F-250 80-97 front spring shackle lift

[3/4 Ton-O-Fun]

I was quoted $400 to re-arch and add a leaf for ~+1.5 over stock for the front of my truck if I brought in just the springs. Seemed excessive when new springs from sdtrucksprings, generalspringkc and autoandtrucksprings are $300 or less. I would like just a little extra but don't want the ride any worse.

So I got to thinking why not extend the front shackles 3" and extend the frame notch? or...

Why not weld on drilled tabs so the front shackle mounting point is dropped 3"(keeping the distance between front shackle mounting hole and rear spring mounting hole constant)?

Either one should net that 1.5" and stock ride with the dropped mounting point being stronger/easier/cheaper and the longer shackle being much more difficult but possibly more flex.

Any thoughts? Any better places to buy new springs?

Thanks

 

[RANOVRU]

You should be able to find a set of AAL's for less than $200. Do the work yourself and there you have it. Hardware might be another 20-30 bux but other than that, thats it. Putting add-a-leafs in is pretty novice stuff and will get you more familiar with your truck.

I stopped by a local offroad shop recently just to see what they were getting for different things nowadays. A set of AAL's was almost $300 and labor to put them on brought it to just under $600. Then the "mandatory" alignment took the grand total to just over $900. Just for AAL's.

A alignment is a good idea but not an absolute neccessity to drive it. If you wait long enough youll just putt a hurting on your tires.

 

[subway]

might be the hard way but i have re-arched the springs on my jeep myself with a I beam and a sludge hammer. did it when i was 17 with no money and 14 years later they still have my arch to them. that was a ***** of a job though and with thinner springs.

you might want to check out just replacing your springs, if by 1.5 over stock you mean the current ride height they have probably sagged over time. new stock springs might get you where you want to go.

or you could look into a shackle flip but that is more lift.

 

[89ford]

yeah I would like to find some springs for mine too if anyone could point me in the right direction

 

[Dieselcrawler]

i would not extend the shackles. shaclkles are already scary on these trucks. could only imagine the leverage with extended ones.

 

[3/4 Ton-O-Fun]

89ford - put a .com after the names I listed. I don't know if any of those companies are good, I just found them by searching. johnrspring is resold by a couple online people, too.

I am pretty sure 43-498 is what we want.

autopartswarehouse shows 43-498 and 43-498p by John R. Spring, both with the same weight capacity. I online txted with them and they couldn't tell me what the difference was or why the p was worth $11 and change more. I then called John R. Spring and they said there was no p, only 43-498. I thought the "p" might have meant "plow" and a little extra height, but nobody knows so I won't test it.

Jred - I know Sky lists a "shackle flip" but in our case it is not like the rear shackle flip, which is under to over. Our shackles in front are already above the spring. I think they flip front to back, switching springs and axles.

For that much work I would rather cut, extend, turn, pocket and reinforce the TTB and get a much longer and lower spring rate leaf from deaver and end up with +18" of travel if not more like +20". When rock crawling the 60 wins without trying, but I don't crawl. Hauling @$$ on forest roads and jumping cattle guards is where the TTB rocks. Anyone who says different needs to see what the desert racers and jump truck guys do.

Dieselcrawler - Yeah, that kinked shackle to fit in the frame pocket doesn't seem like the strongest way to go, even before extending it. Moving the front shackle mounting point down a little more than 3" might let one use a wider perch and straight sided strong shackles.

So getting new springs to go with my energy suspension bushings will get me back to stock height. I will probably move the front mount point down 3" for the extra because it is cheap and I can

 

[Dieselcrawler]

if u have the TTB front end, you cant do it. will need drop pivot mounts too.

 

[Diesel_brad]

if u have the TTB front end, you cant do it. will need drop pivot mounts too.

WHAT HE SAID

 

[3/4 Ton-O-Fun]

Uhh, for dropping the front shackle mount hole ~3", to give ~1.5" lift it would be like putting an add a leaf in and for that little you don't have to do anything, certainly not drop the pivots.

Now for bigger, the reason to cut extend and turn is just so you don't need to drop the pivot. You get more ground clearance and more travel.

You must be registered for see images

dubdubdub.autofab.com/16front1.htm
and
dubdubdub.camburg.com/ford/86-96-f150-bronco/performance-kit/

Have they been doing this with the dana 50 TTB? I'm not sure. They have been doing it with the F-150's and Bronco's smaller dana. They work the same. No TTB drop pivot needed.

Now the steering linkage mods are a different story. Needed for sure!

 

[Dieselcrawler]

do whatever you want to do. it is your truck, and i dont have to drive anywhere near where your at. where just telling the facts.

 

[Diesel_brad]

Uhh, for dropping the front shackle mount hole ~3", to give ~1.5" lift it would be like putting an add a leaf in and for that little you don't have to do anything, certainly not drop the pivots.

Now for bigger, the reason to cut extend and turn is just so you don't need to drop the pivot. You get more ground clearance and more travel.

You must be registered for see images

dubdubdub.autofab.com/16front1.htm
and
dubdubdub.camburg.com/ford/86-96-f150-bronco/performance-kit/

Have they been doing this with the dana 50 TTB? I'm not sure. They have been doing it with the F-150's and Bronco's smaller dana. They work the same. No TTB drop pivot needed.

Now the steering linkage mods are a different story. Needed for sure!

if you are putting more than 2" of lift in the spring you need to drop the pivot point of the TTB, if not you will NOT get alligned

 

[3/4 Ton-O-Fun]

Easy now...

Throwing around all these facts and big type could make someone get their learn on.

People install drop TTB brackets to drop the pivot points to correct for the camber change due to a lift. People also correct the camber at the other end of the TTB by cutting the hub end off and welding it back on at the new correct camber angle.

There are different ways of doing things. Dropped TTB pivot brackets is how superlift/tough/roughcountry does it and cutting and turning is how camburg and all the other go-fast guys do it.

So yes, in normal sized text, bigger than 2" of lift can be aligned without a drop bracket if you cut and turn the TTB ends.

I didn't mean to anger or offend anyone. I'm not sure I understand what warranted that.

Remember, this all started with me bringing up the idea that instead of the common add-a-leaf, that everyone agrees rides harshly unless you have a snowplow/sewer tube bumper/pto device up front, one can buy new stock springs for $250, weld on shackle mount tabs with the mount point dropped 3" and get the same +1.5" lift, but with a much better ride.

Why aren't people doing it already? It is welding. It is the frame and suspension. There isn't much to sell.

I will let you all know how it goes when I do it.

 

[towcat]

wreckles wanted and got a 6-8" lift on a IFS truck.
he got springs and drop brackets, drop pitman arm and a align-able truck.

 

[franklin2]

Easy now...

Throwing around all these facts and big type could make someone get their learn on.

People install drop TTB brackets to drop the pivot points to correct for the camber change due to a lift. People also correct the camber at the other end of the TTB by cutting the hub end off and welding it back on at the new correct camber angle.

There are different ways of doing things. Dropped TTB pivot brackets is how superlift/tough/roughcountry does it and cutting and turning is how camburg and all the other go-fast guys do it.

So yes, in normal sized text, bigger than 2" of lift can be aligned without a drop bracket if you cut and turn the TTB ends.

I didn't mean to anger or offend anyone. I'm not sure I understand what warranted that.

Remember, this all started with me bringing up the idea that instead of the common add-a-leaf, that everyone agrees rides harshly unless you have a snowplow/sewer tube bumper/pto device up front, one can buy new stock springs for $250, weld on shackle mount tabs with the mount point dropped 3" and get the same +1.5" lift, but with a much better ride.

Why aren't people doing it already? It is welding. It is the frame and suspension. There isn't much to sell.

I will let you all know how it goes when I do it.

This is what struck me when reading this thread, and if some people are like me(that's a scary thought) this might be how this thread got off on the wrong track;
1. You start the thread by wanting to know about extending the shackles. Even I with little 4x4 off-road experience know this is not a good idea, so I thought you were just starting out in this" lifting your truck" business.
2. Then you ask questions about lifting the truck with just the springs, and it looked like you needed to be warned about the alignment issues related to doing that, since we assumed you were a beginner.

Then you ended up the thread by describing a very advanced way of cutting the ttb to get it aligned, which I would think would require you to be very confident in your measuring and welding skills to do that. So you suddenly turned out to be a very advanced welder and alignment guy who doesn't need a kit like most everyone else does.

I think that's why people reacted the way they did.

 

[Diesel_brad]

So you suddenly turned out to be a very advanced welder and alignment guy who doesn't need a kit like most everyone else does.

.

Thats a good one right there