Dad's Truck Needs Help (Leaf Springs)

[Dep. Ranger]

Dad's Truck:
2000 Ford F150 Pickup
4.2 (V6) 5sp. 2WD Ext. Cab

I want to do some things to his truck for Christmas. I am going to paint his grill black. But his truck sags in the rear end. I think this is due to all the maxed out loads and towing his trailer for some years.

So my question is:
Which models and years of trucks (like F250s..maybe) can I pull the leaf springs off of at the local JY, to raise the truck's rear?

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[Dep. Ranger]

Bump.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

You'll have to check the spring width, IIRC Ford used 2.5" springs and 3" springs. I do believe the length is the same for F-150, F-250 and F-350 rear springs.

I'm going through this sort of thing with my F-150 (1995 F-150 4x4), the one spring pack has a cracked leaf an a half ton of weight will put it on the bump stops on both sides. Naturally, this is not acceptable for a work truck...

I got a set of F-250 springs that will fit, they were off an 80's F-250 4x4 (I have 3" wide springs), but I've been a little hesitant to stick them on, because they are only 4-leaf packs and what's on my truck now is a 3-leaf. But I don't want to stiffen up the rear so much that it rides like I welded the axle to the frame unless I have a load on.

Thus I've been looking for helper springs (Ford put them on some trucks, they're an additional spring pack that goes on top of the regular pack and has a pair of brackets that bolt to the frame). My F-150 looks like it has holes in the frame where the brackets would mount to for helper springs. So I'll either stick with a 4-leaf pack and the helpers or I might stick a 5-leaf pack on (cut a custom long leaf or something).

I've customized spring packs for Rangers and Bronco II's before. Leaf springs are easy to work with.

 

[Dep. Ranger]

Alright. Thanks for the info. I'll have to check out some JYs.
Anyone else???

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I'm not sure how much of a problem it will be down there, but up here rust and wear on the spring eyes is a big issue. I usually end up cutting the bolts off because they are frozen in the bushing in the spring eyes. I picked up a set of urethane bushings from Summit Racing and just got new bolts to use when I swap my leafs. You should probably get new U-bolts too.

I always break apart the packs and replace the wear pads on the ends of the leafs and put a new centering bolt in too, might as well do it when everything is torn apart and it's not all that expensive to do, just use a big C-clamp or two to compress the pack back together and I usually stick a big phillips screwdriver or something through the centering pin hole while I'm compressing it down, just to keep it all lined up.

 

[Dep. Ranger]

thanks for all the useful info LilBlueFord! I will have to get some time and measure some things on his truck. I love JY Shopping!

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

thanks for all the useful info LilBlueFord! I will have to get some time and measure some things on his truck. I love JY Shopping!

No problem! If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.