I thought my 51 was a half ton model...sure looks like LOTS of spring in the rear. Springs are in double sets- top spring pack (6 leaves and two 1/4" spacers) looks like it comes into the picture only when the truck is really loaded when it would "back up" the bottom pack. Bottom spring pack is 10 leaves by itself! Can the top spring pack and spacers be taken out? I don't anticipate carrying a heavy load in this truck. Looks like it could lower the truck 1/2" just getting rid of the spacers - that and pulling a few of the lower leaves might get me close to where I want to be.

Was 16 leaves the norm for these trucks or has someone added some overload potential to this truck? The front leaves each have two extra leaves that have been added - either for load carrying capacity or to fix sagging springs and they don't appear to be bad.

These trucks were commonly used to carry oranges here in FL and it may be that this truck was beefed up for that purpose.

Thoughts? Can I pull out some leaves and this extra spring pack? Try it and see? My cost would be limited to new "C" clamps (actually they're square but can't think of the proper name). I see from my search efforts that these trucks tend to have been pretty heavily sprung to begin with and removing a few leaves is common and not generally a problem. But, since I haven't seen anyone mention the rears in a two spring back piggyback arrangement I thought it best to ask. Thanks in advance for your advice!

OilLeaks

 

Sounds like you do have the overload spring pack on the truck. Regular 1/2 tons had 8 springs up front and 10 in the rear.

I've heard various things about removing springs. Some say to leave the odd numbered springs - 1,3,5,7,9, etc. Others remove only a couple.

 

Leaks,

I agree with Tim. Even my heavy duty F-3 has only 13 leaves on each side, so you must have some kind of overload springs on there. If you don't plan on hauling anything heavy, you need only 4-5 spring leaves on each side. If you disassemble the springs, clean them really good with a wire brush, get new spring bolts and spring clamps, and some teflon liner to put between the leaves. Also, grind the bottom end of each spring leaf on a grinder to prevent it from digging into the next leaf when flexing. This will soften the ride considerably by making the spring work without binding.

 

That sounds like my F-1 used to be. It had some overloads on the rear springs. After I took the springs off I couldn't get the overloads to line up right. Does the truck have bolt on overload spring stops? My F-1 had some funky bolted on mounts. My M-3 had stock overloads since the overload spring stops were rivited to the frame. In all the ford specifications I have overloads springs where not stock on these truck until the big trucks but they have been on every truck I have seen.

 

Thanks for the feedback gents! Yes, the overload springs have weird bolt on spring stops and it does look as if at least one of them isn't lined up very well.

Regards the teflon liner and cleaning up the ends of the springs...while all that makes sense do you gents favor the liner material over the teflon buttons that go on the ends of the springs? Liner easier to install? Or just works better as it covers the whole spring?

While we're on springs - is it okay to take the same approach with the front springs and remove every other leaf leaving the odd numbered leaves? How many do you need to be safe? PHAT 51 still has the orignal (and heavy) flathead V-8 (love the way it sounds) and straight axle (I need things you can't break even though I have no plans to haul heavy stuff).

Plans for the truck are for it to be a weekend driver and maybe around a #3 when it's finished. Will haul the odd sheet of plywood and home repair stuff but nothing really heavy in it. Mostly will haul me and a buddy to the local car shows for grins and chuckles on the weekends.

Thanks for the input - FTE is the greatest site I've found and I really appreciate what I've learned (and continue to learn) here.

OilLeaks!

 

Leaks,

I haven't used the buttons, but I understand they work very well. Only problem is you have to drill holes in your springs to install them. Have you ever tried to drill springs...spring steel is pretty hard stuff. The liner would be an easier install. The only complaint I've heard is that it has a tendency to slide out, but if you get the kind with the raised edges it stays in much better. The spring clamps help too.

I'm not sure about the number of leaves in the front...since I like IFS. Just be sure that you don't remove too many that the spring bends upward in the middle because that will break them. Based on your description of how you plan to use the truck, I'd say 4-5 leaves on each side in the rear would work out for you. I'm sure someone on here with a straight axle has reduced the leaves in the front and can tell you how many to take out...

Good luck...

 

Thanks for the input Vern...I've never tried to drill spring steel - to be honest I hadn't thought about it much - probably a pretty hard thing to do! I'll look for the liner with the edge lip when I get ready to do this. Nice thing about leaf springs is that you can adjust them or put leaves back if you go overboard even if it is a bit of work. I'd like to buy the reversed eye main leaves all round and get it down a bit and then soften it up with less leaves all round. Not expecting a "cush" ride - it is a truck and that's part of the charm - but I would like to take the beating out of driving it. Right now it has the spring rate of a large building and you pretty much feel every bump. Likewise I'm not worried about getting it "in the weeds" but it would be nice to drop it a wee bit and I think that a couple inches is a very doable thing with adjustments to the springs and reversed eye mains. Sounds like my next project is before me! Thanks to all for the info!