Some of the aftermarket replacement springs only have a few leaves. It's hard to say exactly what you've got. Can you drive the truck yet? If so, are you pleased with the way it rides and the stance? If so, then I wouldn't mess with it. If it's too soft or spongy in the back, then yes, you might want to look into adding a couple leaves back in. CLASSIC HAULERS sells individual leaves if it comes to that.

 

Thanks BOR. I wished I could drive it now! Still in many pieces. Three years and still dreaming. I'll wait till its on the road and then make that decision. Thanks again.

 

Just as a side note, it's probably going to be a very rare truck that is 60 years old and not had some type of spring work done to it - either re-arching, replacement, enhancement, etc.

I just had mine replaced in the back (51 F1) and the owner of the spring shop said there were many bad words - many.

They had to cut the hangers off to get the pins out so if your top leaf is the one that is carried in the pins, and the next one down is the same size, I would really think they have been re-arched and the duplicate spring is to support the top spring that they didn't want to remove (because of th ework I described above).

Also, my new custom made springs on my F1 only have 6 leaves - like the 53+ F-100s. And they are pretty danged springy!

So there's all kinds of things that could have happened here!

Most interesting is where they placed the new shock mounts! See the pics on my ..."Front End Savy" post just updated!

 

I just took mine apart and used c-clamps ahead and behind the axle. after getting the centering pin out I just started to loosen the c-clamps one at a time and a little at a time. The c-clamps I used were 6 inch size...worked great, but for me ,after I got them apart, I realized that alot of them were broken. 61 year old spring steel? who knows but I am glad I found them now than later!

 

Spring Steels (or hardened steels) biggest enemy is freezing weather.

If you ever want to break into someplace with a pad lock on the door, just hit it with a 30 second blast from a C02 fire extinguisher then hit it with a hammer. It'll shatter like glass.

 

I removed 6 of the ten. It tucked the rear wheel into the fender but it is still not low enough for me. I might try taking out one more yet or flip the springs under the axel. I will trey to post pics this week.

 

Personally, I think less than 5 leaves in the rear is too few when dealing with stock leaves. Aftermarket springs can get away with less because the leaves are thicker. 3 stock leaves is definitely too few. I think you'd be better off and be running much less risk of breaking a spring if you added one leaf back in and replaced the top main leaf with a reversed eye leaf. It would ride good, have adequately strong springs, and probably give you the stance you're looking for, too.

 

I have 6 in my rear springs and they are under the axle. I love the stance I have on my 52. Four leafs my be not enough but you never know. Just make sure you never haul anything.

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That looks good, did you have to notch the frame in back for axle clearance ? I have a 51 I am trying to decide how to do it.

 

Thanks for the compliment. I did not notch the frame. I decided to start the work with the idea of notching it only if I had to. I had the bed and cab off of the frame anyway so everything was wide open to work on, did the work needed to put the springs under the axle, and suprisingly had about 2 1/2" - 3" clearance. I weigh around 240lbs and jumped up and down on the rear of the frame and it doesn't even come close to hitting. The springs are amazingly stout even after removing some leafs. Also the shocks were not mounted then either.

 

That does look nice.

Down to 4 Leaves in the back! Holy Cow, watch those speed bumps too!

 

Well! I got the job done. I pulled 4 leafs out of the rear and I turned out really good! It took about 2hrs to do and I was lucky not to have any broken leafs! I was trying to post before and after pics but I'm having issues posting the pics in the thread. Maybe someone can point me in the right directions for it! I took alot of the advise in this thread and it worked out really well! Thanks! I dropped about 3 in. and that was what I was going for. I do have the picks in my album. It is the 2 picks of the diver side from the rear if interested.

Know the only other thing I need to do is the front and I need a dropped axel! Any good places to pick one up?

Thanks alot!

 

Bought mine from CCP in California. Other have bought an original axle that has stretched. Don't really know which is the best route as I haven't been able to drive mine yet.

 

twise, that looks great. that is exactly how i want to mine to sit in the back. I guess I will be flipping the rear over the springs.

 

twise - perfect stance, looks really good.

I wanted to come back and clarify something about the 10 springs vs 11 springs question. I was flipping through my shop manual (the newer one with the '52 supplement) and in the specs section it lists the '51 F-1 as having 10 rear leaves with 11 leaves as an option. I'm not by my manual right now, but I think the 10 spring setup was rated for around #1,300 and the 11 was rated for around #500 more. I can scan the page if need be, just thought i'd share what I learned in hopes that it'd help someone.