Ford Excursion/SD brake recommendations

rowekmr wrote:
I thought the Excursion's tow rating is 10K-11K depending on engine/drivetrain? I think for a truck rated to tow a trailer at that weight should be able to stop it in adverse conditions. I have to admit the brakes never gave me problems before or after that incident towing or empty but that time with brand new pads/rotors, lubed slide pins, etc. after about 500-600 miles (break-in) it should have better performance in my opinion. After that incident I searched this forum and found out that I should manually downshift to the same gear the trans used incline for the decline.
The current Ex has tow/haul mode so that should help but I want to make sure I have as much braking performance as I can afford.

Lantley wrote:
I am slowly coming to terms with the facts of the GVW and payload numbers.
I once towed a 31BHDS TT with a PSD Excursion. It was a fantastic combo.
Very stable and solid in all conditions even though I was quite a bit over my GVW towing a 10K loaded TT.
I replaced breaks regularly and accepted it as a way of life.
In hindsight I have come to recognize that towing beyond your ratings may not be dangerous day to day but it will cause parts to where prematurely.
I was replacing brakes regularly because I was towing a heavy trailer regularly.
My current truck is more in line with the factory ratings and my maintenance cost are noticeably better. Wear items like tires and brakes are lasting longer.
Don't get me wrong the X is a great TV, in some ways I still miss it. If I had the same TT I would get another X in a heartbeat, but the bottom line is the GVWR numbers do have meaning and consequences.
Exceeding the ratings may not put you in harms way on a daily basis but you will more than likely wear out consumable parts prematurely.
As long as you tow a with your current combo you will be wearing your brakes prematurely. This is a lesson I learned in hindsight, while I was towing with the X I was unable to see the forest through the trees!

The tow rating of the X maybe 11K but the payload rating isn't so great for it to be such a beast of a truck
The X has a payload rating of 1700 lbs or so. I easily exceeded that.
I never had fear or worries while traveling. My combo was rock solid.
I had an exhaust brake on my PSD X, which kept me off the brakes when going down steep grades. Nevertheless both of my X's required expensive brakes jobs every year or so.

I had always read that the low GVW was attributed to the soft rear suspension of the X which may very well have been true. I enjoyed both of my X's the entire time I owned them. However I encountered at least 2 expensive brake jobs along the way. Honestly at the time I never thought much of it and considered brakes and rotors the cost of towing heavy. I imagine a set of brakes may have lasted 25k-30k miles or so.

My current truck which tows a larger trailer but is more in line with its ratings is now in need of a rear brake job. However I have over 100K on the current brakes.
I have no real evidence or data but I suspect exceeding the payload rating of the X caused excessive wear on my brakes.
If I had to do it all over again, I would have no problem getting another X, but I would also expect to buy a lot of pads and rotors if I exceeded the ratings.
Many choose to ignore GVWR and focus on axle ratings when it comes to payload. I try to be a GVW guy myself, but in the end I knowingly exceeded the payload rating with my X.
It's often said that GVW is more of a warranty/wear issue vs. a safety issue.
In hindsight I can attest to my tires and brakes wore out faster than I expected when exceeding my payload rating.
I did not think much of the excessive wear at the time. But now that I'm more in compliance with the ratings on my current rig, I believe exceeding the ratings probably contributed to the excessive brake and tire wear on both of my X's.