I did a search and read through some of the old posts. I see that some people put on Gabriel coilover shocks after removing a few of there springs. How much did that increase your ride height both front and rear?
The reason I ask is my F3 with 4 leaves and an empty bed only has about 1.5" of axle to rubber snubber clearance. The snubber is not that thick maybe 1/2". The top of the pumpkin has about 3" of clearance to the top of the bottom of the bed. The disk brake caliper has about 2" of clearance before it will hit the bed.

 

If you have the stock setup, Springs mounted on top of the axel you could put "Lowering Block" between the spring and the axel to regain the height lost from the springs you removed.
A "Lowering Block was used by early Hot Roders to drop the rear of their cars for the "Cool" look. these cars had the axel mounted under the springs and by placeing the block between the spring and the axel it raised the axel and "Lowered" the body.
Speedway Motors has these in various sizes.