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I guess i am a bit confused.I see leaf springs and my front differential.there are pivot points.I just have been way busy fixing other things on my truck.So i have only glanced at the front end. the front leaf springs just don't look right.I understand they are different but they seem so close to being bottomed out just sitting there. I was also thinking about friends 2 wheel drive truck from long ago.It ate tires and i thought ford truck front ends were like this.
I am just going to replace the springs and put on some new shocks.
If the shackle kit and super duty springs are not an ordeal i will consider that.
I am slowly figuring out fords.Owned older Dodges most of my life.I don't even understand newer trucks and their prices.so this is my version of an older paid for vehicle.
No leaning but when i look at the springs going on both sides of the axle they are going down a bit towards their ends,Not flat across. Like the springs are upside down. when i drove it home it bottomed out on rough surfaces on the highway.
The truck does not sit to bad.It is higher in the rear. i would guess the suspension is original.
i finally looked for articles on the reverse shackle swap.Sounds like SD springs are a bit longer and softer and the shackle being in the rear gives a smoother ride.The kits are a bit pricey. It looks like a few well thought out parts and some fabrication wouldn't be that hard. I found a few trucks at a pull it yard that helped fix many small problems/broken parts.
i will need to do some more reading and have it all thought out.seems like the amount of front end lift this gives may level things out. I really am not into having much lift.I also need to understand better if this would make any changes to the front end geometry wise. Right now the truck does go down the road straight and steers the way it should. thanks for the replys.
All the kits and articles basically talk about the reverse shackle with SD springs swap for a better ride. The slight arch that happens with the swap gives a few inches of lift.
That is true they do ride better and provide lift......on a straight axle. A shackle reversal on a ttb would only work it the spring is a ttb specific spring, lift spring or stock. The leverage on the ttb axle needs a stiffer spring even though it is on a 3/4 ton truck. Look at your spring thickness and you will see they are considerably thicker than a 1 ton springs. Plus the lift of a shackle reversal would need drop brackets for the pivot points
The bad thing about those front axles is that there isn't much travel up front so there will always be a very minimal amount of space between the pad and the bump stop. A direct replacement leaf spring may help with gaining a little bit of height (depending on how much you are sagging). A 3 leaf, heavy duty leaf spring is going to do two things for your truck. It will give you more height up front than the 2 leaf will and it will give you a firmer ride with a higher capacity spring set up.
We have a lot of customers who swap out the stock springs with a super duty springs but you will have to do some kind of reverse shackle kit to do the install.
i need to do more reading on this.but the reverse shackle swap sounds like a good idea.
I guess i am a bit confused.I see leaf springs and my front differential.there are pivot points.I just have been way busy fixing other things on my truck.So i have only glanced at the front end. the front leaf springs just don't look right.I understand they are different but they seem so close to being bottomed out just sitting there. I was also thinking about friends 2 wheel drive truck from long ago.It ate tires and i thought ford truck front ends were like this.
I am just going to replace the springs and put on some new shocks.
If the shackle kit and super duty springs are not an ordeal i will consider that.
I am slowly figuring out fords.Owned older Dodges most of my life.I don't even understand newer trucks and their prices.so this is my version of an older paid for vehicle.
A TTB that's aligned well and not worn out isn't much of a tire eater. I got 50K miles out of 3 different sets of tires on my '85 F-250. Those were all mut- or all-terrain tires, not highway treads. So I didn't feel too bad about that. And 1" of uptravel at the spring isn't much, but it's pretty normal for a 20 year old F-250. You'll get a little more with new springs, but as long as you can still align it, that's really no worse than any other 20 year ol truck, F-250 or not. Because remember, you have more travel at the wheel than you do at the spring with the TTB.
Originally Posted by humphrey169
I may be wrong but I think the 2 leaf ttb springs are actually stiffer than the 1 ton springs and any of the superduty springs.
That is correct. Doesn't seem like it should be, but it is. It's because of the added leverage the TTB gives. That makes it need a stiffer spring.
Originally Posted by humphrey169
That is true they do ride better and provide lift......on a straight axle. A shackle reversal on a ttb would only work it the spring is a ttb specific spring, lift spring or stock. The leverage on the ttb axle needs a stiffer spring even though it is on a 3/4 ton truck. Look at your spring thickness and you will see they are considerably thicker than a 1 ton springs. Plus the lift of a shackle reversal would need drop brackets for the pivot points
This!!! Almost everything I've ever heard about shackle reversals and SuperDuty springs is with solid axles. THAT WILL NOT TRANSLATE DIRECTLY TO TTB! If you have someone who knows what they are talking about that has done a reverse shackle or a SuperDuty spring swap with a TTB, then great. But do not assume thatbecause it's better on a solid axle that it will be on a TTB too.
It has more travel because the axle is attached to the frame at one end with the spring in the middle and then the tire at the far end. The tire moves in an arc. The spring may compress an inch while the tire moves 3 inches.
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