Hi All,
Done a front spring reset
Truck was looking sad at the front end, Got them reset, Gained 2 inches,Leveled the truck up nicely
The Truck looks proud at the front now



Before



After



Cheers,
Patchy

 

They do sag over time. Does your truck have an additional leaf in the front of it?

I had a couple of leaves break in the rear of my last effie while going down the highway - had no idea they did that!
I replaced them with new springs and the truck gained probably an 1-1.5" in the rear over what it was previously

 

I have the extra leaf
Very unusual busting back leaves


Cheers,
Patchy

 

Was that something you did, or perhaps a previous owner? I know there was a shop up your way that was grafting an additional leaf onto the standard springs.

 

Previous owner
Wilkinsons in Atherton done the work


Cheers,
Patchy

 

Found this


Cheers,
Patchy

 

A good find Patchy,

The front springs on these are notorious for "sagging" over time, and even spring softness was a problem on the early delivered F-Series to Aus, they were all fitted with springs with a relatively low "comfort" weight rating - even lower than than a comparable US truck. Starting around 2004 the trucks were fitted with equivelant springs to the US trucks (which was better), but still not the stiffest springs available - snow plow option pack. So if you have a heavy front bar and a winch, you may find that the front springs in particular are a bit sad.

This problem I think was somewhat exacerbated by a lot of people coming from 75 Landcruisers, and used to putting 1.5 tonne on it, and the suspension not moving at all - creating a rough ride, something these trucks don't have a problem with, but most owners weren't used to seeing the suspension compress a lot under weight.

 

Thanks for the video link, most informative.

I don't know what brand of springs have been fitted to my
truck but the front has six leaves with miltary wrap.

 

Wow six leafs in each spring , how does it ride , there wouldn't be much movement in the front with the heavy springs in place BrianB.

Have you the same spring paks in the rear?

 

The rear is pretty much the same and the ride is pretty good. I have not found it particularly harsh.
That's why I was so suprised to see the video with 2 and 3 leaf packs.

 

It really depends on the leafs.

The ones on our trucks are parabolics in the front, which need "few" leafs, but ones that are thick and hold a large amount of weight per leaf. They are designed to have little to no arch in them at static ride height, and like for like should ride better than "normal" springs because they don't get the friction between the leafs during travel.

I'm guessing Brian had non-parabolics fitted, which will use a "stacked" leaf design, I had them fitted to my truck too (they were "leveling" front springs). Typically will have thinner leafs, and unless there is a load on them, only the top 2 springs are doing the work, as the other (shorter) springs only engage as the suspension compresses.


The 2011+ trucks (like mine) have parabolics fitted at the back now. Provides an impressive ride unloaded, but they sag a lot with a load on board. I had to fit airbags.

 

I put a Tuff-County levelling kit on the front of my truck which had sagged badly. The levelling kit consisted of a spring pack of 4 springs (per side) and longer U-bolts. The levelling packs lifted the truck up so much at the front I had to take the 2 shortest springs out. The levelling pack seems to stop the parabolic springs inverting as the axle load is spread over a longer length of the stock springs.

The SSA solution in the vid looks to be the best one I've seen, just an extra spring leaf extending right out to the eyes. If I had my time again I would have just sent my sagged springs off to SSA for the once over.

 

I have posted some pics of my new locking hub in the AussieBrianbs
truck saga thread that shows my front springs.

Is there some measurement I can make to determine if my truck is
standard height or if it has a "lift kit" fitted.