I recently rebuilt my front leaf spring packs. 54 F100 with a 223 6 cyl. I removed a few leaves per the instructions on the mid-fifty site, cleaned up the remaining ones and reinstalled with new hardware (bushing, shocks, etc). Now they look overused/overextended, the arch is almost going the opposite way. I don't know much about these trucks and not sure if this is normal. I know these leaf springs didn't have much arch to begin with but I am wondering if its time for new ones. Here are a few photos. What do you think?

 

Looks to me like you got what you must have been after, a lowered front end. Removing leaves from an already tired spring pack will only exacerbate the problem. Trying different springing to get exactly what you want can be time and labor intensive.

 

Well, I wasn't necessarily looking for a "lowered" front end. My reason for thinning the original pack was due to a damaged spring. My question was does it look abnormal to have the spring back arched down like it is? I know that changing out spring packs is time and labor intensive. If I had big bucks I would have bought new springs but I was trying to get through a summer without spending a lot. Not everyone has money to spend on a daily driver.

 

You don't have very much room before the bump stop bottoms out. I don't like to be a bearer of bad news but I don't think you will be happy with your front ends performance.

 

Ok Mervy... thanks... just wanted someone elses opinion before looking for a set of springs.

 

THIS is gone too far;


Bobby

 

Wow... that looks scary. Someone suggested re-arching the springs or replacing just the main spring... any thoughts?

 

LOL. In my case it was a case of driving a little too hard one night. Some idiot (me) was pushing the truck a little too hard without installing the bump stops on the front suspension, thereby over-stressing the main leaf of the spring pack

Bobby

 

Removing every other leaf will lower your truck, however experience tells me the truck will bounce and sway on every bump in the road. To fix that, I have found Posies dual super sliders to lower the ride the same amount, while at the same time stiffening the suspension to that of a stock leaf count. Less bounce, same lowering effect. Cost is what it is, but the ride difference may be worth it. But it's up to you on how much bounce you can tolerate.

 

I have heard of other folks that have had their springs re-arched but I don't know what the results were. I replaced my front springs with a mono leaf system. On my truck the po had a totally different spring on one side. For safety reasons do you think you should consider new springs or replacements? I wouldn't want to trust those you have there.

 

I guess I will look into a replacement set. New ones run about $400 from the looks of it. Will have to let the truck set for awhile until I sell some extra parts I have laying around.

 

Check out whats available at JC Whitney. They have a good selection of leaf spring packs at dang good prices

 

I checked with JC Whitney but they dont show any application for the 53-55 trucks. Do you have a part number or catalog number? Thanks.

 

I inspected all the leafs and just replaced the main leaf about 12 years ago no problems so far, however I didn't remove any leafs.

 

Any good spring shop can rebuild your existing springs, provide replacement leaves, and or re arch . You can re arch the springs. It is hard work, wear hearing protection and alert your neighbors before hand. Quite a bit can be found on the web RE spring arching.