7/1 Leaf spring plus helper spring - on one side
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Tuned
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 384
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From: Olympic Peninsula
7/1 Leaf spring plus helper spring - on one side
I think I've found what I need at eatondetroitspring.com as far as leaf springs go, but I thought I'd ask here just to be sure.
On the driver's side of my '72 F250, the rear leaf spring has 7 regular leaves, plus the really thick one on the bottom. On top of that (literally), is the helper spring, which totals to 9 leaves on one side of the truck. Passenger side has the regular 5/1 setup with the helper spring atop it all. So what the hell happened? Did someone literally shimmy some extra leaves into the driver's side just to make the truck look level when they sat behind the wheel? My bed is crooked, looks weird! Lol. Or was there a 7/1 leaf + helper spring option for the F-series of this (or a similar) generation?
On the driver's side of my '72 F250, the rear leaf spring has 7 regular leaves, plus the really thick one on the bottom. On top of that (literally), is the helper spring, which totals to 9 leaves on one side of the truck. Passenger side has the regular 5/1 setup with the helper spring atop it all. So what the hell happened? Did someone literally shimmy some extra leaves into the driver's side just to make the truck look level when they sat behind the wheel? My bed is crooked, looks weird! Lol. Or was there a 7/1 leaf + helper spring option for the F-series of this (or a similar) generation?
Lead Driver
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 9,601
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From: San Jose, CA
Back to the top.
Never seen a Ford with different leaf counts on each side before. Can't say I've always counted leaves though, so maybe they've slipped past me all these years.
But after this long, literally anything is possible. Someone trying to add capacity to one side to compensate for a larger gas tank, or perhaps a camper that had more weight on one side. Perhaps originally to compensate for one side sagging, but now the other side is?
Hard to say. But at least there are others here with the same, or similar trucks to show what they have on theirs.
Got pics of yours? Curious about the driver's side especially. The bottom thick leaf is often called the "overload" leaf on simple spring packs, where it's separate from the others until a great enough weight is placed on the spring. Then it comes into play with it's stiffer rate.
But then there are the other overload leaves that clamp to the top of the whole pack and contact pads mounted to the frame. Only the 250's and 350's had those I'm pretty sure.
There are add-a-leaves too, some of which are also very thick, But those are curved to bring the spring pack up a bit (inexpensive lift) and will be in constant contact with the lowermost regular leaf, above the bottom overload leaf.
Curious to see what yours looks like.
Paul
Never seen a Ford with different leaf counts on each side before. Can't say I've always counted leaves though, so maybe they've slipped past me all these years.
But after this long, literally anything is possible. Someone trying to add capacity to one side to compensate for a larger gas tank, or perhaps a camper that had more weight on one side. Perhaps originally to compensate for one side sagging, but now the other side is?
Hard to say. But at least there are others here with the same, or similar trucks to show what they have on theirs.
Got pics of yours? Curious about the driver's side especially. The bottom thick leaf is often called the "overload" leaf on simple spring packs, where it's separate from the others until a great enough weight is placed on the spring. Then it comes into play with it's stiffer rate.
But then there are the other overload leaves that clamp to the top of the whole pack and contact pads mounted to the frame. Only the 250's and 350's had those I'm pretty sure.
There are add-a-leaves too, some of which are also very thick, But those are curved to bring the spring pack up a bit (inexpensive lift) and will be in constant contact with the lowermost regular leaf, above the bottom overload leaf.
Curious to see what yours looks like.
Paul
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 2,217
Likes: 647
IMO, that is exactly what happened. Many campers were heavy on one side, plus an extra fuel tank on the left, you have a lean problem.
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