Suspansion/leaf springs

[65sixbanger]

Ok I dumped the clutch kinda bad yesterday and today I was at a junk yard pulling a new diff slip yoke off another truck and getting my warrantied U-joint. I pulled one off a 1990 F-350 and it slid right in mine, but I am waiting on the straps for the U-joint now.

One question I had was about the suspension and leaf springs, I noticed there were many older F-250's out there (gas and diesel) that had lifts on them. The one I liked the most was an F-250 with about five smaller springs on the front axle (DANA 44). What are yalls opinions on having this many springs on front? I really wan to lift my truck some, but I also need a stffer suspension, at least in the back. Any Ideas?

I almost forgot to ask, Did they make a "Texas Lariat" Ford? Because today I peeled the emblems off another truck and they look really sweet. I will try to get some pics up soon.

 

[emmer]

5 springs on the front? ....wow, she's going to be a rough ride, but strong!

 

[subliminal]

my toyota has 7 springs and it rides like a caddy. its all a matter of how the springs are arched and what the spring rate is. multiple,thinner leaves can have the same lift but a different spring rate than a set of thicker leaves. it all depends on how the springs were treated, if they are a harder spring they may very well be stiffer. those springs sound like 1/2 ton springs and might be a bit weaker than what you need.

 

[franklin2]

If you have the ttb 4x4 frontend, you can't lift the front substantially without the axle pivot drop brackets and a drop pitman arm.

 

[Agnem]

Moose Truck has 7 leaves courtesy of Burbank Suspensions 4" lift, with the Dana 44HD.

You must be registered for see images

 

[65sixbanger]

Yeah I was thinking it was going to be a harder ride, but the leafs are all very thin..like mels. So I need to get the drop brackets and stuff?

 

[GOOSE]

A 2.5 inch add a leaf was added to my 1992 f250 diesel. Even with that heavy idi pushing down, my alignment shop said they had the camber maxed out and it was border line ok. 4 inches of lift will require center drop brackets. I do remember a mag article with 4 inches of lift on a newer super duty and they were 5 spring packs. They said the truck rode as well as stock and handled the diesel motor and plow duty. I do believe f350 and f250 springs of similar vintage are the same, maybe different rates, but interchangeable.

 

[65sixbanger]

Well I didn't look, but I would bet that the truck at the junkyard would have all that fancy stuff, maybe i could rob it off it. If nothing else I would like to do maybe an AAL. Does this actually raise it the acclaimed 2.5"?

Also, what about the back axle? What do yall recomend as far as beefing up the springs back there?

 

[GOOSE]

AAL will kill your ride in the rear unless you always carry weight. I swear by the air bags that came with my truck. 80psi in them, I can haul 4500lbs. or tow a 555 Ford backhoe on a 9 ton trailer (about 21000lbs) and the truck stays level, rises about 3 inches in rear when empty. When empty, let air out and get factory ride back and climb into bed a bit easier. AAL in front will give 2-2.5 inches of lift, will clear 33x12.50's. If you want less, you can shorten leaves with chop saw and grind corners smooth. I would shorten both sides an inch or two at a time.

 

[65sixbanger]

Ok well I have 285/75's right now and I have not had a single problem with them, but I would just like to pick the front end up a bit. Those 25yr. old springs are startin to sag a little I think.

 

[damac]

We got an 85 junker a few weeks ago and it sits low in the front. Is that not how it came from the factory?

We are going to have to redo all the suspension stuff upfront including a new bushing kit, I just assumed that would bring it back to stock.

Do the front springs wear out?

 

[franklin2]

I was reading somewhere that when new, the front spring to the rubber bumpstop on most trucks started out at 1 3/4". From reading lots of posts, it sounds like most used springs are down to about 1 inch to the bumpstop.

The article also said Ford limited the travel of the front suspension on these trucks(the ones with leaf springs) because the bushings in the shackles and the end of the springs can't take but so much travel, since the ttb axle moves in a arc, not straight up and down like a dana 60 would.

 

[gonecrazyi]

Throw a new set of polyurathane bushings in the springs. When I put my 250 springs back in the 350 I got mydana 60 out of, The truck only sat about an inch lower then then the f350 did. The bushings were completely worn out and were sagging a lot.

 

[Agnem]

We got an 85 junker a few weeks ago and it sits low in the front. Is that not how it came from the factory?

We are going to have to redo all the suspension stuff upfront including a new bushing kit, I just assumed that would bring it back to stock.

Do the front springs wear out?

Factory suspension on 4X4's was always a 2 leave negative arched spring pack with a generous 1" of spring travel.

 

[SparkandFire]

I squashed the bump stops hard this morning on my way to work... Hit one of those lovely California style pot holes (you know, the ones that have been there so long that there starting to get grey hairs. You'd think with all that stimulus money we got to fix our roads, we would actually start to see some improvement eventually... http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/17/MNQP1B5C01.DTL)

Had to get out and check to see if I broke anything... That 1" of travel is definately generous, alright!