# 03 ford excursion spring swap



## Robert.Parson (Sep 7, 2004)

Has anyone here swapped their stock Excursion springs for the F250 front V code and rear B code springs ?
did you have a shop do it ?
WHERE ?

Looking to swap mine out since i have started bottoming out and we are just tired of the road wandering...

there are plenty of posters (and maybe IMposters) on the internet, so i was hoping i could find a 2cool member who has done it so i can see it for myself.

Robert


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## bwguardian (Aug 30, 2005)

If this a 4x4? If so, add a leaf in the front. The wondering is the link bar bushings.


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## Robert.Parson (Sep 7, 2004)

bwguardian said:


> If this a 4x4? If so, add a leaf in the front. The wondering is the link bar bushings.


Yes, Limited, 4x4 with a 7.3.
My springs are shot. I have lost over an inch of ride height in the front. And the back has always sagged even with just my boat. And the travel trailer is pretty dicey...
Replaced the bushings on the front sway bar last year thinking that was the problem...
But it wasn't..


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## wakeupluis (Feb 16, 2006)

I was going to do the swap. But I also wanted a lift. So I just went with a BDS 4" lift. I did the install myself. Really easy. You may need a second set of hands getting new springs into position. Not a bad job but it is time consuming. I am sure any 4x4 shop can take care of the swap for you. If you are buying Brand new springs. It may be worth doing a complete lift. Its about the same price after hangers and stuff. 

The lift did not cure my wandering. But a new steering gearbox and setting the tire pressure at the Ford Recommended pressure of 55 in the rear and 50 in the front cured my wandering.


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## Robert.Parson (Sep 7, 2004)

wakeupluis said:


> I was going to do the swap. But I also wanted a lift. So I just went with a BDS 4" lift. I did the install myself. Really easy. You may need a second set of hands getting new springs into position. Not a bad job but it is time consuming. I am sure any 4x4 shop can take care of the swap for you. If you are buying Brand new springs. It may be worth doing a complete lift. Its about the same price after hangers and stuff.
> 
> The lift did not cure my wandering. But a new steering gearbox and setting the tire pressure at the Ford Recommended pressure of 55 in the rear and 50 in the front cured my wandering.


thanks Wakeup
i have no desire what so ever for a lift. i am getting to old and fat for that. 
i had the front lifted 2.5" just to level it out.
that's plenty good for me.
now i just want to be able to drive down the highway without hitting the bump stops, and tow a 8,000# travel trailer with no issues. 
even with the wieght distribution hitch, it's pretty sketchy. 
tires were aired up to Ford pressure. 
WD hitch was professionally installed after weighing.
i have replaced all the bushings in the front now, including the sway bar, and still have the WANDER issue.
the right front bump stop is about gone now.
the ash end drops over 1-1/2" when i put the boat on it at 700#s of tongue weight.
and another 3/4" when i put the TT on it with 800#'s of tongue weight.
both the TT guy and my mechanic all agree that i need new springs.
i am also going with a HELWIG in the back, so that should fix 90% of it.:cheers:


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## wakeupluis (Feb 16, 2006)

Yup sounds like you did your home work. The VB swap is probably your best bet. My front bump stops where gone too. Of course now there is no need for bump stops with a 4" lift.. 

Mine had a factory Rear and Front Sway bar. Plus factory steering stabilizer.

I am sure Powerstroke Magic would do a spring swap for you. Dont know what Garret Charges may be worth a call


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## Robert.Parson (Sep 7, 2004)

wakeupluis said:


> Yup sounds like you did your home work. The VB swap is probably your best bet. My front bump stops where gone too. Of course now there is no need for bump stops with a 4" lift..
> 
> Mine had a factory Rear and Front Sway bar. Plus factory steering stabilizer.
> 
> I am sure Powerstroke Magic would do a spring swap for you. Dont know what Garret Charges may be worth a call


Yep, got Mike working on the quote since last night when i got my oil changed.
Garrett was out, so i havent spoke with him directly yet.

called Binh over at Pruitt Spring, he wants $1600 to re arch my old springs (new bushings and u-bolts incl.). 
new ones from ford are about $1600 as well, with no new ubolts, which i gotta have...
so it might not be a bad deal over at Pruitt..

might be better to look for them at a junk yard for now.


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## wakeupluis (Feb 16, 2006)

I don't know about the re Arch. I do not like that Idea. you can definetly look at some Junk yards. Plenty of F250's there. The price is the reason I went with the BDS all Spring lift. All of their parts have a life time warranty too. But I know you are not wanting the lift.


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## bradsecond (Mar 25, 2009)

http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/ 
I did the x code swap on my f250 (should be pretty close to your Excursion). Bought them here and it took an afternoon by myself in the driveway. I think it was less then $400.


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## bwguardian (Aug 30, 2005)

You don't need to re-arch your front springs. If you add a leaf to the double spring pack that is correctly arched the other 2 weak springs will fall in line and arch themselves correctly. This is what I did to my F350 way back in 2003. The old man at Pruit & Sons, who did alot of 18 wheelers, dump trucks, etc....suggested this. The F350 has about a 3" rake to it from front to back because the front is the same as the F250 4x4 but the rear has a 4" block instead of a 2" block. I was looking into lift kits and took it to him. We visited about needing new shocks, suspension arms, etc. and he asked "you like to fish don't you?", I said "yes.", he said "they make lures for fish and lures for fishermen.". 

The extra spring has been doing its job all these years and I had him lift the front enough that I still had about an 1" rake. The only thing I have had to do is replace those plastic isolators where the spring packs mount to the truck in the front and back. I don't have a front sway bar to allow the front axle to articulate when off road and also did away with the steering damper. I can take the freeway curves faster than most sports cars still without the sway bar.

You have one of two things going on with the front suspension causing the wondering. The wifes Excursion 2wd was doing it really bad back in 2006 and I had the link bar replaced...now you can simply do the bushings and not the whole bar. The steering gear box will also cause this and there is a slight adjustment on it if not too bad.

As far as the back end I would see if you have a sway bar as some did not come with them just like limited slip. I would also check the condition of your shocks...both front and back. You might even look into air bags for the rear rather than springs, shocks, sway bar, etc.


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## Robert.Parson (Sep 7, 2004)

bwguardian
thanks for your input. i appreciate all the help i get here.
But from what two different mechanics told me (both whom i trust), the problem is that the front springs are no longer properly arched. the front springs for sure look like the have a wave in them on one end. almost like it is bent the wrong way now.
and compared to how the back loaded up when i bought the Exc at 70,000, the back springs are also getting very weak. 
my travel trailer tongue weight is right at 800#'s and the back squats at least 2 to 2-1/4" when i add it without the weight distribution hitch (like to just move it out of the way while i was working on the lot in Sargent).
my boat squats it about 1-1/2" with about 700#'s of tongue weight (not really sure, but the boat trailer guys said that they had it at about 10%).
but when i bought the truck, i put a big stock trailer on it to haul stuff to Mexico for some family members, and it didnt squat an INCH. and that loaded stock trailer was 10k easy. (we basically had an entire hair salon in it). 
i have 220,000 miles now. 
the truck has been good to me.
i have found a pair of used V codes at Bronco Auto Salvage for $200 and plan on pickking those up next week along with a pair of B codes for the back at $150. 

my Exc did not come with a sway bar in the back, so i am going to keep looking for one of those as well.

and i have replaced all the bushings in the front. including sway bar bushings and adjusted my gear box. 
hopefully, it's NOT the gearbox...

thanks again for all your help.


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## bwguardian (Aug 30, 2005)

You can put whatever stock front springs you want. It is a matter of time before they sag. I have had several F250's, my everyday F350, the wifes Excursion, and a F550...they all reverse curved over time because of the weight of the engine and/or front end. Do yourself a favor and get the extra leaf put in or it will do the same thing...just a matter of time. As far as the backs, I still say air bags would be a better solution given you can adjust the ride and really don't need to worry about a sway bar. You can get the manually adjustable Firestone bags for about what you are looking at for the springs. You keep stating you replaced all the bushings in the front including the sway bar bushings, but did you replace the link bar bushings?


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