Since the day I bought this truck just over a year ago I had the suspicion that the rear leaf springs had been worn just enough to be ineffective. I have been experiencing some axle wrap and what I would describe as wheel hop, but others have different opinions on the wheel hop portion. For the past couple of months I had been trying to figure out the best solution to fix my problem and didn’t want to just throw parts at it until I got it. A couple of weekends ago we were pulling our travel trailer through stop and go traffic and the wheel hop/axle wrap was so bad I almost said the hell with it and called a buddy of mine with a dually to come and pull the trailer home. I nursed the accelerator and clutch until we were out of the traffic and once we were rolling everything was fine.

Well, I am happy to say that the problem is fixed as of yesterday!

I had originally asked the members of FTE what they thought about the problems I was having and I got some mixed answers. I was able to make a somewhat solid decision though after reading many posts from the archives and then taking the words of advice from my thread. Below is the original thread asking what FTE thought I should be doing to correcting my problem.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...rs-needed.html

I made a command decision that I needed to do something and that leaf springs if not the right move was a move in the right direction. I had some follow up questions in regards to that process, below is the background information on that.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...questions.html

I bought OEM replacement rear leaf springs, eye bolts, shackles and u-bolts from SD Trucks.

Here is a link to the springs that I purchased. The price came to just over $414 with shipping.
99-04 Ford F250, F350 Rear Leaf Spring - 5 leaves, 3000 lbs

Install instructions below for rear leaf springs.

1. Jack the truck up supporting it by the frame. Get it up in the air as high as you safely can. I used a combination of jack stands and wood 2x12 on top of concrete blocks just in front of the rear wheel. This spot gave me even lateral access and support based on the components on the truck frame.
2. Lower the rear axle down so that it hangs freely and only by the leaf springs and drive shaft.
3. Place another set of jack stands just under the rear axle so that when you remove the u-bolts you are not putting too much stress on the axle and possibly dropping it to the floor. This would be a bad thing in my opinion. I had the stands about a 1/2” under the axle before removing the u-bolts and this worked well for my situation.





4. Remove the u-bolts and spring saddle and set them aside.
5. Remove the nut on the bottom rear shackle bolt and the nut on the front eye bolt and set them aside.
6. Remove the bottom rear shackle bolt and set it aside.
7. If you have a second set of hands around, now would be the time to call them to help. If not, no big deal, just take your time and do the following steps yourself. Remove the front eye bolt and set it aside.
8. Now the spring should be completely free from mounting hardware on the frame and axle and can be removed. It worked well for me to tilt the front of the spring down while lifting the rear of the spring up and then removing it from the wheel well.
9. Set the old spring off to the side and get ready to install the new spring.



10. The spring saddles on my truck did not fit over the spring bolt by about 1/8”. So, out came the dremel tool to widen the hole just a bit and make the saddle fit snuggly over the nut on the spring.



11. Ensure you have the proper orientation of the spring in regards to how it should go under the truck. The clamps are in different places and the easiest way to identify which side goes toward the front or rear. When doing something like this, I always do them one side at a time so I can always go back and look at the other side just to verify what I am doing is right.



12. Install the new shackle and eyebolts onto the shackle onto the new leaf spring and prepare eye bolts for mounting. This is where you should call upon your help, if you have it. I installed the springs in reverse order of removing them and left all bolts and nuts loose until each was in their proper and permanent position.
13. When reinstalling the new springs, rest the spring on the axle perch and insert the front eye bolt through he hanger and spring bushing and fasten nut very loosely. Now move to the rear of the vehicle and pull down on the spring while moving the shackle slightly to the rear in order to line up the rear bushing with the hanger. This may take some patients and a few attempts, but it is not difficult to flex the spring by hand or get the mounts to line up.
14. Once the front and rear bolts are lined up and hand tight, ensure the leaf spring is on the axle perch, the bump stop is lined up properly and that the spring bolt is fully inserted into the perch hole. The first spring I did went very quickly and was like I knew what I was doing. The second side I had to raise and lower the axle a bit because the spring bolt was missing the perch hole by about 1/4”.
15. I also cut down my u-bolts by about 1 1/2" because they just seemed too long to me. I am sure these were universal fit bolts that were meant to be used on stock height and lifted trucks alike, but a metal blade and sawzall took care of them very quickly. The picture below shows the u-bolts when I was first putting the nuts back on. The threads still rise about 1 1/2" above the bolt when fully torqued.




16. I tightened the eye bolts down to a “good n’ tight” torque specification and the u-bolts I torqued to 140 ft lbs. Once everything was mounted and bolted back up, I rechecked the u-bolts torque. I lifted and removed all jack stands and supports and brought the truck back down to sitting on it wheels and rechecked the torque. I then drove it out of the garage and while it was warming up, rechecked the torque. I then drove about 5 miles to the store and rechecked the torque. Then I drove about 25 miles and rechecked the torque. Drove another 40 miles and rechecked. Then rechecked again the next morning and they were good to go by now.

So, the axle wrap/wheel hop was much, much better, but I was still getting some problems on steep inclines or under high torque situations. I would say that the axle wrap was about 75% gone, but I was still not satisfied.

I did some further research and now knew that I either needed traction bars or something like the Roadmaster Active Suspension (RAS). I looked at OUO, Cal-tracs, Tuff Country, etc for traction bars and just didn’t see anything that I thought I needed. I then discovered RAS and did a lot of reading and watching videos.

In the end I decided on RAS because not only did it eliminate axle wrap just like a traction bar setup does, it would help with keeping the truck level when the trailer is hooked up and going down the road at 65 MPH.

I bought the RAS (3611 MK3-XXF) from a seller on Amazon on Sunday before the Memorial Day holiday and it arrived Wednesday afternoon. I installed the RAS that night which was very quick and painless. Only required me jacking the truck up to fully extend the leaf springs and remove the wheels.

Installed the RAS which raised the rear of the truck by about 1”, maybe slightly more. I wanted to get before and after measurements, but forgot to before installing.

Took the truck out for a test drive after installing RAS and before I even got out of my driveway there was a distinct difference in how the rear leaf springs were handling the weight and torque of the truck. I drove the truck like I normally do under normal conditions where I would get axle wrap before, and it was 100% gone. I went up the steep hills that require a stop where the wheels would always hop before, not this time.

After new rear leaf springs and the RAS installed, I can say that the rear suspension of my truck is working great and handles like I would expect it to right out of the factory. I am looking forward to getting the trailer hooked up and towing it around.

Hope you enjoyed the read and that these words may help someone make a decision in the right direction for their own situation.

 

Nice work glad you got it fixed....a buddy and I just did 1 side on his 250, that back eye bolt was a BITCH to get loose(8 foot cheater bar)...3/4 impact wouldn't brake it loose..

 

Lucky for me my truck spent the first 14 years of its life in the south, so no rust or corrosion worth mentioning. I borrowed a friends 1/2" impact wrench and everything broke loose with very little effort of the wrench.

 

Just about a perfect writeup...background info, links to threads on the decision process, and quality photos! Reps heading your way!

 

So what made you decide it IS axle wrap?

This stuff is easily figured out with a cellphone ductaped to the frame with the camera on...

 

I guess a lot of reading and process of elimination of what the causes could be. For example all of the ideas below and more went through my head.

1. I have a 1 piece drive shaft, so not the carrier bearing.
2. Universal joints are all in great shape with no wear that I could see or duplicate.
3. I could duplicate it under high torque conditions such as starting going up a hill.

The previous owner had mounted 5th wheel rails in the bed, so I can only assume he had a 5th wheel of some sort. The truck is a 2000, so I figured the springs were worn and this is where I started. The new springs nearly cured the issue, but the RAS took all shuddering or hoping of the drive train out completely.

I thought about using my cell phone while starting on a hill, but that really would not have made my decisions any different. I knew I had to replace the springs, and then possibly go with traction bars or RAS after that if it was needed. Turns out it was probably good for most people after I put the springs on, but I am a perfectionist and the devil is in the details. I wanted zero hoping or axle wrap when accelerating and the combination of the two parts made that happen in my situation. By no means do I beat, abuse or run the truck hard. The shuddering would happen about 25% of the time with normal acceleration. Keeping in mind I have a 6 speed manual, so I could sometimes mitigate the hoping by pushing in the clutch, but that still was not a situation I was happy with.

The RAS was the right choice for me because it cured the axle wrap, wheel hopping and allowed for the truck to sit more level when the trailer is hooked up and going down the road. The traction bars were a good choice, but would have done nothing for the level of the truck with the trailer on it. So, the RAS was killing two birds with one stone in my mind.

 

Glad you got it fixed. Guess it's my turn to start on this.

 

Thanks! I am very, very happy with the acceleration and smoothness of the truck now. I wish I had not waited this long to get into the weeds on fixing this issue. Although, over the winter I didn't drive the truck much at all and we didn't have the camper out. On our second trip out this season with the camper I told my wife I am fixing this crap ASAP.

Now I can start saving for fun stuff to put on it this winter.

 

As Neal said, great write up and pics! Stout member contribution is what makes FTE rock. Reps!

I'll bet the U bolts were long so the kit works for F350s too. One of the few differences between a 250 and 350 is the 350 has 4" blocks in back vs 2".

The RAS kit has been on my wish list, please advise how it feels after you have some miles on it.

 

I have had the truck out 2 more times since installing the RAS and am very impressed with it. Maybe it is in my head, but the body lean appears to be less when cornering and I was not able to get the axle wrap problem to reproduce itself in all of the usual places. I am looking forward to getting the trailer hooked up for our 6,000 mile trip. I will certainly report back once we return.

 

thanks man good job on the replacing springs.. I have been thinking about this as well, not having a problem, just looking to "up" the capacity of rear. I, like you, have a 250SD 2wd and one of the things I can figure the difference between them (250 vs 350) is the rear springs mainly

So I was wondering why not go with the HD spring 4,000 lbs vs 3300 lbs. regular ones. the cost is a little bit more but man that would be nice way to help the capacity of the truck for not a lot more..

just asking, inquiring (mines) wanted to know..

 

I almost went with the 4000 lbs springs instead of the 3300 lbs, but they were about $200 more and I didn't really want any height added to the rear when unloaded. Also, I knew that if the new springs didn't fix the axle wrap, I would want that $200 toward another fix. If I were being completely honest too, I would say that I was nervous about installing the springs not having done it before. I didn't know if they would go in easily uncompressed or not. So, being as the 4000 lbs ones are stiffer and larger, I didn't want to take my chances.

 

I hear that, not knowing is the tough part some times it seem.. I am trying to figure where the 200 dollars more for the 4000 lbs spring are..

4400 lbs Capacity Ford Replacement Leaf Spring, 7 Leaf Rear Replacement Spring, 43-1263HD - TruckSpring.com

Ford Rear Heavy Duty Leaf Spring F250SD, F350SD - 7 Leafs, 4400lbs. | $169.95

4400 lbs Capacity Ford Replacement Leaf Spring, 7 Leaf Rear Replacement Spring, 43-1263HD - TruckSpring.com

are these the right springs for the truck.. I am confused for sure now.

it appears the arc height between 3300 vs 4000 is only like 1" or so depending on which website you look at..

 

I ended up going through SD Truck Springs because they offered a bigger discount with an online coupon code.

OEM F-250 springs 4/1 - $115 x 2 = $230

OEM F-350 springs 6/1 - $170 x 2 = $340

There is $110 there, then I think the shipping was more due to the heavier weight of the 6/1 springs. Also, I purchased new U-bolts, eye bolts and hangers with the springs. My wife says I always over estimate cost, so it could have been around $175 more than the 4/1 springs.

I didn't mind spending the extra money, but again didn't want to raise the rear by much because it barely fits in the garage as it is. My main concern though was getting the springs to fit without specialized tools and just using my garage as the workshop.

You would be surprised at the lack of information on the web about changing the rear leaf springs on a Super Duty. I am just glad it all worked out in the end.

 

Excellent write up. Reps Sent.