plumbers crack

My wifes 2005 excursion seems to need alot of driver input to keep it going straight.Has anyone had the same problem.I have owned 3 f350 dually's,expedition's,and my daily driver is an 07 f150.When I turn the wheel on any of the other trucks the vehicle responds right away and if I hold the wheel it goes straight.With the excursion it seems you have to steer it back the opposite direction or keep moving the wheel back and forth to keep going straight.The truck was just checked (front end) at ford.The ball joints,tie rods all ok.4 brand new tires and 63,000 miles never even used the 4 wheel drive.I think it needs a steering box,anyone know if theres an aftermarket replacement.We love the truck so I dont want to get rid of it. I have no faith in my local dealership so I may just start changing parts.

BL6

I have a '04 Ex, and '00 prior. The rears are built more for "soccer mom's" and less like 250's. I installed Radius Rods, which keep torque steer straight, better shocks and airbags. Check out Ex forum on Ford-Trucks.com lots of info.

LapseofReason

First make sure the track bar is tight and the bushings are good. An easy way to get a look at it by yourselt is with the engine off and the steering unlocked turn the wheel from side to side, you want the wheels to turn a little bit, if the truck seems to float across the axle then the track bar is loose.

If that is fine then it may just need a worm gear adjustment, this is easy to do and F up if you do it wrong, on top of the gear box you have a 5/8 nut locking down the gear shaft it's a 1/8 allen you need to hold the shaft loosen the nut and turn the allen clock wise, until it lightly seats then back it off 1/2 turn. Hold it and lock down the nut. Now drive it, if it's to tight it will have memory steer meaning it will not come back to center on it's own, if it's like that back the allen off 1/4 turn at a time until it's good, If it's better but not good enough you can try turning it in more. My Excursion is about 1/3 out and drives great but I have had others that need to be 3/4 out. Most of the time 1/2 out is good.

tblrklakemo

Get it up on a lift with the wheels hanging and try to wiggle em. Rebuild what needs to be.

Audiofn

My steering stablizer did this to me on my F350

Chris Sunkin

The only way to cure the Excursion's wandering is to replace the negative-curve front spring with a set from the F250. You'll have to add the rear spring blocks too.

I have had 3 Excursions and they all wander. They're tire sensitive- they like the OEM Bridgestones and anything else seems to make the wander worse. I tried every suspension fix known to man on my first one- board member rbr2328 (Beau) clued me in to this fix. I've done it on all three of mine and helped at least a half-dozen others do it as well.

plumbers crack

My friend also thought there might be a way to adjust the box too.Great info, would the Ford guy have checked that or what?I guess Im better off looking at it myself anyway.

fantastixvoyage

iTrader: (1)

I have also heard those with lift kits actually drive better than stock. Must have something to do with the springs as you suggest.

Any other trouble areas with these? I'm putting up my dually and Grand to get one car and these Excursions seem to have it all. Diesel, 4x4, quad captain chairs...

Chris Sunkin

The only other irritating issue with the Ex is that they go thru the swaybar links like popcorn. They have rod ends on them and they wear. No grease fittings, no aftermarket replacement. In 30K, it sounds like someone is tapping on the bottom of the floorpan with a hammer right under your feet.

I tried everything- including the steering box. I finally took it to an old-timer who told me about the negative spring issue. (they guy was in his 80's, ran a spring & radiator shop that looked like it was straight out of 1954) The Beau told me about the F250 fix. Best part- I moved up to 315/17's (H2 tires) and the thing rides wonderfully. You can also stop slowing down to 3mph for speedbumps.

The Ex was made this way so women & little kids could get in easily. The stock one's kind of look dopey- nose-down, like a giant station wagon. The springs & blocks level it up and give it an entirely different look.

LapseofReason

You can put the X code front springs in and it will sit level and ride good, I have the 5.5 inch Fab Tech lift with Hotchkins sway bars and rear air bags if I have a heavy load, 325 65 18 tires, it rides great and still get 21 hwy 19 city. Thinking about getting rid of the leaf springs and going air bags front and rear with the 5 link set up. My buddy has a 350 crew cab on 40's with that setup and it is the nicest ride you could ever get.