Just Picked Up an Ex

[wetnsloppy4x]

This is the wifes new grocery getter. Got rid of her 10' STi for this. I always felt kinda dirty having a Japaneese car. Back to an all Ford stable.

It's a clean 04' with 69k. XLT. About the only thing it doesn't have that we wanted was leather. That can be fixed though.

It's on 285/75/16s right now. It looks to be a little taller than other Exs we've seen. Could this possibly already have V and B springs? What would I look for?

 

[FX4 F2-Fifty]

Nice! Definitely looks higher than most other excursions I have seen.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ad8 PRODIGY]

Sweet! It looks a bit taller to me too, but the guys I know tow campers every weekend. Our suburban stayed high until we bought it and began towing with it and driving a little harder. The past owner really drove like a grandpa. :shrug:

How did you like the performance on the STi? The ones around me can really get up and go.

 

[wetnsloppy4x]

The STi was a fun car. We never modded hers but even stock it did pretty well. Take it to its limits and just asks for more. Its the type of car you have to be careful in because it can make you feel like Superman with the way it stays glued to the road. It was dickhead magnet though. Every Civic and Neon douche wanted to race and we would get redneck Dodge drivers road raging on use all the time. It was surreal. Although it was bright red, it seemed to be invisible to other drivers. We really had to watch our ass in that car. It was almost a daily occurrence for somebody to almost tbone or pull right out in front of us.

Is it normal for Exs to have 7 leaf rear packs with 2" blocks? Up front it has a pretty standard looking 3 leaf pack.

What does everybody think, can I get some 35s under there on 18"s without rubbing? The tires on it now are close to 33"s, it looks like a 35" will fit to me.

We're gonna do exhaust and an SCT pretty quick too.

 

[washingtoncoastie]

35's should fit but they will rub at full lock. I have 6" lift and 35's on mine in my avatar

 

[wetnsloppy4x]

35's should fit but they will rub at full lock. I have 6" lift and 35's on mine in my avatar

Do you mean the leafs of fenderwell?

I gotta say, wheel selection is a PITA. Everything I have my eye on seems to have either too much backspace or too much offset, or both. Most of the wheels we like are for coil front ends it seems. We have our eye on Novakanes and a couple of different Fuels. The Sotas seems a little closer, but still not quite right.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I need a wheel with no more than 4.5" BS and a max of +12mm offset, right? Ignore any ride height aspects for now. That will change soon enough. I'm just worried about leaf clearance.

My head is swimming.

Edit: We've opened our seach to either 18x9 or 20x9 wheels since the 20s are available in the ones we like.

 

[wetnsloppy4x]

Is it normal for Exs to have 7 leaf rear packs with 2" blocks? Up front it has a pretty standard looking 3 leaf pack.

Anyone have any input on these springs? Like I said, it a 7 leaf pack out back. I was a little suprised to find that.

 

[vcassens]

Sounds to me like someone beefed up the rear end to do some towing how does it ride?

 

[wetnsloppy4x]

It rides pretty well. It doesn't wallow at all. But the front is still a fair amount stiffer than the rear. It a very obvious difference. The front feels just marginally softer than my Fabtech sprung 06'.

I prefer a firmer ride. So "pretty well" to me is decently firm without being harsh.

So stock Exs have a 5 leaf pack in the back? And 3 up front? Just trying to get a starting frame of reference here.

 

[TARM]

OK someone has modified your leafs. It sounds like they went down the add-a-leaf path.

You say there are 3 leafs upfront. All the Stock only have 2 that includes the V and X codes if they were upgraded. So someone added a extra leaf.

On the rear has 7 total leafs IF you are counting that last overload swing that has the bump stops on the end. SO I am not sure what is going on there.

35 on any mass produced wheel will rub on the front. The X needs 4.5" of lift to properly clear 35s

The rear springs on the X are actually much stiffer than a F250-350 in first stage travel. Because they had to be dearched for the X to fit in most garages the spring pack had to be stiffened to still keep its 250 rating so its lower with higher pounds per inch of travel. What the X needs for on the road use and towing is a rear leaf that has more travel and stiffness right in between its current and a standard 250-350 rear pack. That is why you see the B code F code modded packs how tos.


I will try to post up a bunch of the how to threads for the various upgrades and mods and fixes for the X in the next few weeks. Maybe we can get them into one mega thread and then sticky it.

 

[wetnsloppy4x]

OK someone has modified your leafs. It sounds like they went down the add-a-leaf path.

You say there are 3 leafs upfront. All the Stock only have 2 that includes the V and X codes if they were upgraded. So someone added a extra leaf.

On the rear has 7 total leafs IF you are counting that last overload swing that has the bump stops on the end. SO I am not sure what is going on there.

35 on any mass produced wheel will rub on the front. The X needs 4.5" of lift to properly clear 35s

The rear springs on the X are actually much stiffer than a F250-350 in first stage travel. Because they had to be dearched for the X to fit in most garages the spring pack had to be stiffened to still keep its 250 rating so its lower with higher pounds per inch of travel. What the X needs for on the road use and towing is a rear leaf that has more travel and stiffness right in between its current and a standard 250-350 rear pack. That is why you see the B code F code modded packs how tos.


I will try to post up a bunch of the how to threads for the various upgrades and mods and fixes for the X in the next few weeks. Maybe we can get them into one mega thread and then sticky it.

I tend to agree with you on the add-a-leafs after looking a little closer. On the rear at first glance it looked like all the leafs had the factory type ?teflon? pads. After closer inspection you can see the fifth leaf has a different kind of friction pad. As you can see in the pic, these springs have had the leaf with the bump stops removed, and there is no spacer leaf. They are all load bearing leafs.

There is no doubt that the back is softer than the front on this Ex. There is 4" between the bumpstop and the ear on the block in back. There is about 1.5"-2" (it was on uneven ground when I took a quick measure) between the bumpstop and pad up front.

Thank you for the input! I'll be looking into the B and F code mods a little further for an education.

A sticky on the subject is a great idea.