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1980 - 1986 Bullnose F100, F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Early Eighties Bullnose Ford Truck

Broken front leaf springs

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Old Apr 12, 2018 | 01:32 PM
  #16  
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I found an 87 250 diesel ext cab that the junk yard will add in the next few days. The spring looks right, but the individual leafs are a little thicker. Will those work?
 
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Old Apr 12, 2018 | 10:28 PM
  #17  
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Originally Posted by Joshua Hake

I found an 87 250 diesel ext cab that the junk yard will add in the next few days. The spring looks right, but the individual leafs are a little thicker. Will those work?
Should work ok. The extended cab f250's used the heavier duty frontend, the Dana 50 ttb. If you have a standard cab f250 you probably have the dana 44ttb unless it was special ordered with the Dana 50 ttb. Look at the lock-out hubs on your truck, and then look at the hubs on the extended cab truck. The ones on the extended cab truck will be bigger like they are on the dana 60. Your dana 44 ttb uses the same hubs that are used on the f150's. Nothing really wrong with that, just some info I am throwing out there. The springs should work though, as long as they are arched up in the middle.
 
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Old Apr 13, 2018 | 02:59 AM
  #18  
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Originally Posted by Joshua Hake

I found an 87 250 diesel ext cab that the junk yard will add in the next few days. The spring looks right, but the individual leafs are a little thicker. Will those work?
Just swapping the springs will not fix this until you resolve the root cause. The sway bar impacted the spring keeper.. Even at full compression this should not happen. Have you checked the location of the sway bar ? Is it centered ? have one of the links gone for a dump ? Until you fix that you will be right back in the same boat with another set of springs. Fix the root problem first.
Also new springs will mean an alignment and possibly the installation of shims under the springs to level the truck since they are used.
This not quite as simple as swapping the springs on a solid axle or a set of coils.
 
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Old Apr 13, 2018 | 11:11 AM
  #19  
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Originally Posted by matthewq4b
Just swapping the springs will not fix this until you resolve the root cause. The sway bar impacted the spring keeper.. Even at full compression this should not happen. Have you checked the location of the sway bar ? Is it centered ? have one of the links gone for a dump ? Until you fix that you will be right back in the same boat with another set of springs. Fix the root problem first.
Also new springs will mean an alignment and possibly the installation of shims under the springs to level the truck since they are used.
This not quite as simple as swapping the springs on a solid axle or a set of coils.
There is definitely something wrong with the sway bar. On the drivers side, where the broken leaf is, it looks ok, but on the passenger side where the bushings attach the bar to the shorter bars that attach to the truck (sorry no idea what that little piece is called) is a little weird. It seems the sway bar is jutting off at an odd angle and the top bushing is very compressed. I've also found on the passenger side there is no shock. The plate that the shock mounts to on the bottom, the plate that is bolted to the top of the leaf itself had its bottom tab for the shock broken off. I have a new part to replace it.

What should I do with the sway bar? I've asked my wife to go out and take pictures, I'm at work. I will post them if/when I get them.
 
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Old Apr 13, 2018 | 02:35 PM
  #20  
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Originally Posted by Joshua Hake
There is definitely something wrong with the sway bar. On the drivers side, where the broken leaf is, it looks ok, but on the passenger side where the bushings attach the bar to the shorter bars that attach to the truck (sorry no idea what that little piece is called) is a little weird. It seems the sway bar is jutting off at an odd angle and the top bushing is very compressed. I've also found on the passenger side there is no shock. The plate that the shock mounts to on the bottom, the plate that is bolted to the top of the leaf itself had its bottom tab for the shock broken off. I have a new part to replace it.

What should I do with the sway bar? I've asked my wife to go out and take pictures, I'm at work. I will post them if/when I get them.

No rush on the pictures

We'd need a pic of the sway bar in it's entirety so from the front of the truck down low and back far enough to see the whole thing.

A pic of each sway bar each mount/link encompassing the swar bar, link and mount.

So just three pics.

That will give us an idea what is wrong.
 
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Old Apr 14, 2018 | 01:54 PM
  #21  
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Driver's


Passengers, shock mount broken off

Here is what it all looks like.
 
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Old Apr 14, 2018 | 02:49 PM
  #22  
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The sway bar has shifted to the drivers side it has pulled the insulator with it on the passenger side as seen in the photo.

What has happened here is with out the shock on the passenger side the sway bar has in effect been acting like the shock and has caused it to shift over to the drivers side.. This not uncommon to happen on the 4x4 TIB if one shock goes bad or in this case is missing. Had the same issue my self on the 89. But it did not get over far enough to impact the spring.
We could do with a pic of the driver side sway bar link. But the passenger side link looks ok.. If the drivers side link is ok, not bent and with no cracked bushings it should be ok to use. If it is not ok replace both passenger and drivers side swar bar links. Regardless Personally I would just replace them both to make sure the as the current ones will have had the rubbers way over stressed. . Also given it is like $30 for the pair it best to just replace them .

The fix ,
Replace the broken shock mount, and replace both front shocks with new ones
Unbolt the sway bar mounting brackets from the frame. Re-position the insulators in their clamps if the one is damaged replace both. Recenter the sway bar and bolt it back to the frame.
Replace sway bar links as needed but it is advised to replace them.

The spring locator can be beat back in to shape and position. A good sized spot weld on the broken side spring locator will fix it up just fine. Don't weld the spring or on to the spring just the locator.
 
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Old Apr 14, 2018 | 03:55 PM
  #23  
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I tried to post pictures of all of it. Here is the drivers side.
 
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Old Apr 14, 2018 | 07:01 PM
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I know having sway bars is a fancy notion, but most people do not even need them and it was an option on your truck, most trucks didn't even come with sway bars. If you want to keep them, then keep going and try to get it fixed. If it's just a nuisance and keeping you from driving the truck, just take the sway bar off, and mess with it later.
 
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Old Apr 15, 2018 | 10:33 PM
  #25  
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Fine tuning the carb

I'm going to try to get the leaf repaired and then I will post back here again.
 
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