Explorer spring swap

[MikeG]

Killed the springs in my 97 B4000 in the early 2000s - truck got to sagging badly. Read that Explorer and Ranger springs were the same width and length, so off to the junkyard I went.

My truck is 2wd, ext cab, 4.0 / auto and came with a towing package. The original springs had one main leave, two leaves, and an overload. The main leaf is 0.325" thick and the two other leaves are 0.290" or thereabouts (still have them in the corner of the garage).

I told the junkyard people to bring me the leaf springs off the first 4 door explorer they could get to, and I never asked what year it was. It also had a main leaf, two shorter leaves, and an overload. I don't know if I got the Explorer shackles or not - probably not or they would likely still be underfoot in the garage. The explorer main leaf is 0.370" and the two leaves are 0.340" near as I can measure.

Anyway, worked fine except I had put 2" coil spacers in the front and the back didn't sit like I wanted it to. A friend gave me spring leaves from a Cherokee that he had lifted - mid 90's, 4 door. Unfortunately, the center hole on the cherokee springs was a bit small. A carbide masonry bit will open it, but don't wear sandals when drilling it out. The chips are HOT. Guess how I know that.....

At the bottom of the pile is a very short leaf (if you can even call it that) from a Bronco II that I put lift blocks on (had to take it out or the center bolt wouldn't have been long enough). I put the original overload back in, as it was longer and thinner than the Explorer overload, and figured it wouldn't ride quite as bad.

Aside from the additional lift in the back, the main advantage to the two cherokee leaves and BII spacer is keeping everything off of the overload.

By the way if it looks like the overload is twisted out a bit - it is. Doesn't seem to hurt anything.

Neither center bolt was long enough, so I got two grade 8 bolts, and turned the heads down in my lathe till they would go in the spring pad. Other than a lot of sweat and probably some bad language.... easy peasy..... air tools are good, as well as lots of rust penetrant, and a 2 foot breakover bar.

Spring rate for the truck is about 600 lbs / inch.

 

[gaz]

That little leaf shouldn't be between the overload and the pack. It can go underneath the overload but I wouldn't use it in either spot.

Are you saying that you settled on the Ex overload, Ex main and 3 Jeep springs?

 

[MikeG]

From bottom to top -

Ranger overload
Bronco II "spacer"
Two cherokee leaves (they are noticeably thinner)
Then the rest of the Explorer springpack.

question - why would it matter where the BII spacer is? It has been like that for well over 10 years and doesn't seem to cause any problems..... just trying to understand.