One of my current projects involves a 56 F-250 long box Flatbed. It has a donar rear dual wheel axel. I believe it has the stock leaf springs that came with the F-250. With the leaf springs installed on the frame, I can hardly budge the rear of the truck frame when I push up and down on it. I am assuming I can haul a lot of weight but I think the ride is going to be pretty hard. I have no intentiioins of heavy hauling with this truck, but more just crusing in nice weather and on fun rides. Maybe an occasional heavy load, but nothing that requires the heavy suspension under it now. My dual axel has 3 1/2" tubes. I am getting ready to custom new shock brackets. I want to consider softening the ride and maintain the height between the tires and the floor of the bed. I definitely want to keep it springed on the heavy side for hauling, but much less than it is now. I thought before I made my shock brackets, I should at least consider lighter leaf springs and the possibility of moving from mounting under the axel to the top of the axel, then building my shock brackets. Im hoping for some good advise how to get an improved ride and still have more hauling capacity than a 1/2 ton.

Each leaf spring has 9 leafs on it. When I found the truck, it had been hauling grain. It was equipped with an Omaha Standard bed sides. It also had a set of overloads on it. I have no idea if it came this way stock or it was beefed up with a set of leaf springs from a bigger truck. The spring shackles are mounted in the original locations on the frame and still had the big rivets holding the shackles to the frame.

 

bump to top.

 

Sounds like a stock setup. The overload springs aren't used unless needed. You can remove every other leaf to soften the ride, but that will lower it some as well. You could do that then get some lift blocks to raise it back up.

I'm just pulling stuff out of my tail, but what if you remove leaves and leave the overload springs. You would have a smoother ride with no load and the overloads could come into play when you have the bead loaded up? I'm far from an expert. Hopefully our more knowledgeable crew will have some ideas.

 

Doing some research, the stock set up on the F-250 did in fact have 11 leafs. Only panel truck came with 9 leafs. I confirmed the arch, width, and thickness of the leafs in my spring packs. Everything appears to be correct, except I have 9 leafs instead of 11. It does not appear any leafs have been removed. Instead of pushing on the frame, I stood on top of the frame and put as much weight up and down as I could without falling off. I did get about an inch of play, which matches the criteria for stock springs (11, not 9). I think your suggestion might be an option Harrier. The bottom three leafs are thicker than the remainder, so Im thinking even removing one spring might make a big difference. Back to the think tank. Thanks for your response.

 

Fortyniner, are you suggesting I move the spring from below the axel to be mounted on the top of the axel? If Im understanding you correctly (Bump to top", would that change the ride and would it not just make the distance between the axel housing (tires) much higher than it is now?

 

"Bump to top" means to bring the thread to the top so people will see it; he was intending to help it get noticed.
If you want to soften the ride, you will need to either remove some leaves or change them for softer ones. If you are on a budget, I would recommend that you remove the bottom leaf, saw 1/3 off of each end and put it back on and see if that gives you the ride you want, along with installing shocks. Or rather than sawing the ends off you can simply measure the thickness and replace the leaf with a piece of flatbar the same thickness just long enough to cover the pad on the axle.

 

Well that's interesting. My stock springs just had 9 leaves. Now my truck is a 55, so they may have added a couple in 56. When I get home this evening I need to go out and jump on the frame and see how much it flexes. I know it doesn't much...

Here is what mine looked like:

 

Bummp to the top, lol. And I was assuming it meant move the axel from under the springs to over the springs. I just needed someone smarter than me to draw me a picture. Thanks!

 

Joe, The photo you posted is exactly what I have. Im thinking the source that I got my information from may have overlooked something when he looked up 1956 F-250. There have been too many references to 9 leafs opposed to 11. Second, I can not imagine 11 leafs when 9 is so solid. Let me know how much flex you get on your frame and dont get hurt and dont let anyone see you doing it.

 

I had such a busy evening I had forgotten about this.
I just ran out and bounced on the very back of the frame. (I have some above the garage door shelving to hold on to. ) I got about 2 to 3 inches of flex.

I don't have a bed on my truck yet and no shocks either. I wonder how much flex an F-100 gets or even a newer truck? If I get busted for randomly bouncing on other peoples back bumper, I will have you to blame.

This is an interesting question. (Don't tell non truck people I said that.) How much should a truck bounce? I might see if I can get my daughter to video it so you can see....

Well, I did something I usually forget to do. Read the manual...
My manual is for 54-55, but 9 leaves ares standard for F-250 & P-350 11 leaves are optional. You could also get 12 leaves for the F-250. Load capacity of 1950 pounds. Since the bed can hold a ton, how much should a 170 pound man flex the springs......

 

Most trucks I jump on, I can easily get 2-3 inches. But thats 1/2 tons. My 3/4 ton chevy I get between 1 and 2, but it has a box on it. My jumping experience is limited to 1/2 and 3/4 ton F series with no box of flatbed.

The gentlemen I had a long converstaion with builds custom springs. He went to therangerstation.com and pulled up thier spring calculator. He plugged in 1956 F-250, 9 leafs, abd some other data I have forgotten. The calculator said there should be one inch flex. I have not tried finding that site or calculaltor yet, but its on my list. I have to go jump on some trucks this morning, be back soon.

 

The calculator is there at therangerstation.com and it seems to work. One other thing of interest for anyone who has ever taken a stock spring pack apart. After years of use, the edge of each spring starts to wear a pattern into the adjacent leaf. I can not confirm the procedure is correct or safe, but I beveled the edges of each spring end so they do not gouge into the adjacent spring. Where they previously gouged into the adjacent spring, I smoothed off the face of the spring to minimize the pattern that had been worn into it by the edge of the adjacent spring. Also, wet paint and sandblasting are two enemeys of leaf springs. They can tend to make the springs stick together opposed to each spring remaining independent as intended. Just my two cents.