Thinking about a Bus/RV

[geezer]

Ted, adding stiffer antiroll bars on a motor home may not be a good idea, as this will increase the torsional forces on the frame, and accelerate fatigue failure of the joints between body panels. This is especially a factor on units with pull outs, as those large rectangular 'holes' in the side wall are weak points. Your upgrade at the front would be less change than one in the back, as rear bars are usually much heavier than front ones, plus the rear springs are much stiffer than the front to support the rear engine and drive train.

The handling of a big motor home is a bit poor, especially for a driver who is accustomed to driving vigorously, as I am.

 

[Ted]

I've heard that argument made before, and there may be something to that, but I'm not sure I buy it entirely. One thing that I've learned about motor home construction is that they go for the cheapest they can for the given quality/price point they are trying to achieve. There wasn't a lot of engineering thought that I can see that went into things like "This would be too stiff, let's go lighter." I think it's more "This is good enough, no reason to spend more money."

Looking at the Freightliner XC chassis like I have, some of them have rear anti-roll bars from the factory and some don't. Mine (Holiday Rambler Endeavor) doesn't. The ones that do from the factory I think actually decided to try to differentiate by making theirs handle a bit better. Or there was something about the construction that made it handle so poorly they needed to improve it some.

Yes, the handling is poor. Once you get used to it, it's better, but I do feel like it's reasonable and prudent to make improvements. Helps to reduce driver fatigue and enjoyment of the trip itself.

 

[Steve Costello]

I've heard that argument made before, and there may be something to that, but I'm not sure I buy it entirely. One thing that I've learned about motor home construction is that they go for the cheapest they can for the given quality/price point they are trying to achieve. There wasn't a lot of engineering thought that I can see that went into things like "This would be too stiff, let's go lighter." I think it's more "This is good enough, no reason to spend more money."

Hence why my first RV is going to be something along the lines of a Wanderlodge or Prevost-based coach. Hard pass on the sticks and staples.

One other thing to check out to help with steering stability (especially in handling steer tire blowouts): Safe-T-Plus

 

[Ted]

Hence why my first RV is going to be something along the lines of a Wanderlodge or Prevost-based coach. Hard pass on the sticks and staples.

I can't fault you for that. No doubt, the Wanderlodge/Prevost ones are going to be built the best, the heaviest, at least from the perspective of the bus itself that you're based on. We've all probably seen Freightliner XC or Spartan empty chassis going down the highway at some point, just an engine/transmission/cooling system/frame. So with those, you've got each coach builder than building the box that goes on them and all the interior. At least with a Prevost/Wanderlodge, you've got a proper bus built from the ground up, with an interior then added.

Our first instinct was to go with a Prevost (as I've said elsewhere I think the Wanderlodges are ugly) but they cost a lot so we would've ended up with something old, and no slides. Now that we've lived with this bus for close to a year, about 12k miles, etc., I can honestly still say I see minimal reason to upgrade and benefits with what we have and I expect we'll just run this as long as we can. If nothing else, I don't want to go through redoing another bus anytime soon.

 

[Bill]

I can honestly still say I see minimal reason to upgrade and benefits with what we have and I expect we'll just run this as long as we can. If nothing else, I don't want to go through redoing another bus anytime soon.

Kinda like how some us are with our airplanes, huh? Would I like to own something different someday? Yes, but we have the Mooney so well sorted, and it's been so reliable, that I'm loath to sell and start over again!

 

[Ted]

Kinda like how some us are with our airplanes, huh? Would I like to own something different someday? Yes, but we have the Mooney so well sorted, and it's been so reliable, that I'm loath to sell and start over again!

The comparison is a good one. If we upgraded from the Endeavor to a Prevost, we're already at 40' so the most we'd do is go to 45'. We'd probably lose slides since very few Prevosts have slides on them. Engine/transmission? Yeah, we'd get more horsepower and a better drivetrain, but not by a lot, and the weight would go way up so I don't think the performance would be a whole ton different. You can't go faster on the highways on the whole, so there's not a performance benefit, and your mileage is mostly dictated by the fact you're driving a house so that doesn't get any better.

 

[MIFlyer]

Yeah, optimizing for maximum alternator output is probably not the right answer...

Pulley size ratios…


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[Mikey B]

Ted, I'm late to the party here, and too lazy to read all 25 pages of this thread, but I'll add a comment about your engine cooling concerns. If you know all this, or it's been covered already, please ignore.

Do you have a rear or side radiator? I've had 2 diesel pushers, one of each type. Each has its own quirks.

With rear radiators of the vintage I suspect yours is, sometimes the engine "slobber tube" ends up spraying oil back toward the radiator "sandwich," which quickly gathers road dust, etc., hampering cooling. The usual solution is careful cleaning of the radiator fins using a non-corrosive formula of Simple Green or similar and gentle spraying with a garden hose. The biggest challenge is getting access to spray.

With a side radiator, there are normally less fouling concerns, but the fan may be driven hydraulically or electrically, and sometimes there are fan clutch issues. Hard to generalize, because there are a number of different arrangements.

Lastly, there are aftermarket fans that are supposedly more efficient. I have no experience with such, but RV forums might yield some useful info.

 

[Ted]

@Mikey B I have a rear mount radiator, which I think ultimately I'm happier that I have vs. a side mount.

The slobber tube is a good point. On this one, it's located in such a position that it's under and in front of the radiator/fan by a bit. It's low enough down that I think it carrying oil up to the radiator would be difficult, but carrying dust definitely occurs. I did clean the radiator/air-to-air intercooler with Simple Green over the weekend and after a test drive, it didn't seem to make much of a difference. That said, the intercooler is difficult to access and so whether I got everything out of that is questionable.

The slobber tube I had been somewhat considering whether I should do something to try to give it improved/more optimal routing, perhaps something that leaves it firmly behind the radiator entirely. That may be worth considering although I've never heard it mentioned on the forums.

The fan is a direct drive, no clutch, no nothing. It just spins and is plastic. I have thoughts about either adding a clutch or otherwise replacing altogether with electric, but that's something else to figure out over the winter.

 

[Mikey B]

Yeah, I think rear rads are typically direct drive off the serpentine belt. I agree on preference for the rear mount (since it saves a storage bay), until you throw a belt. We were actually able to climb into the engine bay to replace alternator and belt with my side radiator (2008 Mandalay on Freightliner chassis) -- would have been impossible in my later Tuscany with the rear rad.

 

[Ted]

Changing the belt on my bus takes about 2 minutes. Open the bedroom access panel, then it’s a 1/2” drive to loosen the tensioner, from there it’s just slipping the belt around the fan blades and reverse the process. It takes longer to pull the stuff out of the bedroom closet.

But YMMV, I know they’re all built differently.

 

[Mikey B]

Actually, we no longer have to worry about that particular issue. We downsized a couple of years ago to a Coach House "class B+" (think class C, but without the front overhang). It's just the two of us and a small dog, so we don't really need the big bus any more (well, never really did, but that's a different question).

 

[SoonerAviator]

. . . On the side of the engine itself, the V10 and 5.4 were known for spark plugs blowing out. I'd recommend going through and replacing the plugs as a preventative item with new, and making sure they're torqued to spec. They said that it was good to check the torque every 10k miles on them. On my first Excursion I did that the first time or two, and after that when the torque hadn't budged I spread out the interval. But, that truck had a couple of plugs blow out.

Another known problem area on those engines is the exhaust studs breaking. I had this issue on both my V10s. On the first one, I put on shorty headers and that did seem to help (at least I didn't have any issues after that). It seemed to improve the flow a bit although I can't say if that actually helped power or mileage, but it probably lowered EGTs at the very least. The headers were cheap on eBay (this was about 15 years ago, though, so I'm sure price has gone up) and quality was fine (that may have gone down). And depending on the configuration of your exhaust manifolds, they may not bolt up, so something to consider.

And if you really wanted to blow up your engine and transmission, you could add a supercharger.

The CalVan Tool spark plug kit is a $200 option, but is dead simple to install and basically eliminates the spark plug blowout issue. Lots of the v10 SuperDuty/Excursion guys have gone that route and it's by far the highest recommended solution. All of the Ford Triton engines have issues with exhaust studs breaking (usually the rear most cylinders) after about 100K miles or so. It's not something to really worry about until it happens unless you're doing other work in the area that requires the engine to be out or starter removed. Count on about $1000 in labor to have it done by a shop.

 

[MauleSkinner]

So I would suggest the Air Tabs to start. Takes maybe an hour to put them on. Simple enough to do, and probably the cheapest thing to start with.

A couple of options exist on the suspension. The shocks may be original, or at least older/worn. On the diesels, the two popular aftermarket ones are Bilsteins and Konis. The Konis are known for being the better handling, but some people say they ride too rough. Our RV had Bilsteins and I replaced them with Bilsteins. I may try the Konis next time, but every time I drive a rough road, I find myself glad I went with Bilsteins, and they work well.

Another thing is that stock RV anti-roll bars are very small. My big diesel pusher doesn't even have a rear anti-roll bar to start. I'd look into aftermarket larger ones available. I upgraded the front bar and that did make an improvement. I've been thinking about adding a rear bar, which I'm sure will also make an improvement, but that kit is significantly more expensive since it has to add mounts as well as the bar itself, so I haven't done it yet. At this point I'm not sure I will, as I find the handling to be acceptable.

Some people also add a beefier/better steering stabilizer (basically the shock absorber attached to the steering arms). I didn't bother with this and never have on any vehicles I've owned, but something to consider if the above options don't help. Really that won't help your overall suspension, just maybe make the steering more consistent.

That era Ford Super Duty suspension wasn't known for having the best ball joints and you may want to inspect to just see if there's any play in them. I had a couple Excursions (2000 and 2002) and while I didn't have any suspension problems, I remember a lot of people complaining about them.

On the side of the engine itself, the V10 and 5.4 were known for spark plugs blowing out. I'd recommend going through and replacing the plugs as a preventative item with new, and making sure they're torqued to spec. They said that it was good to check the torque every 10k miles on them. On my first Excursion I did that the first time or two, and after that when the torque hadn't budged I spread out the interval. But, that truck had a couple of plugs blow out.

Another known problem area on those engines is the exhaust studs breaking. I had this issue on both my V10s. On the first one, I put on shorty headers and that did seem to help (at least I didn't have any issues after that). It seemed to improve the flow a bit although I can't say if that actually helped power or mileage, but it probably lowered EGTs at the very least. The headers were cheap on eBay (this was about 15 years ago, though, so I'm sure price has gone up) and quality was fine (that may have gone down). And depending on the configuration of your exhaust manifolds, they may not bolt up, so something to consider.

And if you really wanted to blow up your engine and transmission, you could add a supercharger.

Good info…thanks! We’re just starting to work out the budget for the RV, so we’ll have to prioritize the mods.

can you elaborate a bit on spark plugs blowing out? I assume that’s a spark plug failure…if it happens, is it something I can deal with on the road with basic tools, or does it require thread repair or something to the heads?

 

[Ted]

@MauleSkinner the spark plug blowout is a common Ford Triton issue on both the 5.4s and the 6.8s (and I think even some 4.6s). You can Google it, but essentially Ford only had like 3 threads to hold the spark plugs in, and so they blow out. It's a head issue and requires helicoiling the head if it happens.

 

[SoonerAviator]

@MauleSkinner the spark plug blowout is a common Ford Triton issue on both the 5.4s and the 6.8s (and I think even some 4.6s). You can Google it, but essentially Ford only had like 3 threads to hold the spark plugs in, and so they blow out. It's a head issue and requires helicoiling the head if it happens.

I think helicoiling was the initial fix available, but the CalVan or TimeSert fix is a better option than the helicoil. The spark plug blowout was an issue on all Ford Triton 2V engines (4.6L/5.4L/6.8L) prior to '03 or so, due to not having enough threads in the factory head/plug well (approx 4 threads), which often failed after repeated heat cycles. It's nothing catastrophic, but it will definitely get your attention. You can simply unplug the fuel injector and spark plug coil on the cylinder than blew out and continue on your journey running 1-cylinder down in order to avoid a tow bill or ruined trip.

Ford fixed the low number of spark plug threads on the 2V some time around 2003 which has 8 threads instead of 4. The issue also sometimes gets chalked up to improper torque specs when spark plug changes were done. Most people with the Tritons never experienced the spark plug blowout, but a there is a significant portion of the fleet that did, hence the reputation and the aftermarket fixes for it.

 

[denverpilot]

I think helicoiling was the initial fix available, but the CalVan or TimeSert fix is a better option than the helicoil. The spark plug blowout was an issue on all Ford Triton 2V engines (4.6L/5.4L/6.8L) prior to '03 or so, due to not having enough threads in the factory head/plug well (approx 4 threads), which often failed after repeated heat cycles. It's nothing catastrophic, but it will definitely get your attention. You can simply unplug the fuel injector and spark plug coil on the cylinder than blew out and continue on your journey running 1-cylinder down in order to avoid a tow bill or ruined trip.

Ford fixed the low number of spark plug threads on the 2V some time around 2003 which has 8 threads instead of 4. The issue also sometimes gets chalked up to improper torque specs when spark plug changes were done. Most people with the Tritons never experienced the spark plug blowout, but a there is a significant portion of the fleet that did, hence the reputation and the aftermarket fixes for it.

After that problem the dissimilar metal and two piece plug design plagued the 3V Triton.

Ford spent a decade screwing up spark plugs and timing chains which is impressive for 100 year old engine maker. Lol

(Having spent thousands fixing their ultra basic mistakes on ours... What a crock of crap that motor design is... Cam phasers anyone? Pew pew! )

 

[SoonerAviator]

After that problem the dissimilar metal and two piece plug design plagued the 3V Triton.

Ford spent a decade screwing up spark plugs and timing chains which is impressive for 100 year old engine maker. Lol

(Having spent thousands fixing their ultra basic mistakes on ours... What a crock of crap that motor design is... Cam phasers anyone? Pew pew! )

Lol, well both of by 5.4L engines ('98 2V and '08 3V) never had issues with spark plugs, timing chains, or cam phasers with over 160K miles on each. So, I can't complain about it too much personally. I did have to have the exhaust manifold studs done on the passenger side of my '08, but it wasn't a mission-critical repair. However, I've had 2 GM LS-series 5.3L with their awesome active-fuel management system (cylinder shutdown for fuel mileage) and both of them drink 2+ quarts of oil every 5K miles which GM says is "within normal tolerances" lol. GM had been making that engine for a decade prior to messing with AFM (which really doesn't save much fuel, if any, in real-world driving) with no real issues. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

Now I've got the Ford 6.0L diesel in my Excursion, so I'm trying to see if my luck continues with Ford engines that have a spotty history!

 

[denverpilot]

Lol, well both of by 5.4L engines ('98 2V and '08 3V) never had issues with spark plugs, timing chains, or cam phasers with over 160K miles on each. So, I can't complain about it too much personally. I did have to have the exhaust manifold studs done on the passenger side of my '08, but it wasn't a mission-critical repair. However, I've had 2 GM LS-series 5.3L with their awesome active-fuel management system (cylinder shutdown for fuel mileage) and both of them drink 2+ quarts of oil every 5K miles which GM says is "within normal tolerances" lol. GM had been making that engine for a decade prior to messing with AFM (which really doesn't save much fuel, if any, in real-world driving) with no real issues. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

Oh yeah that GM cylinder shut off garbage is awful too. Luckily mine didn't have it. Incredibly stupid idea.

 

[Ted]

As I'm looking at things I could do to improve the cooling system, one idea that I've had is the idea of adding a heat sink to the bottom of the oil pan to get some passive cooling. The oil pan hangs down enough that I could do this and it would get good airflow. You sometimes see aftermarket transmission or differential pans/covers that have cooling fins built in to help lower temperatures. I've never seen this on a production vehicle, I figure largely due to cost vs. the benefit. But it came to mind as an idea.

Something like this would fit well on my oil pan and get some decent airflow at the 40-75 MPH range that I'm trying to lower temps:

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/wakefield-vette/510-14U/5068120

Of course, it's not cheap either, and by the time I buy that I'm well on my way towards just adding an additional oil cooler.

Not sure if anyone has ever done that. I also looked at the slobber tube from the engine, and am thinking about whether I should relocate that some to try to get it in a better position.

 

[tmyers]

MaulSkinner, I will jump in with what I have done to tame the handling of my 2015 FW Storm, brother to the Tera

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[MauleSkinner]

MaulSkinner, I will jump in with what I have done to tame the handling of my 2015 FW Storm, brother to the Tera

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That would be great!

I drove it from the lake back to the storage facility on Thursday...wasn’t bad headed north, but the 30+ mph crosswinds while heading west were sportier than I cared for. Steering actually felt pretty tight, but driving past a windbreak and suddenly getting the full force wasn’t fun.

 

[tmyers]

I bought my FW Storm in 2015, Mine is the 18,000 pound version of the F53 Chassis with a 28' box, built on to it.

First thing I did was to adapt the Cheap Handling Fix to it. If you go to the IRV2 forum, go into the F53 Chassis forum and search for either Cheap Handling Fix or CHF. You will find a gazillion post thread on the subject. Ford provide most of their F53 Chassis' with two holes in the front and rear Sway Bar. they ship from the factory using the outer, less resistant hole. The link can be moved to the inner hole without much effort and provide more resistance to sway. This is easy on the rear sway bar, but the front leaves you with some bad geometry of the angle between the link and the sway bar. Some owners order longer Helwig Link arms but one of the authors of the CHF, Tejay, used to make a welded assembly that not only corrected the geometry issue but gave you 5 different holes to select from so you could adjust the resistance to sway. I bought a pair from him and never looked back. Is this a miracle cure to sway, nope but it is much better and little to no cost involved.

I would not be afraid to add an aftermarket beefier sway bar either, the frames on these F53's are pretty robust.

The next thing you want to do is check the bushings and hoops holding the bushings. They are notorious for coming loose and the bolts falling out or breaking off. The suggestion is to pull the bolts and use Red Lock Tight to secure them for good. I think 65ftlbs is what is recommended for torque. I have checked them every year since adding the Red Lock Tight and they have always been good.

Most of the F53's have a Track Bar at the front but nothing at the rear. Since these Chassis. are ridding on leaf springs the leafs tend to roll side to side. Especially at the rear. This will give you fits in a cross wind or when a Semi passes you, with lots of swaying back and forth. I installed an UItra Track on the rear of mine and it really tames things down for me. My wife likes to crawl into the bed when I am driving (not recommended) and she was quick to report how much more solid the ride felt.

New shocks are a good recommendation as are newer tires softer than the factory supplied Goodyear's, but I never made those changes.

Get your coach weighed so you can lower the tire pressure to match the weight of your vehicle

A Steer Safe system on the front axle is a great idea, again, I never did it.

So, all of those will help relieve the white knuckle, but they do not completely remove it.

I purchased a DP in February and I am trying to sell the Storm, the DP just rides and drives better in my opinion, but I love my little Storm.

 

[MauleSkinner]

I bought my FW Storm in 2015, Mine is the 18,000 pound version of the F53 Chassis with a 28' box, built on to it.

First thing I did was to adapt the Cheap Handling Fix to it. If you go to the IRV2 forum, go into the F53 Chassis forum and search for either Cheap Handling Fix or CHF. You will find a gazillion post thread on the subject. Ford provide most of their F53 Chassis' with two holes in the front and rear Sway Bar. they ship from the factory using the outer, less resistant hole. The link can be moved to the inner hole without much effort and provide more resistance to sway. This is easy on the rear sway bar, but the front leaves you with some bad geometry of the angle between the link and the sway bar. Some owners order longer Helwig Link arms but one of the authors of the CHF, Tejay, used to make a welded assembly that not only corrected the geometry issue but gave you 5 different holes to select from so you could adjust the resistance to sway. I bought a pair from him and never looked back. Is this a miracle cure to sway, nope but it is much better and little to no cost involved.

I would not be afraid to add an aftermarket beefier sway bar either, the frames on these F53's are pretty robust.

The next thing you want to do is check the bushings and hoops holding the bushings. They are notorious for coming loose and the bolts falling out or breaking off. The suggestion is to pull the bolts and use Red Lock Tight to secure them for good. I think 65ftlbs is what is recommended for torque. I have checked them every year since adding the Red Lock Tight and they have always been good.

Most of the F53's have a Track Bar at the front but nothing at the rear. Since these Chassis. are ridding on leaf springs the leafs tend to roll side to side. Especially at the rear. This will give you fits in a cross wind or when a Semi passes you, with lots of swaying back and forth. I installed an UItra Track on the rear of mine and it really tames things down for me. My wife likes to crawl into the bed when I am driving (not recommended) and she was quick to report how much more solid the ride felt.

New shocks are a good recommendation as are newer tires softer than the factory supplied Goodyear's, but I never made those changes.

Get your coach weighed so you can lower the tire pressure to match the weight of your vehicle

A Steer Safe system on the front axle is a great idea, again, I never did it.

So, all of those will help relieve the white knuckle, but they do not completely remove it.

I purchased a DP in February and I am trying to sell the Storm, the DP just rides and drives better in my opinion, but I love my little Storm.

Thanks!

Surfing YouTube I came up with this...

sounds like the CHF isn’t available anymore. Sounds like maybe the Helwig link arms would be the next best thing.

which bushings/hoops are you referring to?

 

[Ted]

Today's video on the shower, which was done some time ago but finally made it in the queue

 

[tmyers]

Thanks!

Surfing YouTube I came up with this...

sounds like the CHF isn’t available anymore. Sounds like maybe the Helwig link arms would be the next best thing.

which bushings/hoops are you referring to?

Where the sway bars are attached to the axle's half round bracket that holds the way bar buhsings into place.

 

[Ted]

We're getting ready for an upcoming trip which will be a big one at 4,000 miles or so. I've decided the big thing I want to do before that trip is get the new trans cooler in place. I found a good Amazon warehouse deal on the 67k BTU rated Derale cooler that's designed for these higher GVWR transmission applications, with a 190F on/175F off thermostatic switch, which should be the right temp range for the transmission. With that, I'll replace the transmission lines, which are very original and I wanted to replace anyway. This will essentially end up being another flush of the trans pan as well which wouldn't be a bad idea. I figure over the winter is when I'll do a more significant overhaul of the cooling system.

I also got the scoop that I wanted to put on for the turbo inlet, which will hopefully reduce EGTs if it works the way I'm thinking. I need to paint that and put it on. So, lots of little details, but shouldn't take long to do.

 

[Ted]

Scoop ready to go on the bus:

 

[weilke]

Just how fast are you planning on driving this thing that ram-air from a scoop becomes a factor ?

 

[Ted]

Just how fast are you planning on driving this thing that ram-air from a scoop becomes a factor ?

I’m doing this in response to an interesting EGT observation, specifically that EGTs rise for same conditions with a crosswind from the right side vs the left side. I like lower EGTs since that promotes longevity of the engine.

Logically this doesn’t make a ton of sense since this would be a difference in inches of water, but it seems to be observable in practice. So, we’ll see if I notice anything with it. Cheap experiment.

 

[Mxfarm]

Newell - amazing quality, including the Classics, late 80s early 90s. New ones, amazingly priced.

 

[ElPaso Pilot]

The oil pan hangs down enough that I could do this and it would get good airflow. You sometimes see aftermarket transmission or differential pans/covers that have cooling fins built in to help lower temperatures. I've never seen this on a production vehicle, I figure largely due to cost vs. the benefit.

Ah. All the old Alfas come to mind.

 

[Ted]

Ah. All the old Alfas come to mind.

That oil pan looks... expensive.

 

[Ted]

After pressure testing the cooling system and finding it not holding pressure as hoped, plus seeing a hose that I knew was seeping, I decided it would probably be a good idea to just go ahead and flush/redo the cooling system. I was planning on doing this over the winter anyway, so may as well do it now and not worry about my cooling system on this trip. So I got new thermostats and gasket, and have new hoses coming.

The transmission cooler that I've ordered arrives today, but I'm realizing that I may have made an error in the ordering. It has -10 fittings, and I think the transmission may use -12s. That will create a restriction, and whether it's too much of one is a question. I probably don't want to attempt that and risk blowing up the transmission. We'll see what the sizes are and go from there.

If it is -12s, one idea I had (especially given the plan for electric fans over the winter to replace the big mechanical cooling fan) was to simply run two coolers in parallel which would let me split the -12s into two -10s and not worry about restrictions, and then provide extra cooling. More cooling is probably not a bad thing, obviously I could over-cool the transmission, but it seems like that isn't much of a problem on these - this thing does seem to produce a lot of heat. I'll have to see once it shows up.

Another little detail I'm doing is adding relays so that the low beams will stay on with the high beams. The stock Ford Explorer headlights it came with had a single bulb, so it turns off the low beam filament for the high beam. My upgraded lights have separate lows and highs. I probably will do something with the high beam bulbs separately because they aren't bright enough, but the big problem is losing the brightness from the low beam. So, I'll get that in.

Bunch of little items to continue to pick away at.

 

[Steve Costello]

Bunch of little items to continue to pick away at.

That list never ends, and almost always grows, doesn't it?

 

[Ted]

That list never ends, and almost always grows, doesn't it?

I'd agree the list never ends. That said, when you look at what I'm doing, it's a pretty decent combination of general preventative maintenance (that's just part of ownership), minor repairs, and then some nice-to-have/upgrades. Really, there's no reason that I couldn't take it on the next trip as it sits now. But I like to have some new things to try out and see how they improve the experience on something like this, where that list is greater than 0.

 

[SoonerAviator]

. . . Another little detail I'm doing is adding relays so that the low beams will stay on with the high beams. The stock Ford Explorer headlights it came with had a single bulb, so it turns off the low beam filament for the high beam. My upgraded lights have separate lows and highs. I probably will do something with the high beam bulbs separately because they aren't bright enough, but the big problem is losing the brightness from the low beam. So, I'll get that in.

Bunch of little items to continue to pick away at.

One thing I'm getting ready to start on my Ford Excursion is upgrading the factory lights. I have the Harley Davison edition halogen headlights which look great, but output leaves a lot to be desired. So, I'm doing an HID/Xenon projector retrofit into my factory housings which will light up the road just like most modern luxury vehicles. I'm using the Morimoto Mini D2S projector, as well as swapping the factory fog lights with Diode Dynamics SS3 Pro LEDs. Fog light swap was mainly just to make the fogs match the projector headlights, but they will have much higher output as well. Something to think about if your headlight high beam relay doesn't do it for you.

 

[Ted]

One thing I'm getting ready to start on my Ford Excursion is upgrading the factory lights. I have the Harley Davison edition halogen headlights which look great, but output leaves a lot to be desired. So, I'm doing an HID/Xenon projector retrofit into my factory housings which will light up the road just like most modern luxury vehicles. I'm using the Morimoto Mini D2S projector, as well as swapping the factory fog lights with Diode Dynamics SS3 Pro LEDs. Fog light swap was mainly just to make the fogs match the projector headlights, but they will have much higher output as well. Something to think about if your headlight high beam relay doesn't do it for you.

Thanks. I've done similar. I put some Innovited HIDs for the low beams, the high beams are still standard incandescent and pretty bad. I added some LED driving lights to replace the fog lights. They're ok, not great. Definitely help, but ideal would be being able to run all three at night/empty roads. I will probably upgrade the high beam bulbs to HIDs or LEDs as well.

 

[SoonerAviator]

Thanks. I've done similar. I put some Innovited HIDs for the low beams, the high beams are still standard incandescent and pretty bad. I added some LED driving lights to replace the fog lights. They're ok, not great. Definitely help, but ideal would be being able to run all three at night/empty roads. I will probably upgrade the high beam bulbs to HIDs or LEDs as well.

The previous owner had LED bulbs in the HD housings, and while output intensity was better, it was a very splotchy beam pattern. Tough to make LEDs work as well as the halogens when in a reflector housing not designed for LEDs. HIDs in non-projector housings will blind every oncoming vehicle. Of course, if you're just putting HID in your high beams then you'd be shutting them off when oncoming vehicles are in sight anyway so that wouldn't be much of a problem.

 

[Ted]

The previous owner had LED bulbs in the HD housings, and while output intensity was better, it was a very splotchy beam pattern. Tough to make LEDs work as well as the halogens when in a reflector housing not designed for LEDs. HIDs in non-projector housings will blind every oncoming vehicle. Of course, if you're just putting HID in your high beams then you'd be shutting them off when oncoming vehicles are in sight anyway so that wouldn't be much of a problem.

The low beams on this are projectors, so they actually do work quite well with the HID bulbs. A very solid line where the light ends when I was aiming it, and I've never gotten anyone flashing me driving at night. So, I think I'm good there. The high beams are just standard halogen, so if I change the bulbs I think it's maybe more questionable what I want to do there. I don't know, maybe I'll order some better bulbs and just put them in before this trip - I could do either LED or HID there.