Hey guys,
this is my first post. I hope you can help me out.
I just purchased a 91 F350 4x4 crew. I was told that it had a 4in lift, and I have 35s on it.
Here is my question:
My truck has a very stiff front end. Two guys @ 200lbs ea. cannot flex the springs.
So I went down to my neighbors shop and he took a look at it.
It is lifted, but has factory Ford front springs. I have 4in blocks in the rear, and the front is taller. We ran the part# off the springs, and they are for a 90-93 F150, F250, F350.
How can I have a truck this tall with factory springs? Do these trucks come with the axle on top of the springs or bellow. Mine is bellow, I was thinking it might have an axle flip.
I read another post in here about somebody converting a F250 IFS to a solid axle. They said that the F250 IFS springs are stiffer and longer than the F350s.
That sounds like my truck, because the frame has been notched to clear the shackles. I was thinking maybe the prior owner replaced the springs with F250 springs. None of this makes sense though. IFS trucks have coil spring front ends, don't they?
Any info will help, thanks guys

 

How many leaves does each spring have? The factory springs only had 2 full-length leaves and a very short leaf (more like a plate) just above the axle perch. If there are any more, the past owner installed a "levelling kit" which adds leaves under the 2 main leaves and usually gives about 2-3" of lift depending on how much the original springs sagged. Are your spring shackles connected at the front or the back? Another way to add lift is a "shackle reversal" which moves the shackle to the rear of the spring and new bracketry is bolted to the front, dropping down the spring mount. This way, you also gain lift with the original springs. Do you have any pictures? Then we can hit the nail on the head.

~Dave

 

I only have two leafs. I'm starting to think maybe he did a re-arch. Most of the pics I'm finding show springs that are close to being flat. Mine have alot of arch. This might explain why they notched the frame. My shackles are up front, but they point back. I can post a pic.
Thanks for the reply.

 

I am pretty sure you must be mistaken, or I am reading this incorrectly. I am understanding that you have taken the front spring number and it comes back to a 90 to 93 F 150? Coils springs were used for the front ends of 150's and broncos. Your 350 has to have leafs and not coils. (from the factory)
Now many aftermarket lifts use the same part #'s for the 87 to 97 f-250's and 350's use the same length spring. Don't know where you got your info regarding the 250 having a heavier spring than a 350, but I can't see anything true about that.
The next cloudy issue is the "notch" that you are refering to, when you say the frame was modified to clear shackles. Something is wrong here. The shackle is located (from the factory) right below the frame, and they are mounted up front. No possible way to have the shackle swing so much that it would require cutting the frame. Maybe somebody "hacked" in some other type of shackle, or shackle reverse that required the removal of a piece of the frame. Gonna have to look into that, something is very wrong there.
The block in the back is factory, but I suspect all of the problem is in the front. Do you have any pics to help clear things up?
Also you refered to an axle flip, and I believe you meant "spring over axle", and not a flipped axle. Turning axles upside down does not work. Driveline angles are way off since the pinion is offset, brakes can't be bled, cables for the parking brake face the wrong direction, shock mounts are facing the wrong way, and it won't lube the pinion.
Yeah pretty sure you meant spring over axle, and your truck came with the 'SOA' configuration.

 

The truck came from the factory with the spring sitting on top of the axle. Somebody made a Frankenstein out of this truck, it sounds like.

I'm surprised that the part number decoded the way that it did. F-150's had coils, but 4x4 F-250's and F-350's had leaf springs up front. I also can't see why the frame would need to be notched to clear the springs or shackles.

I think we need pictures at this point.

 

Thanks for all the input guys. It's been confirmed that the springs have been re-arched. They were arched for a 4in lift. Because of that, the springs are shorter from bushing to bushing. So the prior owner notched out the frame so the shackles could swing back farther. Now the shackles are positioned so that they can't pivot with the spring, they just bind up and cause a very rough ride. I just ordered a new 4in lift springs from Rough Country.

 

Hey guys, one more question. I would post pictures, but the site says I can't post attachments. How do you post a pic?
Also, 75F350, The info I got from the springs fitting 150-350 came from the local dealership. In my first post I questioned that myself. As for the F250 springs being stiffer, that was a response from somebody in the forums here. He stated that F250s were IFS, so the springs were thicker and stiffer.
As far as the "spring over axle", I meant axle flip. Obviously you don't actually flip the axle. You are right with the problems that would arise, but your car would also go in reverse while the selector was in drive. I'm not a rookie.
"Axle Flip" is just a term for re-positioning the axle from "spring over axle" to "spring under axle" or vise-verse. You must cut of all the attaching hardware and reweld to the other side. Very common mod.

 

Mick,

You can create a gallery and upload your pictures under your screen name. Just go to the "Gallery" bar at the top of the screen under the FTE banner. Then click the "Manage or Create" gallery and it's step-by-step from there.

I suspect your springs must have been re-arched. When you mentioned your "notched" frame... Does the shackle enter into the center of the frame? If so, that's actually factory. But I'll wait for the pics before I guess anymore.

~Dave

 

Yes, the shackles enter the frame in the center.
Thanks, I'll try to get some pics up tommorow