Expedition is Too High Now

[JPOnslaught]

I messed up and I'm trying to figure out how to fix it.

Put on a Ready Lift 3" leveling kit combined with the Rough Country rear control arms to fit some Nitto LT285/65R20's on the ride (stock offset).

Looks amazing (i'd upload pics but the file size is too large and I can't figure out how to get it smaller).

The ride around town is fine, and overall the truck has handled the increased tire size well, but I have ruined its stability on the highway.

Cruising at 70 mph is tough. It just doesn't feel planted on the road anymore. High winds move it around, and I've got a really weird issue going around right hand bends. I simply can't take them at speed anymore without feeling like I'm going to flip it.

Was a truly terrifying and hilarious experience the first time it happened. Literally had to slow down to 60-65 and lean over the arm rest going around a right hand downhill bend in the freeway while a high top sprinter van passed me doing 70 on the same turn.

This isn't the case going around a left hand bend in the freeway. I'm no longer taking those at 80 mph but it isn't the terrifying experience that the right hand bends are.

There were issues with the sway bar during the install that the shop had to fix due to a weird noise, some loose bolt that they tightened up and the noise was gone, but now I'm having an issue on the side that the bolt was loose on and I'm wondering if they adjusted it back in a way that is now causing my freeway issues.

Any thoughts or suggestions on my issue would be appreciated.

 

[BigOleFordFan]

Well, as the saying goes:

"If ya wanna play, ya gotzta pay", hahahaha

Sorry I can't offer a solution or suggestions, but I wish you good luck on getting this issue fixed !

 

[Shutterbug57]

I figured out years ago that factory engineers have a clue. Your ride may not be a race car or a mud buggy, but it is a competent vehicle. It may be boring, but it works.

 

[HILLY]

To overstate the obvious, higher vehicle, higher center of gravity.

That being said... If you're feeling as if your steering itself is more "twitchy" and harder to control as in keeping in a straight line, the next step would be to upgrade the upper control arms (UCA's). Besides articulation, the primary goal of UCA's is to add more positive caster to the steering geometry. When a vehicle is lifted, you loose that caster and the faster you go (highway speeds), the worse the steering and balance of the car will feel. The more positive camber the more stable the vehicle will be at speed. There's not much down side to it other than how your wheels will swing or possible wheel well clearance if there is a lot of forward push plus bigger tires.. There's no added wear to the tires compared to toe and camber.

A lot of shops will not put much time and effort to get caster right, or they simply can't because they've run out of adjustment, or your cams are even seized. UCA's will help add back that lost adjustability. I've gotten in the habit in the past of after letting the suspension settle, I would first make sure the cam bolts moved (not seized), and crank the alignment as far forward as possible. When dropping off at the shop I would tell the service writer or tech to focus on getting the toe and camber to spec. Usually this had the favorable results that I would be looking for.

 

[JPOnslaught]

I figured out years ago that factory engineers have a clue. Your ride may not be a race car or a mud buggy, but it is a competent vehicle. It may be boring, but it works.

Lol my first thought was "they may have been on to something with that initial setup"

 

[JPOnslaught]

To overstate the obvious, higher vehicle, higher center of gravity.

That being said... If you're feeling as if your steering itself is more "twitchy" and harder to control as in keeping in a straight line, the next step would be to upgrade the upper control arms (UCA's). Besides articulation, the primary goal of UCA's is to add more positive caster to the steering geometry. When a vehicle is lifted, you loose that caster and the faster you go (highway speeds), the worse the steering and balance of the car will feel. The more positive camber the more stable the vehicle will be at speed. There's not much down side to it other than how your wheels will swing or possible wheel well clearance if there is a lot of forward push plus bigger tires.. There's no added wear to the tires compared to toe and camber.

A lot of shops will not put much time and effort to get caster right, or they simply can't because they've run out of adjustment, or your cams are even seized. UCA's will help add back that lost adjustability. I've gotten in the habit in the past of after letting the suspension settle, I would first make sure the cam bolts moved (not seized), and crank the alignment as far forward as possible. When dropping off at the shop I would tell the service writer or tech to focus on getting the toe and camber to spec. Usually this had the favorable results that I would be looking for.

Thanks for the detailed suggestions! Heading to the shop tomorrow to see what we can do to get things right!

 

[5280tunage]

That was going to be my first though, probably alignment issues. On my previous solid front axle vehicles (as in my user pick), bad negative caster would often contribute to the dreaded death wobble. But I wonder if you're experiencing a few issues here. For one, do you know if they replaced your sway bar end links with longer links? 3" is a lot and can throw the angles of those off as well, making them somewhat less effective, which could also be contributing to your "roll" effect in turns. Higher center of gravity could require more effective sway bars, not less. Also, are you using stock sway bars? One of the best things I've done on this thing was the sway bars, granted I hate the sound the poly bushings make vs. the old crumbly rubber ones, but I can comfortably take highway approach turns at 70-75 without feeling too nervous.

The caster settings definitely should be checked. On my old solid axles it was pretty easy to crawl under, check driveshaft angles and try to even everything out to get pretty close to 0, or something >0 depending on the lift, lots of cam adjustments. probably requires an alignment rack on these things.

 

[JPOnslaught]

That was going to be my first though, probably alignment issues. On my previous solid front axle vehicles (as in my user pick), bad negative caster would often contribute to the dreaded death wobble. But I wonder if you're experiencing a few issues here. For one, do you know if they replaced your sway bar end links with longer links? 3" is a lot and can throw the angles of those off as well, making them somewhat less effective, which could also be contributing to your "roll" effect in turns. Higher center of gravity could require more effective sway bars, not less. Also, are you using stock sway bars? One of the best things I've done on this thing was the sway bars, granted I hate the sound the poly bushings make vs. the old crumbly rubber ones, but I can comfortably take highway approach turns at 70-75 without feeling too nervous.

The caster settings definitely should be checked. On my old solid axles it was pretty easy to crawl under, check driveshaft angles and try to even everything out to get pretty close to 0, or something >0 depending on the lift, lots of cam adjustments. probably requires an alignment rack on these things.

Probably going to print out your post and take it with me lol.

 

[CoolViper777]

If you have a Android phone (Samsung or Google for example). when you open the picture, click the pencil icon on the bottom left. Then click the three vertical dots in the bottom right, and select Resize. Probably 40% would be sufficient to allow you to post a pic or two.

If you have a Windows PC, download and install MS Powertoys. Once installed, you just right click the pic and select Resize with Image Resizer. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/image-resizer

Probably going to print out your post and take it with me lol.

 

[Fastcar]

I messed up and I'm trying to figure out how to fix it.

Put on a Ready Lift 3" leveling kit combined with the Rough Country rear control arms to fit some Nitto LT285/65R20's on the ride (stock offset).

Looks amazing (i'd upload pics but the file size is too large and I can't figure out how to get it smaller).

The ride around town is fine, and overall the truck has handled the increased tire size well, but I have ruined its stability on the highway.

Cruising at 70 mph is tough. It just doesn't feel planted on the road anymore. High winds move it around, and I've got a really weird issue going around right hand bends. I simply can't take them at speed anymore without feeling like I'm going to flip it.

Was a truly terrifying and hilarious experience the first time it happened. Literally had to slow down to 60-65 and lean over the arm rest going around a right hand downhill bend in the freeway while a high top sprinter van passed me doing 70 on the same turn.

This isn't the case going around a left hand bend in the freeway. I'm no longer taking those at 80 mph but it isn't the terrifying experience that the right hand bends are.

There were issues with the sway bar during the install that the shop had to fix due to a weird noise, some loose bolt that they tightened up and the noise was gone, but now I'm having an issue on the side that the bolt was loose on and I'm wondering if they adjusted it back in a way that is now causing my freeway issues.

Any thoughts or suggestions on my issue would be appreciated.

Alignment and tire pressure!!!