i air um up tell right before they blow and go with that.

 

I know this is an old thread, but it’s what I found doing a search. I too have started to adjust tire pressure in an attempt to have a softer ride without negatively effecting handling. No one in the above posts mentioned the sticker on the door ( not the jamb ) that says with up to 6 passengers and 300 lbs of cargo, for best ride put air pressure to 38 front and 45 rear. I was running at 60/65, and any little crack in the road jarred the X. So I lowered to the “recommended” psi per door sticker, and it rides a lot softer. I can feel the extra shmooshiness of the tires, but as I have only driven 15 miles to work at 65 mph, I haven’t decided yet if this low of pressure is for me. Also, these pressures seem a little low for our heavy X’s. Should I be worried? Should I air up immediately before driving or risk certain death? Suggestions, comments, concerns?
PS: 01 XLT, 6.8, 265/75 16 E all terrains, x code fronts, 4.5” rear blocks , Monroe gas magnum shocks

 

Can you post a picture of your door placard ?

All the ones I have seen indicate 50 front 55 rear.
38 psi will support about 2000 lbs which puts you close to curb weight.

The Ex already understeers significantly with correct tire pressure and dropping it to 38 is going to increase understeer a good bit.

Fwiw, a decent read
Tire PSI Adjustments for Better Riding Performance

 

That was a great read. Thanks for sharing.

 

Should probably post the load and inflation chart for reference

 

Cheese and crackers!!! Boy, I guess I did flirt with death on way to work this AM. I just checked the door sill sticker, and it lists pressures for D load rating!!! Heading from parking lot across street to Sheetz to air back up. Probably go 55/60. Pirate, thank you for the help.

 

Yes, 2000-early 2003 Excursions came from the factory with load range D Firestone Steeltex tires. After they were recalled and Ford had to replace the old ones, they changed the OEM 4x4 tire to the BFG Rugged Trail with higher load range E in later 2003. The new 4x2 tire I believe was a Pirelli Scorpion.

IMO, they should have issued new door stickers, or at least a supplement sticker, to inform people of the new, correct recommended pressures. Some of the modern tire shops will be told the correct pressures in their computer, but some can still look at the door tag, and that can be a problem.

Here's some reading material on the recall: What's Behind the Firestone Steeltex Recall on Ford Excursions? | Safety Research & Strategies, Inc.

 

Sun, thank you for the info. I had heard that the early X’s came with D tires, but I was unaware of the crashes and deaths. Per the article, it seems Ford is to blame for spec-ing a tire that was too weak, not an actual problem with the tires themselves. I wonder if the D tires were on a lighter vehicle if they would’ve had issues.

 

"The lack of a specific failure pattern, a higher failure rate on a size used almost exclusively on Ford Excursions, and statements from Firestone that many of the failures occurred due to overloading all suggest Ford's specification of an inadequate load range. Tire experts familiar with the situation concur that this is likely. The use of a lower load range left the Excursion with a margin of safety that was too low,"


Regardless of what you drive or tow or even what tires you have.
Know your payload, know your pressures.

It's pretty easy to overload an Excursion. Hell mine is almost at it GVWR with just me sitting in it.

 

No wonder my local tire shop and I were in a long argument when they installed a 'D' tire in my spare wheel. I had to then backup my claim for the 'E' range tires with such info before they agreed to replace the tire.

 

Manufacturers by design have vehicles understeer rather than oversteer.
Installing a larger rear anti-roll will reduce understeer significantly, especially when there's no rear bar to begin with.
With a properly sized set of anti-roll bars steering can be dialed in to neutral.

 

I don't know for sure, but it sounds like it was a different spec tire than the Super Duty used, as if it had an E all along. I bet they dropped the Ex to the D to help improve the harsh ride, without doing enough homework. I too suspect the D tires would probably have been fine in another application.

It seems the LRD tires were spec'd even on 4x4 7.3s, which is sad. The heaviest of them all should have qualified for a beefier tire. I wonder if the failures were more concentrated to 7.3s over a gas truck?

Interesting. But good idea to have your spare swapped. Both of my '02s still had the factory Steeltex LRD spare, apparently replacing that wasn't covered in the recall.

 

Neutral to oversteer would litter the roadways with wrecks

 

im running d range bfg at's now on our ex. rides allot nicer then the e's ever did. i still tow up to 10k too

 

Agree.
The Hellwig front/rear anti-roll bar set leaves a V10 Ex with a comfortable amount of understeer.
A diesel or 4x4 would be heavier in the front resulting in more understeer.