Checking brake wear, found broken blocks!

[01 4.0]

New buy for my son. While checking rear brakes today we found 1"cast iron lift blocks under leaf springs on both sides were broken. Unbolted the u bolts pulled the blocks, tossed em in the trash and tightened up the u bolts. Is this a common issue? Are cast blocks OEM?(we will be cycling the suspension to make sure shocks are not bottoming)

 

[bobbywalter]

They break. Cast not so common for fails but aluminum suck.

 

[adsm08]

They were probably factory, but we need a lot more info to be sure.

 

[bobbywalter]

Yeah I went to hd 1 ton blocks from the ranger stuff.

Ranger stuff rots and breaks easier.

 

[sgtsandman]

The Ranger OEM blocks have hollow cavities on the one side. So I can see them collecting dirt and road salt in there and rusting from the inside out.