Guys, anyone have a link to a good aftermarket supplier of extra heavy duty rear leaf springs that will work in my 2000 F450. The original springs are still in it i think, and they seem really tired and sagging. I haul a lot of weight with a full steel chipper box dump body on it as well as filled with a full load of maybe ten yards of wood chips, and while hauling a chipper trailer which probably has a tongue weight of maybe 300lbs.

The guy at the local truck spring place told me I should upgrade to an 8,000 lb. capacity spring that they have and recommend. He said the factory oem springs are rated for and come with 4,500lb spring in the Superduty dumps.

I'm also thinking of doing this job on my own, if it will be a considerable savings.
He quoted me the cost at about $1300 parts & labor, with new u-bolts and springs.

I'm wondering if i'll need to do shocks at the same time.

Your advice would be great guys, and maybe a link to an online supplier if u know of a reputable and competitively priced one.
Or I'm wondering if its best to just have them do them for me.

Thanks in advance for any advice, its much appreciated guys! Thank you

 

He said they would supply either
-Dayton brand springs...out of Pennsylvania,
-Dallas brand out of Texas,
-or Standen out of Canada

He also suggested maybe changing out the "multi-leaf helper spring" that is in here? Saying that might help improve the ride height, But those would cost me an extra hundred bucks a side?
What do you guys think?

I'm mainly looking to improve the stance of the truck and the ride height in the back, so that it does not sag down lower in the back and make the truck look like a beater, like its old and beat up!

 

I think for $1300 and very little down time for your work--that's the way I would go.
Joe

 

Do you know what your spring code is for your vehicle? We have basically every direct replacement, heavy duty, and extra heavy duty option available.

-Junior

 

No, how do I find out?

 

Open up your driver side door, on the door jam there will be a sticker. On the bottom right hand corner of that sticker it will say SPR and under that will have a variation of number and/or letters. That will basically tell me what is on your vehicle, suspension wise.

-Junior

 

The rear springs in a 2000 F450 chassis cab are rated at 4,376 lbs at the pad (per side), so your tech's statement of 4,500 lbs is not far off at all.

There are 11 leaves in the pack, including the single auxiliary leaf.

Unless you've had your truck long enough to notice a gradual increase in rear sag with the same load, your springs may not be tired after all. That's just how the Ford's are set up, unfortunately.

For the F-550s, Ford even offers an "anti-deflection" kit, which is basically a pair of blocks with longer U bolts, to keep the spring rate the same, but raise the rear end higher, so that the net sag under load is less.

The F-450 springs have a deflection rate of 949 lbs per inch per spring. Once the auxiliary spring is engaged, the deflection rate increases to 1,675 lbs per vertical inch.

The F-550 rear spring pack uses the same number of leaves (11 with the single auxiliary overload), and have a 5,891 lb rating at the pad per spring. They deflect at 1,210 lbs per inch, and once the auxiliary spring is engaged, they deflect at 1,935 lbs per inch.

There were thousands and thousands of brand new F-550 spring packs that were thrown away to the scrappers... from upfitting companies who retrofitted full air ride suspensions. I saw PALLETS of casted off F-550 springs staged for hauling away... at an upfitting facility adjacent to the Kentucky Truck Plant.

There is only 1/10th of an inch difference between the front eyelet center line and the rear axle centerline between the F-550 and F-450 rear leaf springs (referring to chassis cabs only, for model year 2000, per the OP's vehicle). The stack height difference at the pad is more... about .43 inches, but that is simply a U bolt issue. You'll need new Ubolts anyway if you change springs.

The point is, you might find some new cast away F-550 chassis cab springs (with a higher deflection rate both before and after auxiliary spring engagement), for very cheap... ie scrap metal prices. Look to companies that do upfits for RV haulers... like Manning, Fontaine, Utility BodyWerks, etc. Also look to companies that supply the full air ride suspension replacements, like Link Air Ride, Reyco-Granning, Silent Drive, RideWell Suspension, and Kelderman.

The other point is... you may not need to replace your springs at all. You can supplement your auxiliary spring with a pair of Supersprings. A lot of tow company upfitters do this, as the metal Supersprings are more durable and reliable than supplemental air bags.

Unlike full air suspension, supplemental air bags more or less just raise the height back up to where you want it. The big problem is, on Ford frames, the lower flange has a cut out to accommodate the rear shock absorber. This cutout makes the Ford frame vulnerable to the stresses brought about by the supplemental airbag which is mounted over the axle. Ford didn't engineer the frame to be supported directly over the rear axle where the shock absorber cut out is.

There have been several reports of crack initiation right at this lower flange cutout, when supplemental load supporting air bags have been installed. (These bags are not full air suspension systems, which either sister the frame over the axle with a frame reinforcement channel, or mount the rolling lobe/ reversible sleeve airbag where the rear spring shackle was, not directly over the axle).

So, I hope all this information is useful to you as you make a decision.

I'd try the Superspring Auxiliary spring supplement first.

As a second choice, I'd look for some F-550 leaf spring take offs. Keep in mind the Ubolt and plate hardware...as the F-550 uses a square tube axle, while the 2000 F-450 uses a round tube axle.

If neither of the above options are available to you, then I'd look at new springs... but be careful here about maintaining driveline pinion angles within a tolerance in both empty and loaded states.

 

Y2KW57, thank you so much. This is very helpful. I must do something soon. Two questions.

-what year range of F550 springs will bolt into my truck, because I will call around. I wonder if newer ones will work. I like this idea of upgrading to a heavier truck spring.

-My 14 year old F450 was outfitted with a simple 11' flatbed from the dealer. It was a 2wd fleet truck for a door company. I had a very heavy fully enclosed steel dump body put on it. It partially sags when empty, and when fully loaded it sags quite a bit! I wonder if they are just old, original, tired springs? Or just under-rated and whether addition of just a pair of "SuperSprings" will really make a huge difference. It SAGS WAY TOO MUCH though!

 

Guys, so I've found a bunch of used F-550 springs through car-part.com.
I found a set from a 1999 F550 for $135 ea. ($270) + it'll cost me $50 in fuel to go get them. He said he's got a few of those trucks, so I should come down to look at them first to make sure they'll match up.
Will those fit into my truck, and what else will I need to buy, and for how much?
I want to make sure that if I go through all of the work that it will make a big difference in my truck. If I put in these used springs, it will make a large difference. They are used springs from a 15 year old truck from New England (Connecticut).

See I also just found this place I was recommended by three different people called, Spring Rebuilders. They told me they could do NEW 8,000 capacity springs, installed with new u-bolts and bolts for $900-1,000. Or with 5-leaf helpers on top for $1200

I wonder if its a no-brainer... or if slapping in used 550 springs is also an easy low-cost no-brainer??


Btw, I called tons of RV sales and service centers and none of them have used springs. I'm probably not finding the right place

PSS..sorry for the late response earlier. I really appreciate the help, and am all over this now.

 

Yeah, I was wonderin how I missed a question you posed to me in the post prior to the one above, and then I saw that it was posted today also.

In your 2000 F-450 chassis cab, the 1999 F-550 springs will fit eyelet to shackle eyelet, but you will need new uBolts as usual when changing rear springs. Order the ubolts for your truck, not the F550 donor, because you have a round tube Dana 80 axle, and the 99 F-550 had a square tube banjo housing Dana 135 axle.

 

Correct. RV sales and service centers do not build and manufacture RVs... they sell and service them.

The outfits I was suggesting are second unit body upfitters that take chassis cabs, which are technically incomplete vehicles, and complete them by putting bodies on them. The companies that put RV type bodies on, whether for towing (like Classy Chassis) or for habitation (like Expedition Camper), often like to soften the ride for their customers. So while upfitting the body, they remove the brand new leaf spring suspension and toss it all into the recycling bin. The replace it with air ride suspension systems from Link, or Ridewell, or Morryde (rubber sheer springs), or Silent Drive, or Reyco Granning, or Hendrickson.

Those are the suppliers of the air ride suspensions that bolt up to an F450 F550 chassis cab. Call those suppliers. Say: I'd like a truck/RV with your brand of air suspension. Who are you you supplying your suspension units to? Then call those OEM customers. Ask: Do you guys have air suspension options? What do you do with your take off rear springs?

I feel bad that you wasted a lot of time calling various RV Sales and Service centers for nothing, but I went back and reread my earlier posts, and found that I never once suggested at any time that you call the local RV Sales and Service centers. I said contact RV related "upfitters", and named a few specific ones that I knew of, like Fontaine, Manning, Utility BodyWerks... these are second stage manufacturers that legally complete incomplete vehicles.

 

NEW:
A reputable place called, Spring Rebuilders, told me they could do NEW 8,000 capacity springs, installed with new u-bolts and bolts for $900-1,000. Or with 5-leaf helpers on top for $1200...and it would raise the truck 5-6"

vs.

NEWER:
If I call some second unit body upfitters and they have some take-offs in the recycle bin...what is the year range of springs I can use? what if they tell me they have leafs from a 2010 F550 ?? or a 2005, or 2013 or 14

vs.

USED:
You wouldn't go through all the work of installing used ones out of a 1999 F550 Connecticut truck (northeast weather?), would you?
i wonder what the chances of these also sagging are, and being old and tired...and going through all that work for very little to no improvement ??


HMMMM...WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO ????????

 

Direct replacements from ATS. Contact them and I'm sure they have a solution. Personally I would avoid used springs.

 

I wouldn't bother with used springs. And note that I never suggested used springs either. I suggested take offs. Technically, they are not new as they have already been installed, but they typically don't have more than a couple thousand miles on them, and could be less expensive than new, as there is not much of a market for them.