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2wd rear suspension mods best bang for the buck?

3K views 21 replies 8 participants last post by  Durapig Eater 
#1 ·
First I have searched this and read till I've felt my brains leaking from my eyes, but here goes anyway. And this being the Mod season with the tax returns burning holes in pockets like thermite, hopefully will help others as well.

This Ex is a pavement princess/school bus. Don't tow with it, if I ever do it will be small >4k or a hitch hauler. The wife mostly drives it, but can't stand the wallow/wander/axle wrap or whatever it technically is. The front feels good and tight and being 2wd has front coils. I put new Monroe Sensatracs on it yesterday. It does have cheap tiers on it too.

First thing I plan to do is a Hellwig 7643 Rear Sway Bar, so we'll see how well that does.

On to the question, for a non tower/DD which is the best Bang for the buck? Spring swap, Roadmaster Active Suspension (RAS), Airbags, combination, something else?

All the info I could find was for towing, and most of it for 4wd. I guess I'm apprehensive of swapping to 3k springs in the rear if all that's going to do is make the ride bouncy. But to me it does feel as a loaded 250 right now (if that makes sense).
 
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#3 ·
Take a look at your spring code on the door pillar sticker. What is it. I wonder if a new a code will ride better than a b code.

Rear sway bars come in some f250's and all f350's. So a trip to the junk yard and you could get them fairly cheap.
 
#4 ·
On the door sticker.
Spr
HA

Stock 6 pack ex springs somewhat flat.

Got off the phone with sdtruck springs and said sway bar then springs, but if their frowning then swap for either oe (2275lb) or 250(3000lb) but they also don't sell RAS.

Threw the same question about ride and rake to her and she was waffles about it too...
 
#5 ·
Whats the budget?

Being a 2wd im not too sure. I would say just go to b codes. You could also upgrade to 08+ rear Springs.
 
#6 ·
08+ plus springs will be a softer ride since they are longer,

another option(multipart)

 
#7 ·
Budget? We don't need no stinking budget!

I don't mind spending some money on it if its going to be notably awesomer.

SD quoted me $690 to the door for Hellwig sway bar and b codes with all bushings and hardware minus the lift block, their springs not Fords. Honestly for $230 I may just slap the Hellwig on and see how she does.

The wifey poo is gonna be majorly put out if I start throwing parts on it at a whim and it ain't all that. She came from a Yukon XL Denali with electronic air ride so... The ride was the best thing on that "Chevy with a body kit".
 
#8 · (Edited)
your truck is not gonna ride anywhere close to as soft as the previous ride.... Im not sold on the helwig, read some threads where others were not impressed, plus its not gonna help ride quality I feel. but im just a passerby whos read some stuff lol.

I feel the 2008 would ride pretty soft with some nice custom valved shocks would be the best ride improvement for your truck, if its in the works for you etc.
 
#9 ·
The auto flex is interesting but at almost $4k I don't feel this ex is worthy of it.
 
#10 ·
Do you like the ride in your f350? If you do the 08+ springs will ride like that. Probably a little better.

How much of a rake does it have? You could reverse level it and not put a block in it. The tail end will come down 1-2"
 
#11 ·
The 350 ride is amazing, if anything it's to soft for what it is, buts its also a dually. If the Excursion rode close to that I would probably be having more kids! This is the first I've heard of an 08+ spring swap for the rear.

Just to be clear, I'm not specifically looking for a "softer" ride. More stable/controllable sure, but not old Dirty Dodge hay wagon ride either...

Also I measured the rake from the top of the rim to the arch in the fender and without getting out the laser:

driver rake 5/8" passenger rake 1/2" +/- 1/8"

Probably has something to do with why it feels like it's draggin it's *** all the time:look:
 
#12 ·
Also I thought I put this in the 99-03 Excursion thread, so feel free to move it if'n your feelin froggy.
 
#13 ·
I have an 02 2 wheel drive f250. Bought it new. In 07 we bought an 05 excursion. It wandered all over the road. Horribly uncomfortable. Came back from the mechanics with recommendation for new ball joints and tie rods. The dope I bought it from had put cheap highway tires on it soon before selling it. So I did the ball joints and tie rods and had some bf Goodrich A/T tires put on. My truck also needed tires so I had the old tires from the Ex put on my pickup. The EX ride was solid after this, and the crappy wandering loose ride followed the tires right onto my f250. It was the worst feeling ride I've ever felt. A month later I ditched the cheap tires and went back to a better quality (Firestone Transforce) tire. The ride was back to normal. My brother suggested the wandering was probably due to sidewall flex in the cheaper tire. It was the worst while towing our fifth wheel. Gone was the relaxing ride I'd been accustomed to.

I would suggest that you may be experiencing the same phenomenon. If your F350 is SRW, try swapping wheels and tires between it and the EX and see if the wander follows the tires.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
#14 ·
The 350 is a dually, and a 2012 so no way to swap wheels.

I've had a 99 250 4x4 off road rclb, an 02 350 srw cclb 4x4, and 05 350 srw cclb Fx4, now 12 350 drw cclb 4x4 and the 2wd ex The 99 was the stiffest, the 12 is the best and the EX feels like the 99 with a ton of gravel in the bed.

I hear ya on the junk tires, this is defiantly not totally due to the tires. The front is solid, its all in the rear.

I'm going to look into the 08+ swap with donor springs, still leaning towards the sway bar either way.

Not sure how big of a hassle it will be to relocate the front bracket with no lift in the driveway, gonna depend on the amount of stuff in the way.
 
#17 ·
#16 ·
personally if I was to do a suspension on the rear of a 2wd,
I would be a heavy duty triangulated 4 link suspension.
with coil springs and/or airbags.
out of all the rear suspensions ive installed, leaf springs, lateral 4 links, 2 links etc...
a triangulated 4 link gives you the best control
the only down side is that the rearends in these trucks have a cast center section, which I would not advise welding to
so a strong back is needed.
 
#18 ·
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#19 ·
Got of the phone with ATS springs and he basically told me to just do the b code swap and slap the hellwig on there, gtg. I asked him about the 08+ and he told me:
-he can only remember 3-4 folks ever doing this
-its a fair amount of work
-hasn't heard any feedback
-slightly more capacity
-stock Ex springs are BS

On the plus side of doing an 08+ is there is no fuel tank in the way, but there are heater and ac lines on the passenger side and fuel and brake lines on the drivers. All hard lines. still need to relocate ebrake cable.

Waiting on a quote from him, I picked his brain and pretty much came to that. Any air bags, add a leafs, RAS, timbrins, air shocks and so forth would just be a bandaid pre spring. He did not recommend the "B mod" of stacking old and new springs in the same pack, more of a shim for height than a ride improvement.
 
#20 ·
Time for an update. After the CFO(wiffypoo) cut my growing mod list budget, and spring projects stacking up faster than the weather is allowing, I ran to the junkyard and grabbed a set of B codes for $150. I did no mods to the springs whatsoever. New Ford u bolts from flea bay and new grade 12 flange nuts from Fastenall. Took it to my buddies shop and he helped me with it today, took about 3 hours with a drive on lift, and torches. Tossed my bud some foldin money and a Pepsi he was happy, I'm happy(its 20* out and blowin like a dodge tranny). On a good note I got air bags and some goodies for the dually.

I also weighed the rear of the Ex "empty" less than half a tank of fuel, it was sitting at 3800 lbs, so A codes are 2275lbs each new and these have 173000 miles. I know the original owners towed a camper with it all the time too. So 4550 rated pair - 3800 lbs on the tires looking at 750 more pounds to be maxed out.

So bang for buck factor is a 9 out of 10.

Before:
-Axle wrap. At half throttle the rear would drop what felt like 2".
-1/2 " rake.
-Going over bumps on a 25 mph road felt like a 90's Lincoln town car with broke air bags, it got tossed around by the rough road.
-There is a county road on the way to the kids school that has a few banking turns with a changing speed limit, some curves at 40 some at 50. These curves always where a little nerve racking. It's bumpy and narrowish. I can drive this road 70 mph in the Dually or the previous Yukon no problem.
-Driving down any road I always felt compelled to keep a firm grip on the wheel, my Wife made the comment of not feeling comfortable driving it with one hand. Just general boatyness. I think this was also axle wrap related, drive wheel on a curve wrapping the axle?

After: I only drove around town, but I did go down the road to the school, as this was the fastest easy test.

Axle wrap is GONE. Completely, I can put my foot to the wood and it only feels like the front comes up a 1/2 inch.
2" rake now.
I actually started driving over bumps on purpose, soaks em up like a biscuit soaks gravy.
The road to the school was a piece of cake and I caught myself doing 10 over the speed limit with no fear of death. There IS still some sway in the rear, and I may still throw a Hellwig on it in the future.
I took both hands off the wheel on a straight road and it tracked straight and true, again no fear of death. Boat feeling is Gone completely.

So
$150 for the springs, shackles, eye bolts. and half a hanger
$25 for 4 NOS Ford u bolts from flea bay
$25 for a bag of 10 16-2.0 grade 12 flange nuts from Fastenal (I could have re used the nuts from the old u bolts, but time was a factor)

Again these where junk yard springs, reused the Excursion shackles, no new bushings. Did nothing special, just a straight swap. While it was not technically difficult, it is a physically demanding job. I'm guessing the springs are 100lbs apiece and the stack of ac/coolant lines on the drivers side along with the rear fuel tank make it a no go for a drive way by myself project. All eye bolts got loosened, frame jacked up with axle dangling and torched the u bolts. removed the rest of the eye bolts and slid the springs forward and out. I did need to remove all the nuts holding the hard lines in place on the drivers side and pull the lines down a few inches to gain access to the passenger front hanger bolt. New springs in on the perches, line up the locator pin and put the rear eye shackle bolts in loose, pry the shackles to line up the front eye and put it in loose. New u blots and nuts finger tight, keep em on the same marks as before. Make sure the U bolts are evenly tight in a crisscross pattern just tight with a 3/8 ratchet. Set the truck down and torque everything to 185 ftlbs.

Still waiting for my Wife to drive it, we'll she what she thinks tomorrow.

Front is stock spring rear is B code
 
#21 ·
Sweet. Thanks for the update. I wonder if you would see any difference upgrading to stiffer front coils. Maybe take some of the rake out of it.
 
#22 ·
A coil swap is on the back burner, not sure what codes to go with.

Got a pile o parts for the dually next. Then camper, then boat, and she wants another bathroom so....

I am playing with the idea of a rolling chassis 2wd 05-07 for the bigger brakes, it would need to be cheap though.
 
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