inspecting junk yard leaf springs

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

any tips for inspecting junk yard leaf springs when the yard sets the trucks onto welded-steel-rim-jacks via their leaf springs? /facepalm
the guy at the counter said "im not supposed to tell you that you can use the Aframe engine hoists to lift the truck and remove the leaf springs" obviously i should just repostion the jackstands and not work on the vehicle while the rear is elevated, correct?
is there a secondary inspection i should perform when the weight has been lifted off the leaf spring?

It looks like i have a choice between 3 leaf spring packages, the HD duty being an extra 25lbs heavier... is it really worth the extra weight on this tired economy engine?
it looks like the 4leaf has only slightly higher weight capacity than the 3leaf? is it significantly heavier than the 3leaf? is the 4leaf easy to find?

advice for aquiring decent condition leaf springs? i would be happy to drive an hour or two towards any where that sells new leaf springs for online prices. i believe my local junk yard sells leaf springs for $50/ea not to mention theyll probably charge me to use their engine hoist. i am in the sf bay area

just hit 300,000miles a couple months ago!

 

[Danno1985]

I don't know, in SF Bay Area you might be able to remove leafs with hand tools, but around here you'd have to torch or saw through seized up hardware, and you're still going to want new bushings etc. Being near the ocean as you are, it's still possible hardware could be seized even if the surface metal isn't crusty like it would In the midwest. Not to mention it's going to be tough to tell how much the springs are sagging when the truck is sitting on blocks. I'd just save the headache and get new ones. FWIW, I've had great luck with General Springs, and at $89/ea, the marginal extra expense is more than justified by the time saved at the junkyard. Unless you're putting a camper on the back or loading that 2.5 up with landscaping stuff regularly, I would think a fresh set of original-spec 3 leaves would be more than adequate.

Shop Ford Ranger Leaf Springs | General Spring

General Spring will help you find the cost-effective replacement Ford Ranger leaf springs you need fast, to get your truck back on the road and looking great!

www.generalspringkc.com

 

[Josh B]

I'd have to say Ditto to that one. Take half the price out for the bruises and band-aids, and that's what it cost ya

If it wasn't all rusted and salted up that picture might change some

 

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

well pretty much all the springs ive looked at have no rust or minimal surface rust and of course i will pay for new bushings, i would like to imagine they would come out fairly easily. The quotes $89 each will def be more like $125ea with shipping included. i cant imagine shipping would be under $60. if i could save $100 bucks and learn something, i hope it would be worth my time. I should be driving from sfbay to Albuerquerque NM along hwy99 to i40 soon, perhaps there is a buisness en route that sells brand new leaf springs for online prices? and i could pick them up and save $100 on shipping?

I plan to look for a vehicle that looks like it was grandpa'd. clean interior, markings of a fulltime shell on the back, or (lack of) markings of a bed that was lightly scratched/used or evidence of bed cover that was lightly scratched.

"Not to mention it's going to be tough to tell how much the springs are sagging when the truck is sitting on blocks. "
considering the leaf springs are resting on the jacks, doesnt that put the weight of the rear on the leaf springs? perfhaps when i pick a suitable vehicle, i could use the engine hoist to reposition the jacks onto the axle for a final check?

truck history:
i do occasionally haul. i take about one or two 500mile trips of a 1000lbs of lumber and material to the desert where i work on a skatepark. I then spend about 3 months offroad hauling rock, sand, water into the skatepark.... this upcoming year, i have a buddy with a halfton truck i should be outsourcing more of the heavier loads too. the rest of the year i use my truck as a high mpg commuter.

ive def put this truck through 200kmiles of abuse and overloading since i got it, and the 3ply leafsprings dont look warped or crooked at all, but they sag. i figure i could get an easy 100kmi out of another set of lightly used leaf springs

 

[Danno1985]

well pretty much all the springs ive looked at have no rust or minimal surface rust and of course i will pay for new bushings, i would like to imagine they would come out fairly easily. The quotes $89 each will def be more like $125ea with shipping included. i cant imagine shipping would be under $60. if i could save $100 bucks and learn something, i hope it would be worth my time. I should be driving from sfbay to Albuerquerque NM along hwy99 to i40 soon, perhaps there is a buisness en route that sells brand new leaf springs for online prices? and i could pick them up and save $100 on shipping?

I plan to look for a vehicle that looks like it was grandpa'd. clean interior, markings of a fulltime shell on the back, or (lack of) markings of a bed that was lightly scratched/used or evidence of bed cover that was lightly scratched.

"Not to mention it's going to be tough to tell how much the springs are sagging when the truck is sitting on blocks. "
considering the leaf springs are resting on the jacks, doesnt that put the weight of the rear on the leaf springs? perfhaps when i pick a suitable vehicle, i could use the engine hoist to reposition the jacks onto the axle for a final check?

truck history:
i do occasionally haul. i take about one or two 500mile trips of a 1000lbs of lumber and material to the desert where i work on a skatepark. I then spend about 3 months offroad hauling rock, sand, water into the skatepark.... this upcoming year, i have a buddy with a halfton truck i should be outsourcing more of the heavier loads too. the rest of the year i use my truck as a high mpg commuter.

ive def put this truck through 200kmiles of abuse and overloading since i got it, and the 3ply leafsprings dont look warped or crooked at all, but they sag. i figure i could get an easy 100kmi out of another set of lightly used leaf springs

Fair enough, that sounds like a decent plan.

Another alternative: have you considered just adding helper springs? I've got the Hellwig EZ-550s on mine and while my springs are actually still pretty good, these keep the back not only level but at a slight rake even when I'm running a camper shell during the winter. It's like a 30 minute install, too.

Search by Vehicle - Hellwig Products

www.hellwigproducts.com

 

[Josh B]

Awesome Buck, and Danno.
I thought later today about the earlier 6 of these, or a half dozen of those, and one point came to mind that I felt you had been looking for, and that was all about "Original Equipment", which I am sure we all would rather have far as possible

 

[don4331]

2+1 and 3+1 (the +1 being the short overload spring) are common OEM choices.

If the overload spring is curved, you know the truck was overloaded and one moves on to the next truck​

​

2 without overload are the light weight, semi-rare OEM ones; 4+1 are strictly aftermarket.

'91-'01 Explorer leaves are alternate - same length/bolts. They are also easier to remove - sawzall to the u-bolts and shackles and you have the spring. Then you can work on removing the shackle bolts where you can apply appropriate persuasion (12 ton press/air hammer/BFH/etc).

 

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

"if the overload spring is curved, you know the truck was overloaded and one moves on to the next truck"
could you please elaborate on this? the short overload spring should fit flat when the axle is resting on the jacks?

 

[don4331]

When truck is unloaded the main leaves shouldn't touch the bottom "overload" leaf. And in all cases the "overload" leaf should be straight . As in the picture below - main leaves are curved, the "overload" is flat.

"Overload" leaf on my daughter's B4000 curves opposite to main leaves as it was severely overloaded at some point in its life. (it had rough life as farm truck before she got it).

 

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

my leaf springs have a curve like drawn in this picture, although i exaggerated that curve in the drawing. i guess i should pick leaf springs that dont look like mine,
looking at the truck from the back towards the front, the leafsprings seem straight and theyre all in line with each other

and i just noticed my rear diff is leaking. /facepalm.
whats a good test for leak rate? piece cardboard under truck for the day?

 

[2Krngr]

I wouldnt worry so much about a clean truck or clean interior.

Just because someone may have never washed or vacuumed thier vehicle doesn't mean they hauled lots of weight with it, which is what accelerates leafspring wear.

I would look at mileage, bed condition, and if it has a trailer hitch.

If the bed is dented to hell it may have been hauling alot of weight or abused as a construction vehicle. Especially if the bedside top rails are dented and beat up.

If the trailer hitch has alot of wear on the chain hoops or the bumper/license plate area/tailgate have a bunch of dents from missing the mark attaching the trailer ball then it may have been another commonly heavily loaded truck.

Nice dent free clean bed and no trailer hitch, those would be the leafs I would pull.

 

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

kinda confused and i cannot find a straight answer online.
I have a 2000 ranger and I am looking to replace the leaf springs. i will also need to replace the bushings. one bushing sets has an ID of 5/8, the other bushing set has an ID of 9/16. how do i know which my ranger uses?

Also I found a doner set of leafsprings from a 1994. it looks like a 3rd gen body style ranger but a lot of what I am reading is saying that the cut off date from matching leaf springs is 1997

4th post on this link

01 Leaf Spring Bushing Help - Ranger-Forums - The Ultimate Ford Ranger Resource

Suspension Tech - 01 Leaf Spring Bushing Help - I am trying to find the correct leaf spring bushings for my truck. Its a 01 XL 2.5L 2WD Reg Cab with A3 Spring Code. I purchased a Energy Suspension #42154 Kit a while back but while doing some reason I found that the kit doesn't include all of the...

www.ranger-forums.com

makes it seem like i will have to buy an specific bushing kit and supply my own seperate bolt?

 

[Josh B]

you need to measure the bolt or whatever it goes to
You can find one of these in a pawn shop for a couple of bucks or get the digital readout for about 20

 

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

Josh B. any chance you could verify that this is the measurement theyre talking about?
sorry for any vague-ness or missing information

 

[Josh B]

I don't see any way to follow their story Buck
The photo I see on your page here the bolt measures one/quarter inch, when I look at it on mine it measures one and one quarter inch.
While attempting to follow the story on their website it stayed still long enough for me to begin getting emersed in the article, then began to hopping around like some donkey, hoping I'd find their advertisements of more interest I suppose

Have you asked RonD ? His name is on that page, beside or below the article, it may or may not be connected, I really don't know

You might also try the website that offers the springs, it's possible they have a forum or sales rep that can explain to you what your options would be