So I've been driving my newly purchased Excursion to and from work for the past week. Something about the steering.

I'm used to driving my Dodge Ram 2500 most of the time, so I'm comparing it to that. It's not like I'm coming from a Ferrari.

Around a light curve or with a fairly significant road crown, it feels... Well, like a truck should.

If the road is perfectly flat and straight and I have to make minor corrections to the steering, it feels maybe like the steering is loose... The steering feels like there's too much power assist near the center. It's almost as if the caster is way off.

When I was bringing the Ex home, my wife followed me and thought either I was drunk or texting at times. I could barely keep it in the lane on a straightaway.

But moreso, it feels like it's fishtailing. Like the rear end is going to kick out on me and I'm going to spin the truck out... On the highway... At speed. Not a fun thought. I know what a bad front end feels like (I rebuilt the front end on the Dodge.) This feels like something more.

Tie rods and ball joints all feel tight. Steering gearbox doesn't feel like it has a lot of play... Out back, the body mounts and leaf springs feel tight.
I've got three rail crossings and like five speed bumps at work that I have to drive over, one rail crossing and one speed bump at a 45 degree angle to the road. I don't hear or feel anything weird in the suspension over those.

Shocks Monroe MaxTrac shocks, I believe. They don't feel worn out to the typical "Jump on the bumper" test.

Tires are all at 80 PSI, load range Es.

I'm just not sure where to look.

 

Sounds like axle warp, but there's no way if everything is torqued down tight. Maybe it's just tight enough to seem right?

 

Start by trying different air pressure. On my previous Ex with e rated 285's I found that 60 up front and 65 in rears felt best to me when not towing.
Your alignment can be off...
A rear sway bar would help...
Is it a 4x4?

 

^^^^This....it sounds like it could be that your air pressure is too high.

Stewart

 

Sounds like a typical EX with stock suspension.
I agree with the above gentlemen, lower your tire pressure some, should only need that full pressure if towing heavy or a heavy cargo load.
My EX originally felt very much as you described, "fishtail-y", dropping tire pressure helped for solo running but when towing it was more than a handful to keep under control. Those weak factory rear springs will really allow for some serious axle wrap/rear steer in the right (wrong ) situations. Depending how you plan to use your EX you may want to start investigating some suspension mod ideas, there are plenty to choose from. If towing isn't in your plans a rear sway bar may be enough with lower tire pressures to reign that big beast in.

 

Absolutely Deja-vu! My wife thought it was me doing the wobble with the steering wheel 'testing' things on the way home! When SHE drove it, she got it. With the tires at 65 fr/ 60rr (empty) and a big rear sway bar installed, it drives very well. Had to experiment with pressures again when I went with bigger wheels/tires. 5 lb increments make a feel-able difference with the stock springs especially.

 

Gotcha. The Dodge has the Camper/Towing package, so it came with heavier rear springs, an overload leaf, and a sway bar.

I'll look into F350 springs as I see a lot of people have the V/B code swap. Any other coded springs that I should look out for?

Also, for sway bars, is Hellwig my only option or will a SuperDuty bar fit? Will a Ford bar be better, cheaper, or easier to install?

I don't care about a cushy ride, I can handle stiffness. I ride motorcycles and have a smaller sports car with heavily nodded, stiff suspension. My butt and kidneys are made of iron. I want 7000 lbs of Excursion glued to the road.

I do tow and haul. I have a tandem axle car hauler. Usually, it has a 2500 lb Mazda on it, bit it's got 5000 lb axles, so I can definitely run up to the Excursion's hitch capacity.

 

Superduty rear sway bar will mount up and can be a cheaper solution if you get one from a parts yard truck. I run a Hellwig, easy to install and now has adjustable end links to compensate for ride height variances and the bar itself has 3 holes in the ends to tune the amount of influence it has on the handling. Pretty sweet setup for about $200.
B codes should get the rear ready for any heavy towing and hauling. Doing the B mods OR swapping the EX factory 2" block for the F-350 4" tapered blocks will keep a good rake going if you also swap in front V codes for a little extra ride height and less bumpstop bumping. (actual block thicknesses are slightly less than 2" & 4" ).

 

RX7? Mini truck? What the hell man, you can't just leave us hanging!

Also +1 for Hellwig!

 

I got my OEM sway bar from a F350 at PickNPull for under $25 complete- it took about 15 minutes to pull off all the pieces with hand tools. There is a 24mm one (about 1") and a 30mm (1.25"). Bigger is better!

 

RX7. First gen, SCCA Spec7 prepped.

 

Okay... So everyone talks about V/B code springs.
Has anyone tried X/C code springs? (Bigger is better. That's why I have an Ex.)

Also, Hellwig vs 30mm Ford sway bar? Money aside... Ride quality is what I want.

Maybe I should also look into air bags as well.
Sometimes I'll be running completely empty.
Sometimes, I'll have the wife, kids, dogs, and luggage for a couple weeks stay in OBX.
Sometimes I'll have engine(s), transmissions(s), and/or rear end(s) in the back.
Sometimes I'll have a bunch of 2x12s, some 5/8 OSB sheets, a bunch of laminated flooring and power tools.
It just depends on the day.

 

Of course bigger is better, this is the EXCURSION forum!
I run a set of modded X codes with the top overload leaf from the B codes added to the pack. My rears are modded B codes with F-350 blocks and doubled up slapper bar sections on each side. Rides like a truck, just like I wanted!
I have only ever used the Hellwig, no idea how it would compare to the SD one, anything would be an improvement over no bar.
Do you use a WD hitch on your trailer? What kind of tongue weight does it have? I don't think you would need air bags along with B codes unless it has a high tongue weight with no WD used. (With electric brakes you should use a WD hitch with any decent TW). Robert L Ross pulls 7500lb plus trailers with surge brakes so no WD hitch, he added air bags to his B codes to deal with his situation.
As an example of how B codes will handle a high load compare my signature pic (with 32" tires but otherwise the same setup) of my EX sitting totally empty with this shot of it hitched up to the TT using a WD hitch (now with 35" tires as the only change).

In that TT pic the rear axle has about 6600lbs on it, on the same trip with six adult sized people on board and all of their gear the rear was at 4640 lbs without the trailer. I do get a decent amount of squat but it rides well and doesn't hit the bump stops. B codes are pretty tough!

 

Tom this probable isn't it but I just put larger tires on my f250 and when I pulled the 5th wheel with it man was I busy
Anyway after checking everything and I mean everything I decided to check play on the steering box ,,, I was told just to live with it since I went with bigger tire,, wrong .
After about 6 months of it driving me crazy I dove into steering box adjusted it out and there was play in there and I got rid of the drunk driver effect ...drives like new again
Hope it's as easy for you ...good luck friend

Lee

 

Hellwig all the way, end of story. Now back on topic damnit! Where are the pics of the rotary?