Excursion Leaf Spring Swap with F250 Springs

People love the Ford Excursion and why wouldn't they? It is a great looking truck. Usually when considering the Excursion you are looking for versatility, the power of a truck with the comfort of a car or SUV. If you have a camper or trailer to tow but do not want to sacrifice seating and interior comfort by getting a pickup a full sized SUV is a good choice. With the Excursion you get a nice, big truck with plenty of space inside. The problem here is the towing capacity is not always where it should be for a vehicle this size. By a quick search on the internet you can see that many Excursion owners have found a simple solution to this issue by swapping out the stock leaf springs for F250 leaf springs.

Ford Excursions were built based on the Ford F250 however, they put lighter springs on them to increase ride comfort and have them drive more like a car or SUV then a truck. This becomes an issue for drivers who purchased the Excursion for towing purposes and need a heavier weight capacity. Ford Excursion springs have around a 1980lb capacity per side in the front and 2275lb capacity per side in the rear, the F250 springs on the other hand will give you between 2030lbs and 2630lbs per side in the front and 3000lbs per side for the rear, this is a substantial upgrade. When researching Ford Leaf Springs you will see a lot of information about spring codes. The most common switch for the Excursion is to use the F250 code V or U for the front and code B or F for the rear.

Difference in Capacity
Spring	Excursion	F250
Front	1980lbs (43-804)	V(43-814) 2230lbs or X(43-818) 2630lbs	U (43-812) 2030lbs
Rear	2275lbs (43-1541)(43-1331)(43-1325)	B (43-1261) 3000lbs	F (43-1571) 3000lbs

With these leaf spring charts you can compare the dimension of the Excursion Springs and see how the A and B dimensions are the same as the F250 Springs

SRI No.	OEM No.	Width	PL-1 SE (A)	PL-1 LE (B)	Arch (C)	No of Leaves	Pack Thck D	Spring Capty.	Remarks
Front
Excursion Front Spring
43-804	None	3	27 1/2	28 1/8	4	2	1 3/16	1,980
F250 V Code Springs Front
V Code Springs no longer available - USE X CODE BELOW
F250 X Code Springs Front
43-818	YC3Z5310AN YC355310APC	3	27 1/2	28 1/8	4 7/8	2	1 5/16	2,630	-
F250 U Code Springs Front
43-812	YC3Z5310AK YC355310ALC	3	27 1/2	28 1/8	4 5/8	2	1 13/16	2,030	-
Rear
Excursion 4wd Rear
43-1541	3C7Z5560BA 3C745560BA	3	25	33 1/4	5 5/8	6/1	3 3/16	2,275	2004-2006
F250 B Code Rear
43-1261	F81Z5560BA 81A5560BE	3	25	33 1/4	7 7/8	4/1	2 1/4	3,000	Single Rear Wheels; Two stage
F250 F Code Rear
43-1571	5C3Z5560FA 5C345560FE	3	25	33 1/4	6 1/4	4/1	2 11/16	3,000	Single or Dual; No Helper; Two stage

Any of these combinations will work, with V and B spring codes being the most popular choice. Once you have decided on your springs you can easily make the swap. You want to follow the basic rules of changing leaf springs, but there are a few Excursion specific steps you want to look out for. There is a great article on this with step by step instructions on preforming this leaf spring installation with a set of v-code springs. The writer mentions in this article some things to look for such as new U-bolts, measuring to monitor height change, using an extra jack stand to combat the heavy weight of the Excursion and removing the shock bolt to prevent over extension during the process. He also mentions several other important steps like removing the corner bumper supports to make getting to the front eye-bolts easier and removing the support bracket from the radiator to get the eyebolt out on the driver's side. This writer does a fantastic job of walking you through a leaf spring installation on the Excursion and makes sure to point out every bolt you will find in a tight spot and the correct way to remove it. I highly recommend reading through this guide before installing your new springs. According to Excursion owners that have done this switch the ride height was slightly affected. To correct this they simply switched out the stock Excursion rear blocks for the 3.5" F250 tapered blocks. This solution gives you the slight rake that they come from the factory with, the rear slightly higher than the front. Another thing you may want to look into when making this switch is new shocks. Bilstein recommends using front F250 and getting the rear Excursion shocks in this situation.

When working on improving your suspension for towing Excursion sway bars are a very popular option. People with Ford Excursions have chosen to replace their stock front sway bar with the F250 bar from Hellwig, they have also added a rear sway bar or replaced the stock rear sway bar with a Hellwig and have had positive results. The addition of load support like air bags or a Timbren kit can also help in towing situations as well as protect your new leaf springs.

The Ford Excursion is a favorite amongst Ford lovers; it brings the comfort of an SUV or car while providing you with the size and durability of a full sized Pickup Truck. Unfortunately this vehicle drives like a car and when used for towing can encounter some safety issues. This problem can be easily corrected with use of some aftermarket parts from the Excursions close relative, the F250. Using F250 springs, shocks and sway bars can increase safety and ride comfort when towing.