Just had a front spring snap on my front drivers side on a road trip to the cottage. Found a place one hour away that can do new replacement front springs. The question that I have is that he can get F450 equivalent springs a lot cheaper than F350 springs. I do plan on adding an aftermarket bumper at some point in the future. What should I order?
Thanks.

 

Knowing the spring rate of the proposed springs is more important than whether the springs are F350 or F450. I would suspect there are various spring rates for each model.

 

This ^^^

Also, 2-wheel or 4-wheel (coil vs leaf)?

Stewart

 

How long before you add the front bumper? How much does it weigh? Being broke down sucks, so parts avail now beats reordering and waiting. However spending $$$$ now to get going only to spend more $$$ later to do it right also sucks. But then again, your $$$ make be easier to come by than mine.

 

I put v codes in the front and about 6 months later but a aftermarket bumper with a winch on the front of the ex. Ended up adding a leaf from the old rear springs to bring the fron up a bit. Now I plow with it also. In hind sight I would have put in x codes. Depends on what your going to do.

 

I have V-codes* on mine as well and with all that weight on it, plus the sag of 15 year old springs, it looks "right". If I had to do it over again, I would also go with the X-codes. I would definitely recommend them if you are planning on adding anything heavy up there.

* I have actual Ford springs, not ATS. I would have no problem getting X-codes from ATS but I wouldn't expect them to behave the same as a factory spring of this era either. That being said, if I couldn't find Ford X-codes, ATS would absolutely be my next stop.

 

Thanks guys for the quick responses. That is what I love about this forum. I ended up ordering the F450 springs as I had to order by 1:00 pm today so:

1.they would be at the shop doing the repair by 9:00am tomorrow
2. I wouldn't have to listen to my wifeypoo/CEO complain what a POS my Ex is. She wants me to sell it and get something newer.
3. Even if it takes a year to add a custom bumper I can live with the harsh ride in the meantime
4. These were surprising cheaper than

Sad part was I was going to stop by a guys house on the way home from the cottage to purchase some X springs to replace mine and other parts as I just bought a F350 parts truck that has the 4" lifter blocks and C springs.
One thing that the shop mentioned is that it is better to purchase new springs(especially fronts) as these take some pounding if they were X units as most guys do have a plow on the truck that originally order these.
One thing I will do once I get back to civilisation is provide measurements as I did measure from the center of the rim to the fender previously. I will also try to post a photo as I still have the original rear G springs. The shop said it should raise my front by about 3-3.5 inches.
It sucks being about 400 miles north of Detroit without many tools. I did but 3 C clamps to hold the broken spring to the other half as I am going to try and drive/nurse the Ex about 60 miles to North Bay to the shop tomorrow morning.

Rob

 

You are going to attempt a 60 mile drive with C clamps holding your front spring together? Surely I read that wrong???

They say bad things happen in 3's. Didn't we see 2 totalled Ex's around here the last few weeks?

 

Yeah that's crazy. Get a AAA membership for $100 a year or whatever it is. They will tow you there for free after that. It's certainly not worth risking your life, or at the very least your truck, over what amounts to a $100 tow bill.

C-clamps... why don't you just use hot glue?

 

C'mon guys, depending on the break location, road conditions, traffic, C-clamps could be a decent McGyver fix. Sure would like to see a photo.

 

Brent would add a splint and move on

 

Only if that splint was soaked in ATF Michael!

 

That was purchased at a garage sale and held by duct tape

 

Goes without saying Michael!

ATF from a used oil container...

 

Ummm, errr, huh?

Jekyll/Hyde much?

Stewart