Outdrive1

No, I have 11" of lift on mine, the angle at wich I can articulate my front end is actually greater without the stock cv joint. I paid a ton of money for that custom drive shaft so it's probably not something you would want or need.

Chris Sunkin

Momentary brain fade on my part. There are already u-joints in the knuckles on the Ex.

Duh.

MnFastBoat

Chris, just out of curiosity, what load rating arethe tires you have on your Ex?

Chris Sunkin

The OEM tires- "E"

I put 32K on it before I got the replacements for the "D" tires that came on it.

MnFastBoat

OK thanks, I was talking with a person at work that has a 2003 ex and he is running C tires
He cannot believe how much better mines drives then his and he only has 10,000 miles on it
I have E on mine thankfully

Chris Sunkin

C- rated tires? He's going to be surprised how poorly it steers when one blows on the highway. One thing you don't want to do with an Ex is roll it. I've seen 2- both with the roof crushed all the way to the windowsills. One in Kentucky - just outside louisville. The only thing sticking up was the drivers seat- the roof crushed down and to the right. The driver's seat was sticking through what used to be the side window. Body still in it- sheet and all.

Chris Sunkin

If you own an Ex or a SD, this is important to know. Don't let the dealer's service advisers BS you on this. This is an actual TSB from ford and it says right in it how to resolve the problem and states it's covered by warranty

http://www.thedieselstop.com/faq/949...les/010302.pdf

Dregsz

THe TSB is very interesting.
Mine wanders like a *****.
I have the Hellwig rear bar, haven't put it on yet.
I bought the Ranch RSX shocksl (variable internal valving), put them on without taking the front tires off, no biggy and they work fine. I drove 10 miles of washboard, dirt road yesterday and they handled great.
I was also planning to upgrade the front sabilizer shock.

The Bilstiens are great shocks, but the Rancho RSXs are plenty adequate on my 01' 7.3PS EX I think they were on sale from summit last month, about $55 ea, buy 3 get one free. They were noticably much stiffer then the stockers when hand loading and unloading.

Evan

Chris Sunkin

There's something else worth mentioning- the sway bar ends attach to the frame via two 10" long links. It's a different setup than most- not a long bolt with rubber grommets and washers on the ends. It has two eyelets with floating bushings in it. Anyway, even with them removed from the bar, you can barely detect wear. It would be virtually impossible to check them on the truck. One good way to tell is if you are feeling a soft clunking noise at your feet when going over bumps. When these wear even a little bit, your truck will wander. Mine went at about 40K. I'm guessing that without the rear sway bar, the front does all the work. Maybe they'll last a bit longer with the rear installed. Definitely an under-engineered item. Over $100 for the pair not including installation.