Replacing Rear Axle

[Moose McClatchie]

Is there a way replace the rear axle with one from an F 150. I have a 2014 XLT EL?

 

[mjp2]

Anything's possible with a skilled fabricator and enough money.

The 07+ Expedition has an independent rear suspension while the F150 has a solid rear axle. It'll be a full custom setup.

Leaving out the details, remove the stock stuff, cut out all the mounting brackets, get the new axle positioned in place, figure out what leaf springs might work and where, fab up places to mount the spring mounts, weld on spring mounts, figure out what shocks work and get them mounted, measure/order a custom driveshaft, plumb the brakes, figure out the parking brake setup, make sure the computer is happy with the new setup, test and tweak, etc.

You could alternatively go a 3- or 4-link setup and use coilover shocks, which would involve fabbing a crossmember and link mounts to keep the axle positioned under the truck instead of using the leaf spring setup. That approach will require stripping the F150 axle of all the mounts and welding on new stuff once you sort out the geometry and position of the links and mounts.

What are you hoping to accomplish through the swap?

 

[07navi]

No not possible since the f150 has a solid rear axle.

 

[Moose McClatchie]

Anything's possible with a skilled fabricator and enough money.

The 07+ Expedition has an independent rear suspension while the F150 has a solid rear axle. It'll be a full custom setup.

Leaving out the details, remove the stock stuff, cut out all the mounting brackets, get the new axle positioned in place, figure out what leaf springs might work and where, fab up places to mount the spring mounts, weld on spring mounts, figure out what shocks work and get them mounted, measure/order a custom driveshaft, plumb the brakes, figure out the parking brake setup, make sure the computer is happy with the new setup, test and tweak, etc.

You could alternatively go a 3- or 4-link setup and use coilover shocks, which would involve fabbing a crossmember and link mounts to keep the axle positioned under the truck instead of using the leaf spring setup. That approach will require stripping the F150 axle of all the mounts and welding on new stuff once you sort out the geometry and position of the links and mounts.

What are you hoping to accomplish through the swap?

I was looking to get away from the Independent rear suspension. I hate the way it feels when I’m towing my trailer. I use WDH with anti sway but I can feel the rear dancing as I call it back and forth not a lot like a tail heavy load just a little back and forth movement. I find it annoying.


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[AllBoostNoEco]

I was looking to get away from the Independent rear suspension. I hate the way it feels when I’m towing my trailer. I use WDH with anti sway but I can feel the rear dancing as I call it back and forth not a lot like a tail heavy load just a little back and forth movement. I find it annoying.


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The biggest problem is the shape of the frame. The IRS is what allows the totally flat interior when the seats are folded and the lowered load floor compared to the SUVs with a solid rear axle. There’s no space for the rear axle to move up and down in the Expedition as the frame is nearly flat and doesn’t have the “kick up” that the F-150 does to make space for the axle tubes. The rear axle shafts go through the frame, so you would have to do some significant work to eliminate the pass-through for those and retain the frame strength. The driveshaft tunnel is also not designed to allow movement of the driveshaft, so if you physically got a solid axle under the truck, there would be clearance concerns with that as well. As @mjp2 stated, anything is possible, but I’d wager you’d be halfway to a good Super Duty in the costs to get it under the truck. These trucks are simply not designed to accommodate a solid rear axle so it would be a total re-engineering job.
Hellwig makes upgraded sway bars for our trucks (front is 7696, rear is 7688), they may help somewhat. Upgraded rear shocks and load range E tires are other possible options to improve the towing feel.

 

[07navi]

Forget about putting a banjo in it. Ford dropped the floor in the back which took a lot of engineering and it required the independent axles, unless you want to give it a 6" lift or something.

 

[Moose McClatchie]

I guess I will just go buy a new F 150 it sounds like it might be cheaper lol. I’ve upgraded the tires and shocks. I will look into the sway bars. The reason I bought this was the seating capacity with a 9000 pound towing but it just feels weird when towing I eventually get use to it just takes half a trip to re a quaint myself with its idiosyncrasies


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[grdsman]

I guess I will just go buy a new F 150 it sounds like it might be cheaper lol. I’ve upgraded the tires and shocks. I will look into the sway bars. The reason I bought this was the seating capacity with a 9000 pound towing but it just feels weird when towing I eventually get use to it just takes half a trip to re a quaint myself with its idiosyncrasies


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I tow 7500 pounds. Use a good weight distribution hitch, anti-sway and upgrade your shocks. I put Bilstien 5100’s on and it helped the rear end feel a lot when towing. Or follow the instructions above. LOL


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[Moose McClatchie]

I tow 7500 pounds. Use a good weight distribution hitch, anti-sway and upgrade your shocks. I put Bilstien 5100’s on and it helped the rear end feel a lot when towing. Or follow the instructions above. LOL


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I will replace the shocks soon and then see how it feels. My last tow vehicle was a 2001 F 350 that rode like a tank until I put my 15000 pound toy hauler on it then it was comfortable. The family got bigger and the toys went away so we bought an expedition and 1/2 ton towable trailer. Other than the wonky ride while towing I love this truck so I will just Ned to get used to it.


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[mnachreiner86]

Not really. The IRS is what it is.


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