Finally someone who understands what I've been experiencing! I got a 2004 Excursion and I noticed the stock caster is way too low, and that is before a 6 inch lift. I don't tow much so 12 degrees may be a bit much but I was thinking about 5.5 degrees of caster? Two different alignment shops have ignored my comments about it steering bad. They all said it was great... 1 of those was an off-road shop too. I really just want it to not be such a ridiculous bear to keep straight down the road.
It will be a game changer. Maybe its a liability thing because if the engine shuts off, it'll be that much harder to control. I'm thinking that's why they have zero caster from the factory. The alignment shops don't usually carry leaf shims, and the eccentric bushings will only go so far, so they just claim it's the way it should be. I'm interested to see how your experiments go, let us all know. Shims are inexpensive and easy to take in and out 😍
2000 Xcresion XLT, V10, 4" lift, 235 85/16s, sway bar/steering damper/running board delete (broke 'em all), 12,000 lb winch, 230,000 kms/140,000 miles with at least 1/2 of that on British Columbia logging roads, original owner. A lot of the slop in the steering can be a warn steering box. I've swapped mine twice with OEM and it makes a world of difference. Skinny tires help as well. With our Canadian gas hitting $2 a litre/nearly U$6 gallon, it's been parked as a lawn ornament off and on for the past few years. A Suzuki substitute saves on fuel but damn!...I miss my Xcresion. Best truck I've ever owned.
I’ve been looking at Excursions recently so clicked this vid. Started off thinking “here’s another dork”, then quickly realized “Oh shit he’s legit” haha. Nice build, good fab.
Thanks for checkin' it out. We love our family wagon. It's not going to compete in an off road race, but it will get us to some pretty remote places - with 8 people and gear! It's OK, I am a dork too :0
Welcome aboard! Conversations keep reoccurring about replacing it but they always end the same way - that nothing compares to the versatility and capability!
Nice job. The only issue you may have is Ford added braces to the engine cradle to support the coil buckets the gusset s are there to prevent frame twist of the coil buckets. We o did my ex I cut the frame at the back of the leaf spring and used the whole 06 front frame. The 06 has the welded gussets there. I then added a 2016 front end .
Your right. I deliberated on that for quite a while, but ultimately realized that they design for all kinds of crazy things like bolting plows to the front and ramming the truck into snow banks repeatedly. Also how much can a frame rust out before it's unsafe... I just hope I can see the cracks to catch it before it brakes in half with a trailer on the hook!
Really enjoyed your video. I’m planning on some 07+ axles. I don’t feel quite so crazy any more having the same problems. I use 4* caster shims on the spring mounts trying to solve some of the wander problem. Didn’t touch it. I also own the PSC kit but can’t install it because of the factory D50 mess. I’ve actually got a RedHead steering box that’s plumbed for hydraulic assistance I have the ram, just waiting on the axles. Unlike you, I’m 100k in to my 6.blow and I’m just done. So Mine is mid swap to a biturbo 12v block w/ 24v head Cummins and a p7100 pump. Looking forward to comparing notes soon!
Wow, that's gona be sweet! Yea the motor has been expensive but it's seen many miles :) I think the 6.0 is nearly perfectly instrumented vs the new ones where they are over instrumented and shut down for no good reason, the 12V is like the opposite with no instrumentation (like the 1 wire). If my truck ever goes into limp mode I will burn it :)
Thanks for the information about towing. I have watched numerous YT videos and have been trying to determine if the Excursion would be a good tow rig to replace my current RAM 2500 Power Wagon setup. From what I have seen it appears this is a lot of play in steering which leads to a bad towing experience especially since I tow long distances with my camper. Curious how much improvement folks get with suspension upgrades and how much they are out of pocket.
Well :) First is the age old debate about gas or diesel, there should be plenty of info on that. As for towing (steering aside), it's an 8K Lb truck with a reasonable length and cargo cap, F250 platform so it should be close to an even trade. The bumper pull only is kind of limiting in its self really, there is no question that a 5th wheel will be more stable and will track better. Again, my trailer is 30' total and weighs in at 11K and with the modern load distribution hitches it's manageable. If the speed differential between you passing or a passing semi is enough, you have to anticipate getting sucked in then quickly blown away from the combination of the air pressure and the connection being outside of the 4 wheels - I hear this is completely eliminated with a 5th wheel? Regarding the steering, you can go off the deep end if you wanted. In order of priority: 1) make sure everything is tight as new 2) add as much caster as possible, this in theory can be done with the eccentric bushings but it's hard to find a shop that actually gives a dang, go to the max not factory spec. and the caster differential is also how you dial out the constant tension on the wheel 3) dual steering dampers 4) re-center your eccentrics and get adjustable arms/shims to roll the whole axel back to between 6+ to 12 degrees. Some other considerations to do up front: if you go with bigger wheels, a coil swap (really a whole axel swap) gives you a real turning radius! With a Dana 60 coils swap you gain a ton of parts availability considering the modern trucks all use pretty much the same setup. In summary, to dial in a stock excursion it could be as little as a few hundred dollars in parts and a few cases of beer to bribe the alignment guy to actually do his job! or it could be 10's of thousands for a legit rock crawler rig. up to you as always, but we pass about a dozen excursions all towing on every trip as proof that its a legit rig out of the box. One other consideration, it has a 90's era dash where as your power wagon might be like a tesla touch screen or whatever :)
I have an 05, use it to tow and go off pavement, nothing like what you do. It’s late so maybe I missed it but is the rear all stock? It’s also from 05-08 250? You don’t have any lift at all minus the tires size?
Rear has original excursion springs, 05-08 Axel, and currently 1.5" blocks. Ideally the truck would have no lift. With the coil buckets raised and the springs that I found, the front is level with the back on that setup. I should measure the axel to frame distance so that others can compare.
Hey, what kinda tires are those?? I've been looking for a set of tires, if anyone makes them anymore, with a tread pattern like the old Mickey Thompson baja claws. Tread pattern kinda like a tractor. Had a set of yokohama geolandar at2s that where almost identical and they discounted them too!
Maxxis Trepador Radials, great for offroad but because they are directional they cant be rotated, bummer for people who just want to run them down the road. I love em'
Stuff it in.. Luckily those Maxxis tires are kinda round and are 12.5's. The Road tires are square and 13.5's so not a chance. I pulled some of the panels off the other day to have a look, I will probly be making some significant cuts soon. I will keep you posted.
@@owlclaw I have a. 37 in my stock spot. I just let the air out of it and have on board air if I need to fill it. Carried it on my roof for years until it completely destroyed my roof and roof rack channels..
4 link bars & brackets, coils, and front shocks are from a 6" Rough country kit (almost out of the box). Stock (f250): arm brackets, track bar & mount, 05-08 steering box. Coil buckets are custom to drop the truck back down (no lift was the goal) and clear the tires while flexed out. Fenders are cut way out to clear the 37's at full lock and full flex. 4 Links are set to move the axel 2" forward and rolled back to 12 deg caster at ride height.
Almost zero lift, just good planning. Check out the most recent vid in the excursion playlist, I tried to answer he most common questions and went into more detail on the lift.
It is definitely in the driveway the most, especially because I'm always tinkering with it! Suprisingly this has stood the test of time too, I usually buy and sell a car within a year, not this one tho
It’s it’s all over the road you need a rear sway bar. Mine didn’t have a sway bar when I got it. It was undeliverable. Put a f350 heavy duty rear sway bar and it was All gone.
Finally someone who understands what I've been experiencing! I got a 2004 Excursion and I noticed the stock caster is way too low, and that is before a 6 inch lift. I don't tow much so 12 degrees may be a bit much but I was thinking about 5.5 degrees of caster? Two different alignment shops have ignored my comments about it steering bad. They all said it was great... 1 of those was an off-road shop too. I really just want it to not be such a ridiculous bear to keep straight down the road.
It will be a game changer. Maybe its a liability thing because if the engine shuts off, it'll be that much harder to control. I'm thinking that's why they have zero caster from the factory. The alignment shops don't usually carry leaf shims, and the eccentric bushings will only go so far, so they just claim it's the way it should be. I'm interested to see how your experiments go, let us all know. Shims are inexpensive and easy to take in and out 😍
2000 Xcresion XLT, V10, 4" lift, 235 85/16s, sway bar/steering damper/running board delete (broke 'em all), 12,000 lb winch, 230,000 kms/140,000 miles with at least 1/2 of that on British Columbia logging roads, original owner.
A lot of the slop in the steering can be a warn steering box. I've swapped mine twice with OEM and it makes a world of difference. Skinny tires help as well.
With our Canadian gas hitting $2 a litre/nearly U$6 gallon, it's been parked as a lawn ornament off and on for the past few years. A Suzuki substitute saves on fuel but damn!...I miss my Xcresion. Best truck I've ever owned.
Ohh, a suzuki jimny or a samurai? Yea, gotta have multiple; parts for maintenance is cheaper than gas!
Great video. Been kicking around the idea of swapping to coil conversion on my 04 excursion.
Right on!
I’ve been looking at Excursions recently so clicked this vid. Started off thinking “here’s another dork”, then quickly realized “Oh shit he’s legit” haha. Nice build, good fab.
Thanks for checkin' it out. We love our family wagon. It's not going to compete in an off road race, but it will get us to some pretty remote places - with 8 people and gear! It's OK, I am a dork too :0
Sweet video. Thanks for the showcase. Wicked Excursion.
Joined the club last year.
Welcome aboard! Conversations keep reoccurring about replacing it but they always end the same way - that nothing compares to the versatility and capability!
Man that bumper idea was great!
THX for the feedback. Someday I'll try it again now that I can weld faster, maybe a giveaway or something!
Nice job. The only issue you may have is Ford added braces to the engine cradle to support the coil buckets the gusset s are there to prevent frame twist of the coil buckets. We o did my ex I cut the frame at the back of the leaf spring and used the whole 06 front frame. The 06 has the welded gussets there. I then added a 2016 front end .
Your right. I deliberated on that for quite a while, but ultimately realized that they design for all kinds of crazy things like bolting plows to the front and ramming the truck into snow banks repeatedly. Also how much can a frame rust out before it's unsafe... I just hope I can see the cracks to catch it before it brakes in half with a trailer on the hook!
Really enjoyed your video. I’m planning on some 07+ axles. I don’t feel quite so crazy any more having the same problems. I use 4* caster shims on the spring mounts trying to solve some of the wander problem. Didn’t touch it. I also own the PSC kit but can’t install it because of the factory D50 mess. I’ve actually got a RedHead steering box that’s plumbed for hydraulic assistance I have the ram, just waiting on the axles. Unlike you, I’m 100k in to my 6.blow and I’m just done. So Mine is mid swap to a biturbo 12v block w/ 24v head Cummins and a p7100 pump. Looking forward to comparing notes soon!
Wow, that's gona be sweet! Yea the motor has been expensive but it's seen many miles :) I think the 6.0 is nearly perfectly instrumented vs the new ones where they are over instrumented and shut down for no good reason, the 12V is like the opposite with no instrumentation (like the 1 wire). If my truck ever goes into limp mode I will burn it :)
Great video and great looking truck
Thanks 👍
Great job. Just picked up a 04 expedition. Love the room. I've had my share of jeeps. To small.
I like that I can sleep in it with all my gear, no roof tent needed!
I love it! Subscribed :) Thank you for making it detailed and informative!
Thanks for the sub!
Great truck. Thanks for sharing the pics and info
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the information about towing. I have watched numerous YT videos and have been trying to determine if the Excursion would be a good tow rig to replace my current RAM 2500 Power Wagon setup. From what I have seen it appears this is a lot of play in steering which leads to a bad towing experience especially since I tow long distances with my camper. Curious how much improvement folks get with suspension upgrades and how much they are out of pocket.
Well :) First is the age old debate about gas or diesel, there should be plenty of info on that. As for towing (steering aside), it's an 8K Lb truck with a reasonable length and cargo cap, F250 platform so it should be close to an even trade. The bumper pull only is kind of limiting in its self really, there is no question that a 5th wheel will be more stable and will track better. Again, my trailer is 30' total and weighs in at 11K and with the modern load distribution hitches it's manageable. If the speed differential between you passing or a passing semi is enough, you have to anticipate getting sucked in then quickly blown away from the combination of the air pressure and the connection being outside of the 4 wheels - I hear this is completely eliminated with a 5th wheel? Regarding the steering, you can go off the deep end if you wanted. In order of priority: 1) make sure everything is tight as new 2) add as much caster as possible, this in theory can be done with the eccentric bushings but it's hard to find a shop that actually gives a dang, go to the max not factory spec. and the caster differential is also how you dial out the constant tension on the wheel 3) dual steering dampers 4) re-center your eccentrics and get adjustable arms/shims to roll the whole axel back to between 6+ to 12 degrees. Some other considerations to do up front: if you go with bigger wheels, a coil swap (really a whole axel swap) gives you a real turning radius! With a Dana 60 coils swap you gain a ton of parts availability considering the modern trucks all use pretty much the same setup.
In summary, to dial in a stock excursion it could be as little as a few hundred dollars in parts and a few cases of beer to bribe the alignment guy to actually do his job! or it could be 10's of thousands for a legit rock crawler rig. up to you as always, but we pass about a dozen excursions all towing on every trip as proof that its a legit rig out of the box.
One other consideration, it has a 90's era dash where as your power wagon might be like a tesla touch screen or whatever :)
We should do a behind the wheel video on towing, you can be the independent 3rd party critic and come drive it for your self!
I have an 05, use it to tow and go off pavement, nothing like what you do.
It’s late so maybe I missed it but is the rear all stock? It’s also from 05-08 250?
You don’t have any lift at all minus the tires size?
Rear has original excursion springs, 05-08 Axel, and currently 1.5" blocks. Ideally the truck would have no lift. With the coil buckets raised and the springs that I found, the front is level with the back on that setup. I should measure the axel to frame distance so that others can compare.
@@owlclaw why does the rear need a 1.5” block? What happened in the front to cause it to go up 1.5”?
Hey, what kinda tires are those?? I've been looking for a set of tires, if anyone makes them anymore, with a tread pattern like the old Mickey Thompson baja claws. Tread pattern kinda like a tractor. Had a set of yokohama geolandar at2s that where almost identical and they discounted them too!
Maxxis Trepador Radials, great for offroad but because they are directional they cant be rotated, bummer for people who just want to run them down the road. I love em'
Is there somewhere I can message you to get a little more info on the coil buckets you made
Any where you would like. Facebook, Instagram, www.owlclaw.us/connect, owlclawfab@gmail
What did you have to do I order to put the 37” spare in the stock spot?
Stuff it in.. Luckily those Maxxis tires are kinda round and are 12.5's. The Road tires are square and 13.5's so not a chance. I pulled some of the panels off the other day to have a look, I will probly be making some significant cuts soon. I will keep you posted.
@@owlclaw I have a. 37 in my stock spot. I just let the air out of it and have on board air if I need to fill it. Carried it on my roof for years until it completely destroyed my roof and roof rack channels..
Where did you get the 4 link?
4 link bars & brackets, coils, and front shocks are from a 6" Rough country kit (almost out of the box). Stock (f250): arm brackets, track bar & mount, 05-08 steering box. Coil buckets are custom to drop the truck back down (no lift was the goal) and clear the tires while flexed out. Fenders are cut way out to clear the 37's at full lock and full flex. 4 Links are set to move the axel 2" forward and rolled back to 12 deg caster at ride height.
Do you have the link for the 4 link conversion kit???
Na, but I think PMF is doing a pretty good job trying to copy it. Check out @geeks4x4, he's doing great working thru the kinks.
What size is your lift ?
Almost zero lift, just good planning. Check out the most recent vid in the excursion playlist, I tried to answer he most common questions and went into more detail on the lift.
Is this beast daily driven? if not what's the daily
It is definitely in the driveway the most, especially because I'm always tinkering with it! Suprisingly this has stood the test of time too, I usually buy and sell a car within a year, not this one tho
It’s it’s all over the road you need a rear sway bar. Mine didn’t have a sway bar when I got it. It was undeliverable. Put a f350 heavy duty rear sway bar and it was All gone.
Yea man, gotta be balanced for sure!
What company do you suggest for rear sway bar?
Hey man I wanna do something similar how can I get in touch with you
Nice X. Thanks for getting in touch.