Ok guys, I have finished my rear suspension, axle, and brakes on my 1955 F250, but now I need to address the front suspension. I inspected it today and all the leafs appear to be in good shape, but I noticed that they are all sitting completely horizontal and flat with zero arch to them. I assume they should have an arch in them, but I want to add at least 2 inches of lift in the front, and I am wondering what is the best way to do this? should I just have someone build a set of new leaf springs, is there a kit of new leaf springs for the front out there somewhere that I don't know about? Or would getting one of the Rough Country Add-A-Leaf-Kits be the best way to add 2.5 inches of lift to the front end safely? Please advise guys.

Thanks.

 

There are plenty of replacement springs available if you want to go that route. A set for a stock F100 should be about right if your fronts are sagged without adding unneeded stiffness. If that isn't enough there are plenty of lift block kits of all heights available out there. Find some that match your U-bolt pattern or redrill. Be sure they have a pin in the center that engages the hole in the axle spring pad snugly.

 

Are you talking about the rear leafs and lift kits? I am talking about the front suspension and doing a lift on the front.

I have heard from many people that you should never use lift blocks on front suspension because of the safety issues. Remember there isn't an axle on the front of this F250, and I am starting to wish there was. Maybe I should just throw a Dana 44 on the front, but I don't want to do all that work.

 

1" or 2" blocks wouldn't be a problem IMHO. There are a lot of pickups running around with much taller ones in the front. Look under some of the retro "gassers" and off roaders with the heavily lifted front axles.
Is your truck a 4x4?
Nope your gallery says it's a 2x4, so why doesn't it have a beam axle in the front?

 

Yes, it is a stock 2x4 truck. Everything on the truck is still stock with the exception of the 2.5" lift blocks I added to the rear leafs already, but even before I did that, I needed to lift the front 2.5" to level the truck. As it sits now, it has a mean hotrod stance. Since this is a 3/4 ton truck, I would like the truck to sit more level.

Yes, it has a beam type axle on the front. I guess that is what you call that type of front axle? I didn't think there were suspension lift blocks for front suspension, only taller coil springs or different shackles, etc?

The stock front leaf springs are 2" Wide by 48" Long approximately.

 

i sure dont want to get in a p**sing contest with axracer,but i would never use lift blocks on the front of anything.
if your springs are sagging you either need to replace them with new or have them re arced,IMO.

 

I am not sure they are sagging, all I know is that the front leaf springs all lay flat parallel with the frame. Now if they are supposed to be like that, then I don't even see the point of them. If they are supposed to have an arch in them, then I indeed need to have new leaf springs installed or have these resprung.

 

just reading this over....before you added 2.5 blocks in the back,you needed to lift the front 2.5.so now you need to lift the front 5 inches?thats a a lot of lift now.so why did you put the lift blocks in the back?or did you want the hot rod rake look?

 

Honestly, I am not sure why I put the blocks on the rear. It does look cool though.

I wanted to get slightly taller tires on the front and somewhat taller on the rear. I don't need to raise the front 5", nor will I, but it would be nice to get some breathing room on the front end with at least 2.5" of lift somehow.

 

ive always like the raked look.i swapped my front plates and hubs for a 53 f-1,so i have 15 inch wheels on the front,still need to do a 9 inch in the back,so i have 16 inch there,kind of like that look but dont want to have to carry 2 spares for the 5 bolt and the 8 bolt pattern
anyway,if your front springs are in good shape i would look into just getting them re arched to the height that you want.

 

glockem45,i was just reading that julie is about to get her front springs resprung,maybe a chat with her will help.she has always being a lot of help for me.

 

I still say that 1" - 1 1/2" lift blocks would not add any undo stress to the front springs, I've seen much taller blocks used, but VT has the best suggestion and the route I'd likely take in the same situation: take your truck to your local spring shop, and explain to them what you are trying to accomplish. Take their advice on the solution. If you don't have a spring shop within driving distance give Posie's a call and see what advice they have.

 

Well let me ask this question then. For any of you that have the 3/4 ton F-2 or F-250 trucks of the 53-56 vintage, what do your front leaf springs look like, are they arched or they essentially flat on the front leafs since we don't actually have a differential/axle set up on the front of these old trucks?

 

Well I just got back from the spring shop - had to have a beer (2).

First, I read through the posts and there are all kinds of lift mechanisms from blocks to elongated shackles, you could use if you needed to, etc.

BUT, if your springs are horizontal with no arch at all, they need to be resprung - they're shot - period. On an F-250, with weight on wheels there should be at least 9 inches of height difference between the frame and the springs at the center.

If you have those repaired so they have the right spring tension, they will more than heighten the front of the truck by 2 inches - more like 6 or 7!

Today was the first time I have dealt with this new spring shop. And I liked what the owner had to say right up to the price (which really wasn't that bad - I'm just grippin').

With the torque that 390 throws out, the passenger side spring needs to be "heavier." But, it needs to be so without raising up the truck (at the moment my passenger side sits about an inch or two lower and that spring compresses easily - it's flat and shot, like yours).

Also, I want to shim the axel to a castor angle of 6 degrees for freeway driving. He mentioned that I would never find castor shims in 1 3/4 width to do that. So, he wants to make new springs for my truck to solve all these ills. There is going to be a reverse eye on the front to give us the castor angle, and two secondary springs on the passenger side. Also, he recommended I drill the spring ends and insert neoprene bumbers for smoothness.

He's going to replace all the spring and frame eye bolts and bushings, any bad shackles, new center pins and clasps, and it's only going to cost me $600 - new springs, custom made, both sides. I started my kingpins today and the bushing honing (as opposed to reaming) is only half of what I was quoted somewhere else. I was estonished at how simple the kingpins are to replace - guess I was intimidated for no reason!

He had quite a few "credentials" and photo's of racers' cars on the wall and has an excellent reputation with the local restoration shops.

He also had NOTHING good to say about MII front ends on our trucks - I found that interesting.

I'm finding that Escondido and North County prices are substantially less than mainstream San Diego.



So, In answer to your question to me in the PM, I think you need to have your front springs resprung, and that will more than take care of your height problem...Straight respringing - with the springs off the truck is about $100 per side (here).

 

Thanks for the info Julie, but I bet it will cost 5 times as much to have them rearched here in the NOVA area. I will call around and see who I can find to do this work. I might still like to add a helper spring from Rough Country to give it just a little more natural/safe lift.