Liftgate Height Clearance Fixed - Diesel Forum

cobra4v04 · 12-05-2009, 11:03 PM

I'm sure plenty of people have already figured out the "walk underneath" height clearance of the liftgate on a stock ride height 4x4 Excursion is a joke.

I read that the 4x2 liftgate supports actually raise the liftgate approximately 3", that might be just what most owners need but for us really tall owners custom length supports are the answer.

I went from driving a stock ride height 99 4x4 Diesel Suburban with the liftgate configuration to driving a stock ride height 03 Diesel 4x4 Excursion. My biggest complaint with the Excursion, aside from the ridiculous "Dutch Doors", was the height clearance of the liftgate. I've been driving this Excursion since 07 and honestly missed my Suburban everytime I smacked my head on the Excursions liftgate.

I stumbled upon this site about a month ago when I was researching how big of a tire I could safely put on a factory size wheel. I couldn't believe it when I read about the 4x2 liftgate supports being longer than the 4x4 supports. Unfortunately for me my height made the gain from the 4x2 supports insufficient. Upon reading a post from the user "Gumbeaux" I knew I had the answer, custom length supports. I'm 6'9" and needed way more clearance than the 4x2 supports would offer. Gumbeaux's post was about how he had ordered supports from a Canadian company called LS Technologies. I took some measurements on my Excursion as to what I considered to be the highest possible opening clearance the liftgate could open without the possibility of the edge of the liftgate hitting the roof. I ordered the supports from LS Technologies for a little less than $100 shipped. The best $100 I've spent lately for sure. The supports I ordered are 16.25" long extended. They mount in the factory locations, the only difference I found was that I had to invert the supports from their factory orientation, meaning I installed them with the rod end attached to the body and the cylinder end attached to the liftgate.

Bottom line is I can stand under the liftgate without even sensing that it is looming above my head, its great I tell ya. As much as I'm in and out of the back of the Excursion I wish I would have found this website about 2 years ago. And this is on a stock suspension Excursion with new BFG AT KO 285/75/16 tires.

Thank you Gumbeaux and LS Technologies, this is one of those little improvements that makes such an enormous difference.

Bruce1954 · 12-06-2009, 07:43 PM

Welcome to the site there is a ton of info here on how to fix and maintain our trucks
Tons of info on fixing the springs and general suspension problems that all Xs were born with.

Gumbeaux · 12-07-2009, 07:36 PM

Glad it worked out for you! Looks like he's come down on his price, too. I paid more than that for mine when I ordered them 3 years ago. Mine are still going strong and lift and hold fine. I like that I can actually back up to a curb and still walk under the door to load it. If you're 6'5" or better, this is by far the #1 mod you can do to these trucks. Of all the other mods I've done to mine, this is the only one that prevents concussions...

86GLHS · 12-12-2009, 01:35 AM

Welcome to the site! Glad to hear you are already learning.

You got an 03 so they should have both factory cup holders upgraded from Ford. The older style in dash cup holder is a real joke.

Just so you know 295's would have fit for you. Ran them for a while on the X and they never touched anything. Same for the F250, good but tight fit. The two sets of BFG's got very good mileage too. The first set got 80K miles and the second set had two go to 70K miles. Good tires but too spendy for me to buy a third time. My first set was bought in 01 for under $800 installed.

Have you done the sway bar? Not sure if 03's had them stock but the Helwig rear sway bar is a nice upgrade. Finaly put one on the X after hearing owners rave about them and wished I would have years ago. Towing the heavy dump trailers seemed a lot firmer and stiffer after it was installed.

The rear doors are a strange set up but they are pretty tough. Had a guy once run and kick one and his foot bounced right off it. He was a pretty big guy and thought he would have cracked it at least. The bottom doors will never rust, big problem with Burb doors. My brother had an older one and his barn doors rusted so bad you couldn't use them.

What sort of fuel mileage differences have you gotten with the two? Seen reports on the GM diesel sites that the 6.5's in the Burbs were getting a constant 20+ mpg. Some owners claimed mid 20's.