Front Suspension Bottoming Out

[DJH]

It didn't take long for me to notice that my X front susension has a bottoming out feel very often as in down a curb or over a speedbump, more often than any vehicle I've ever owned, over what are usually no-big-deal bumps. Many have already mentioned the 1/2 inch or so amount of travel before the rubber stops. My buddy just took delivery of his F-350 and we compared the two. The 350 looks the same except for a much smaller bumper stop giving his several inches of room before bottoming out. His truck takes bumps nicely as I would expect. My thought is, why not order the truck bumper stops (they just bolt on) and replace the ones on my X with them. That seemingly would then give me the same travel & feel of his and reduce the instances of bottoming out. Any thoughts from anyone would be appreciated.

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2001 4x4 Diesel Excursion Limited Oxford White

[ExcursionPSD]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DJH:
... The 350 looks the same except for a much smaller bumper stop giving his several inches of room before bottoming out. ...
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is a great observation! Could you measure the difference between the two bumper stops. I will try to do the same and the first poster wins. This would be a nice solution.

I wonder if the longer frontbumper stops on the Excursion is due to trying to protect the air dam in front, or to keep the blocker beam (anti-override protection) at a minimum height?



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2000 Excursion Limited born 11/99 4x4 Toreador Red ext./gray int. 7.3PSD, 3.73LS, Skidplates, Pwr/Htd TeleMirrors, 6CDchanger, HtdBuckets, LT265/75R16D AT, Ford Wraparound deflector, PSDV8 badging, RoofMarkerLights, Tekonsha Sentinel brake cntrlr

[goldframe]

Is your buddies truck powered by the heavier Power Stroke Turbo Diesel, that all of us here have???

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goldframe

00 Excursion LTD, 4X4, PSD , Estate Green, Born 3/13/00 - Code AXD0, BFG Long Trail stock size, K&N, Hellwig Rear anti-sway - next to do: Procomp shocks & steering stabilizer on order, Diesel Turbo Life Saver – arrived - to be installed, Autometer Carbon Fiber gauges, HyperTech - Diablo or WD chip - all on order for 30 day trials & testing - and the winner is ?????? Next item .....??? My first diesel, purchased 9/21/00. Yay!!!

[This message has been edited by goldframe (edited 10-20-2000).]

[goldframe]

Hey ExcursionPSD tell us about the roof lights and how you got them. I'm interested.

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goldframe

00 Excursion LTD, 4X4, PSD , Estate Green, Born 3/13/00 - Code AXD0, BFG Long Trail stock size, K&N, Hellwig Rear anti-sway - next to do: Procomp shocks & steering stabilizer on order, Diesel Turbo Life Saver – arrived - to be installed, Autometer Carbon Fiber gauges, HyperTech - Diablo or WD chip - all on order for 30 day trials & testing - and the winner is ?????? Next item .....??? My first diesel, purchased 9/21/00. Yay!!!

[DJH]

Yes, my buddy's truck has a PSD. And I'm supposing that the difference in bumper stops is in trying to address a different market suspension-feel requirement for the X than for the truck, though I prefer the truck's stops. I'll measure the difference in stop from X to truck tonight and post it unless ExcursionPSD gets to it before.

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2001 4x4 Diesel Excursion Limited Oxford White

[Beast]

Something does seem funny. I am thinking about doing a lift with a change in springs. See my previous post called suspension. We could almost use a suspension forum just for suspension issues on this vehicle.

[DJH]

My problem is I want an improvement on bottoming out, but I can't have a height increase - my baby goes in the garage every night no matter what! So the solution I mentioned is the only one I've come up with, although I will probably change the shocks, too, eventually, and that may help some.

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2001 4x4 Diesel Excursion Limited Oxford White

[DJH]

Sorry it took me longer to get this posted than I expected - a little account problem now fixed. I measured my buddy's F-350 vs. my Excursion. Distance from axel to frame, 350 = 4 3/4", Ex = 3 1/4"; distance from axel to rubber bumper, 350 = 3", Ex = 3/8". It looks like the install fit of both vehicle bumpers is the same, so I intend to order the 350 bumpers and try them on my Ex. That will give me an extra 1 1/8" travel before "bottoming out". I'll know then if this is a workable fix.

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2001 4x4 Diesel Excursion Limited Oxford White

[This message has been edited by DJH (edited 10-23-2000).]

[Trash]

Take a look at the spring location too. If I'm not mistaken the 350 has an axle under spring setup while the Excursion has an axle over spring setup. This was done to facilitate a softer ride on the Excursion. This may limit some of the travel as well.

[ExcursionPSD]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DJH:
... I measured my buddy's F-350 vs. my Excursion. Distance from axel to frame, 350 = 4 3/4", Ex = 3 1/4"; distance from axel to rubber bumper, 350 = 3", Ex = 3/8". It looks like the install fit of both vehicle bumpers is the same, so I intend to order the 350 bumpers and try them on my Ex. That will give me an extra 1 1/8" travel before "bottoming out". ...
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry, folks, been busy with snowmobile shows and getting the stud farm setup for winter (horses).

I am talking about the front 4x4 suspension right now.

Excursion has axles under the spring, like the F250/350. The front spring bumpers on mine extend 3 1/8" below the frame. I measured a 99 F350 dually and it had bumpers approximately 1 1/2" below the frame.

The Excursion front bumper stop is a series of rings molded on a center 'stem', kind of like an upside Christmas tree. The F250/350 front bumper stops I have seen are rubber rectangles that point down and taper slightly towards the bottom.

Below let me recap some spring part#/code/rating info that is scattered around elsewhere:

The 2000 parts CD shows for model L1 (EXCURSION):
SPRING ASY. (FRONT)
YC3Z-5310-AG***1
YC3Z-5310-AB***2
YC3Z-5310-AC***B
YC3Z-5310-AD***C
YC3Z-5310-AE***D**4,700
YC3Z-5310-AF***E
YC3Z-5310-GA***G
YC3Z-5310-HA***H
YC3Z-5310-SA***S
There is nothing above to distinguish 4x4 from 4x2

SPRING ASY. (REAR)
YC3Z-5560-AA***4x2***A
YC3Z-5560-GA***4x4***G**5,200

Since my GAWR front/rear is 4700/5200 I am confident in considering the
D code = 4700 combined rating @ ground
G code = 5200 combined rating @ ground

You will note that the Excursion codes are completely different from the F250/350 codes.

below, I have added the Combined Rating@ Ground (lb) from the Body Builder's Book...
The 2000 parts CD shows for model F250SD (4x4 area)
SPIRNG ASY. (FRONT) (all are 2 leaf)
F81Z-5310-AB***S***4,000
F81Z-5310-AC***T***4,400
F81Z-5310-AD***U***4,800
F81Z-5310-AE***V***5,200
F81Z-5310-AF***W***5,600
F81Z-5310-AG***X***6,000

SPRING ASY. (REAR)
YC3Z-5560-CA***A***6,084 (5 leaf)
F81Z-5560-BD***B***6,830 (5 leaf)

As always, any additions/corrections are welcome.

The X code front springs have been tried and favorably rated on PSD Excursions by several on this forum. You can see that we appear to have several choices (V=5,200 and W=5,600) in spring codes that are heavier than our stock 4,700, but lighter than the X 6,000 front 2 leaf springs.
goldframe,
The roof marker lights were dealer installed, used F350 dually parts, had to drop part of the headliner, drill some holes and fabricate some wiring harness, routed it down passenger side A pillar, too bad Ford won't just make it an option! We've got the same PCM code, too AXD0.

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2000 Excursion Limited born 11/99 4x4 Toreador Red ext./gray int. 7.3PSD, 3.73LS, Skidplates, Pwr/Htd TeleMirrors, 6CDchanger, HtdBuckets, LT265/75R16D AT, Ford Wraparound deflector, PSDV8 badging, RoofMarkerLights, Tekonsha Sentinel brake cntrlr

[This message has been edited by ExcursionPSD (edited 10-23-2000).]

[Nat Lancaster]

Guys,
FWIW. In the manual (ford ) there is a statement that the "u bolts" are to be replaced each time they are removed as they are "torque to yield" type of material. They state that the assembly may loosen if reused.

Nat


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2000 Excursion LTD PSD 4X4,Wedgewood blue Warn semihidden 12000 winch,Rancho 9000,VanNachen 50/100,
Trip/pilar/autometer;1999.5 SD PSD SC 4X4 SWB,wedgewood blue,Warn/transfmer, Superlift 2.5 leveler,
Trip/pilar/autometer/50/100 VanNachen,305 MT.

[goldframe]

Just want to interject something I was told at the Off-Road shop when they were changing my shocks.

I asked if the bump stop could be changed to a shorter on – he explained that the springs on the 250 and 350 are just like the X, but you should not just change the bump stop. If the springs are over stretched more than the amount the Ford gives you – they could break. He said the only safe choice is to change the springs, which will basically be a “lift”. I don’t think I would be able to get my X into my garage. I would be barely able to squeeze in with 2 more inches – just not sure.

Keep us posted, those of you who do make changes.

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goldframe

00 Excursion LTD, 4X4, PSD , Estate Green, Born 3/13/00 - Code AXD0, BFG Long Trail stock size, K&N, Hellwig Rear anti-sway, Pro-Comp ES9000 shocks & ES2000 steering stabilizer, Power Stroke Diesel V8 “badges” – L & R front doors & right rear tail door, Diesel Turbo Life Saver – arrived - to be installed. My first diesel, purchased 9/21/00 (Sticker Price $46,300 – Paid $38,500 + $125 prep fee – 2.9% on 60 mo) Yay!!!

Next to do: Autometer Carbon Fiber gauges, Husky Mud Flaps on front, Syclone Power Fan??, HyperTech - Diablo or WD chip - all for 30 day trials & testing - and the winner is ?????? Next item is .....???

[Texcursion]

Does anyone know if the F250/350 rear springs will fit an X. I tow a 10k travel trailer and would really like to see the springs doing more of the work and the weight distributing hitch doing less. If so do you think this would give me more lift(don't need) or not? Besides with the 6000# front springs my front suspension has a higher rating than the rear and that's down right UNAMERICAN!

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00 Excursion XLT PSD 4x4,Ranch hand FER and rear bumper, 550 Front Springs,F250 rear 4" blocks,Rancho RS9000 Front and rear shocks and steering stabilizer,Hellwig rear sway-bar, Banks Big Head actuator, PAC 100/200 chip and 4" exhaust, K&N air/oil filter, 3 guage pillar (w/boost, trans temp, and EGT guages),BFG 295's

[AJ'sDad]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DJH:
My problem is I want an improvement on bottoming out, but I can't have a height increase - my baby goes in the garage every night no matter what!
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Correct me if I'm wrong but don't the X code springs just level the Excursion? If that's the truth then there should be no height increase above the highest point on the rear of the Excursion.

You can also remove your roof rack crossmembers to lose about an inch or so.