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First time poster. After searching for nearly a year, i finally found the 7.3 i have been looking for. I got a really good deal. The only catch is it has a massive lift kit installed with 37" tires. While it looks pretty sweet, it is not practical with our newborn baby. I am looking at replacing the suspension to bring it back down to stock-2" lift. We do not do much towing, so i am looking for something with a smooth ride. Does anyonehave a good suspension for a smooth ride?
Let’s start with what is currently under your Excursion.
if you post pics of your front leaf springs, front bump stops and front shocks as well as the same pics of the rear suspension.
while you are doing this grab a tape and measure from the center of the hub straight up to the bottom of the fender arch, post the measurements for all 4 corners.
we also need to know what size tires you plan to run, And since most people regear the axles when they go to 37s what are your plans for gear ratios ?
get us that info and we can most certainly get you the ride of your dreams.
Feel free to send me a message. We have front and rear kits available that will give you basically everything you need to replace the parts on there with new. Springs, bushings, shackles, eye bolts, Ubolts, etc.
Have helped many many many guys on here obtaining that goal when wanting around a 2” lift over factory height.
The stock suspension gave the Excursion a ride height of 23" front and 24" rear as measured from the center of the Hub straight up to the bottom of the fender arch.
The 2 main issues with the stock suspension are the front springs sag and both front and rear have to little travel, in the rear to compensate for the reduced travel Ford uses a spring with a spring rate of 410 Lbs. inch.
My preferred Suspension setup on the Excursion is to increase the wheel travel to about 10" using a more suitable spring rate, doing this allows the suspension to absorb road imperfections without needing a high spring rate and allows for a great ride and good towing. this will give you a level ride height of 27" front and rear ( which btw will clear a 37" tire )
but can be altered to be 25" front and 26" rear by removing the bottom spring from each pack. ( this would be the 2" lift you requested)
Beside proving a great ride it also corrects the Front caster to 5.5* which is going to track straight and true down the highway and the rear driveshaft angle. Plus you are going to ditch the ridiculous rear block which will negate the need for a rear traction bar. I feel with this setup exactly as I am listing you do NOT need a rear sway bar as many find necessary with the X/Bmod setup.
I have provided links to all the parts you need and narrowed it down to 2 vendors.
Total cost $1074 complete
Thanks for the quick response. Center of the hub to top of the fender is 32". The shocks look like bilsteins 5100. The leafs are donahue racing plush ride.
A lot of my customers will go with a 33” possibly a little larger when they are trying to go with 2” over factory spec height. IMO the 33” fits the truck well with that size lift. I’ve seen some go larger but they either had a good amount of rubbing, trimming or both.
My preferred Suspension setup on the Excursion is to increase the wheel travel to about 10" using a more suitable spring rate, doing this allows the suspension to absorb road imperfections without needing a high spring rate and allows for a great ride and good towing. this will give you a level ride height of 27" front and rear ( which btw will clear a 37" tire )
but can be altered to be 25" front and 26" rear by removing the bottom spring from each pack. ( this would be the 2" lift you requested)
What size tire do you run pirate? Like i stated earlier, i am looking for a smooth ride for the family. The 37s that are on there right now seem impractical for what i am trying to do with the truck.
A lot of my customers will go with a 33” possibly a little larger when they are trying to go with 2” over factory spec height. IMO the 33” fits the truck well with that size lift. I’ve seen some go larger but they either had a good amount of rubbing, trimming or both.
The truck is a little high for what i need to do. Without the kid, i wouldn't mind having it lifted that high with the 37's, but i am trying to lower it
Im open to suggestions but i am good with stock maybe
slightly bigger
if you go back to my post #3 about gearing, You will want to determine if the previous owner changed gearing for the 37’s that are currently on the Excursion, most people will change to a 4.30 or 5.56 gear ratio to run 37’s with a 7.3
because the rpm band on the 7.3 is narrow having the correct gear is important and changing gears is not a inexpensive proposition, a safe estimate is $1000 per axle if it doesn’t need bearing, probably $1300-1500 if it does need bearings.
so find your current gear ratio and then make a tire size decision, from there you can make changes to the ride height and suspension.
If they did not switch gears and it has the stock 3.73 then you can run anything up to a 35 no problem
if it has 4.30 gears then you will want to keep the 37’s or maybe a 35 Without changing gears.
What size tire do you run pirate? Like i stated earlier, i am looking for a smooth ride for the family. The 37s that are on there right now seem impractical for what i am trying to do with the truck.
I have had many Excursions from brand new and stock to 12 lift with 44” tires
my current Ex is a 7.3 lifted 4” , hub to fender arch is 27” and I run 37’s with a 4.30 gear ratio.
With the retractable running boards my 3&4 year old grand kids have no problem climbing in, my 75 year mom
doesn't love it but my 80 year old dad does...he loves driving it and tows a 9000 pound trailer frequently.
rides great and handles even better, 70 mph in a cross wind towing next to a guard rail is a no stress 2 finger affair.
I spend several months a year traveling in it and see a few thousand dirt miles.
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