MIKE64 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 I have a 2001 Ford Excursion with 39,000 miles on it. When I drive the vehicle on the freeways it has a tendencies to sway slightly. The front steering linkage is tight along with the ball joints. There is a shock attached to the front steering linkage and over the years has leaked fluid from it. Could the shock be the reason a get the sway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-150 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 have you checked your tires? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIKE64 Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 (edited) yes Edited November 18, 2009 by MIKE64 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIKE64 Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 have you checked your tires? Yes my tires are inflated to 35 front 45 back as recommended Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-150 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Yes my tires are inflated to 35 front 45 back as recommended not air pressure. take them off the truck to check for any tread separation or broken cords. Once you take the weight off of them you will be able to see this damage better. a number of years back, broken cords caused drivability issue for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIKE64 Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 not air pressure. take them off the truck to check for any tread separation or broken cords. Once you take the weight off of them you will be able to see this damage better. a number of years back, broken cords caused drivability issue for me thanks I will check that and let you know what I found Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-150 Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 thanks I will check that and let you know what I found sorry friend, I was a little brief. the tires in question I had were factory installed. 2 of 4 had failures. With your mileage, I'm going to assume that your tires are still from the fatory. Factory tires are so cheap and bare minimum that I wouldn't be surprised if they have a failure of some sort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthewq4b Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 (edited) I have a 04 Excursion V10 4x4 and went through the same issue wandering all over the damn place on the hyway. Mine is a tow packaged equipped unit. First thing check your steering linkages to make sure they are not worn. Then check the ball joints if the unit is a 4x4 and you are getting popping noises when turning the Ball joints are shot. But the most likely culprit is the steering gear (power steering box) it needs replaced. When these wear out the vehicles wander all over the damn place this applies to both 4x4 and 2wd units. The 99 to 04 Super Duties and 99-05 Excursion have a notoriously weak Steering Gear. Mine was completly and totally worn out at 55K miles. DO NOT buy an aftermarket or Ford reman box. The Ford and after market steering gears replace the worn bushings with....more bushings and often are shoddy rebuilds. Contact Red Head steering gears Red Head they replace ALL the bushings in the boxes with needle roller bearings. Making the unit a life time steering box that is more precises has better feel and smoother operation. The boxes are throughly checked and tested before leaving the shop. Their customer service is above and beyond and will they ship you a new box to any place. (I'm in Canada) Trust me on this you will not find a better rebuilt box any where. Also none of 4x4 Excursions track well on the hyway and all of them wander. Ford totally screwed up the suspension on the Excursions it was and is a complete screw up by Ford. The Excursions DO NOT use standard Super Duty F Series spring packs but some abortion that the Ford suspension engineers dreamed up. The Excursion rear springs have an anti wrap/over load leaf that only acts on the front half of the spring pack this causes the rear axle to rear steer over uneven pavement and bumps and it leads to wandering this is most noticeable on the hyway and really really bad when towing. The permanent fix for this is to replace the rear spring pack with the Super Duty F code rear spring pack, Ford part number 6C3Z-5560-F You can install them as is or for additional load capacity add the 3rd leaf from the bottom (The 38" long one) from the original Excursion spring pack to the F code pack. This will end the hyway wander 100% and the unit will drive and tow as steady as a freight train. If you do lots of towing I would recommend adding the additional leaf. If you do not do lots of towing leave it out as adding the 3rd leaf stiffens up the ride considerably. Also if you so choose you can swap out the factory screwed up no arch, riding on the bump stop stock Excursion front leaf springs with proper Super Duty springs. As follows for each application. 5.4L V8: T code springs 6.8 V10: U code Springs 7.3 and 6.0 V8 Diesel: V code Also do not discount changing to or adding the larger 30MM rear sway bar used on the Super duties. That will help sway when towing. The stock Excursion sway bar with the tow package is 28MM non tow package units got no rear sway bar I Changed the Power steering box in my Ex to Red Head unit Added F code Springs with the addtional 3rd leaf And used V code front springs up front (I have a Buck Stop bumper and a 12K winch on the truck) so I needed the extra 400LBS of spring rate the V code spring pack offers over the U code pack. I also upgraded to the larger Super Duty 30 MM rear sway bar. The truck now drives as well as any car (just a little rougher unloaded) Handles like you would not belive (had one or 2 comments refering to it "being on rails" when cornering). The mods changed the whole personality of the truck it went from a wandering always needing small inputs to stay strait chore to drive, to point in a direction and forget it pleasure to drive. Ford totally screwed up the suspention on the Excursion when they were engineering it. The Red Head Box spring mods and Larger rear sway bar will make your Ex a pleasure to drive and you will wonder why you waited so long to do it. Trust me it is worth every single penny. If you have any other questions or want more information do not hesitate to ask. Matthew Edited November 26, 2009 by matthewq4b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.