over, as well as dropping interstate rpm's which should really help with road trip mileage.

 

Well, I got these put on today to see how I like a big set of rims...

(Someone tell me if the pic doesn't show up and I will host it somewhere else)



20x10 Mazzi Hulks (used, of course), with a set of OEM Ford take-off 275/65 20's. Not much tread left on the tires, but they were cheap and we can see how it looks and fits before dropping the coin on a good set.

This is with some V code springs up front, and there *is* some rubbing when turning on both the front lower valance ends, and the inner plastic fender liner. If I had another 1.5-2.5" of lift it would not be an issue, or if these were 9" rims, not 10s.

 

Here is a little comparison of how much it has changed since I bought it less than 3 months ago:

 

The best thing I did to the Excursion and the other two PSD's was to upgrade to the newer style in dash cup holders. Before going around a sharp corner large cups would fall right out. With the new holders it's never happened. Also you can upgrade to a deeper center mount cup holder as well.

11mpg? OUCH!!!

 

Fixed 2 issues tonight...

Used the sawsall to take care of the front bumstops - cut off the bottom 2 ribs to fix the hard bottom issue we were having on the road.

Also got some Bilstein shocks installed on the front. I bought the rear shocks too - but one of the fronts was blown, and the front shocks are a breeze to remove without even taking the tires off or crawling underneath. I will do the rears later this week as I find time.

One thing though - I *thought* I only had about 1" of lift, but these OEM length Bilsteins only have about 2.5-3" of extension remaining when at rest. Maybe I am used to uber-long off road shocks with 5+ inches of travel each direction at rest, but I thought there should be more. I guess if I lift it any more to stop the tires from running, I might have to build some extended lower brackets for the front axle to get the shock eye up another 2" higher to make sure to avoid any bottoming out issue on extension over potholes, etc.