I have a friend that has a 1979 F250 4x4, he already has plans for SD 4" Lift Springs in the front. What are his options for rear springs? He would like to use spring packs from something he can find in a wrecking yard, as that's where he found the front SD springs at.

I have read a bunch of posts that talk about 52" & 63" GM springs, but those are for the Highboy trucks with the narrower rear leafs. He knows where there is a Highboy at that he could get hangers from if needed. Just wanted to pick someone elses brain a bit.

Let me know what ya think.

 

I am certainly no expert on this, but my 79 F350 has a 4" lift, all they did in the rear was add a 2" block, the fronts have 4" leaf springs bought from Alcon

 

(Ed) F350 in the offroad and 4x4 forum states:

For the front it only takes a little bit of work, and over the years I have streamlined this process, and worked out some of the small bugs.
The leaf spring bushings are slightly larger than the original hanger, so grinding the bushing down is a reasonable solution. This only has to be done to the front of the spring. For the rear, I relaced the pivot bushings, and used an off the shelp toyota poly bushing used in 80's era 4x4's. These bushings had to be modified a little to fit, but worked perfectly.
By taking a small torch to the old bushings, they popped right out, and left a small metal insert in the pivot itself. I was able to leave this in there and not fight it to remove. This can be tough to remove while the pivot is still in the truck.
By taking about 10 thousandths off of the bushing itself, it went in with little trouble. This is almost a perfrct fit. Then I lubed up the metal insert, and viola, it is the same width as the spring bushing, and a perfect fit.
Front end is done, and everything lines up.
Oh, if the leaf is equiped with a military wrap design, it may have to be either cut or removed to fit the smaller hanger of the highboy.
Later 78/9 bolt on hangers are larger and fit the military wrap leaf.
Longer front shackles will have to be made, and the new length should be right at the 5.75" mark. This will provide enough room for the spring to flex and keep the spring from hitting the frame. This has been a problem I have been working out over time. Quality material and thick steel has to be used here. Too small or thin and the shackle will flex.

For the rear, the popular thing to do is the shackle flip. Since this requires the removal of the rear hanger anyway, half of the work is already done. Now since the perfect donor hanger is to use the fixed hanger found at the front of the rear spring,this means that another hanger needs to be installed where this one was removed.

Step by step:
Remove both hangers, and throw the inverted rear hangers in trash.
Purchase, a longer hanger for the front of the rear spring. 1/2 ton, or 2wd hangers are longer and will provide more lift. Make sure that the width is the same as the spring. Chebby hangers can be used here too.
Align the 64" rear spring so the axle is centered in the wheel openening.
Install the newly purchased hanger in the front of the spring and attach to the frame.
Install the original front hanger in the very rear of the spring and hang the shackle from this. Bolt up and verify that all hangers are level. Use a quality fastener here.

This will net some prretty serious lift and much will depend on the rear spring that you use. This 64" spring is easy to find in the salvage yard, and will cost way less than new springs.

By performing this upgrade, the cost stays low, and you get new style springs that not only ride well, but does not sacrifice payload capacities.

I am telling you, this system works and works well. Not expensive either. My front leafs ran about 500 bucks for the pair, a great friend gave me a set of leafs (thanks again ChaseTruck754) and my hangers ran about 40 bucks from the salvage yard. This clears 40"rubber, and flexes like crazy.
Rides well, I mean extremely well, and I still tow a car hauler with a rather large 1 ton truck with this truck.

When looking for spring hangers, don't limit yourself to just this era of ford trucks. They are limited in numbers at the salvage yards and just try to find a new one at a dealership. That being said, you can use a later model spring hanger, the Ranger does not care. I suggested that one look into chabby hangers, Heak, if you are goint to remove the spring from a 2000 plus silverado, grab the front hanger too. Use this on the front of the spring, and then use the factory ford one on the very bcak of the spring for the shackle flip. This is a very inexpensive way to lift a vehicle and still use the comfort and versatility of the newer spring.

I used:
Front:
8" BDS front springs from a 99 to 04 "gas" Super Duty
Extended my front shackles, they now measure 6 inches from center to center
Custom front shock mounts (17" travel front shocks)
Stainless braided front brake lines
Crossover steering (Dana60F) and power steering conversion using saginaw 16:1 box
U bolt flip
Rear:
Stock 64" long 3500 series chebby silverado rear leaf
2001 chebby silverado 1500 series front spring hanger mounted lower to provide more lift
Stock Ford front spring hanger installed in the very rear to accomodate shackle flip
Relocated shock mount to accomodate 14" travel shocks
Stainless steel brake line

Hope this helps, I am still gathering parts myself........

 

77&79F250 - Thanks, that is the thread I was looking for, I was just looking for it in the wrong place. I hate it when I get "tunnel vision".

 

Actually all the info is a compilation of several threads but most are out of the 4x4 off road. I just put in one place for you, best of luck on the build.