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On my ‘55 F250 it looks like I have a set of helper springs in the rear. Are they stock? Do I need them and will removing them help the ride at all or am I giving something up.
Also, because of the added height of the helper springs it looks like the nuts on the U bolts might not be grabbing enough thread. But maybe they have been like that for 70 years and it is fine! Pics below…
Those were likely worked on a million years go by a shaky mechanic. If you aren't loading the truck up like a 3/4 ton you won't miss the helper stack and it wont affect ride height.
Ok, thanks. I suppose it is prudent to get new U bolts? Not sure if those will be too long after I remove the helper springs.
Yeah, they are cheap. Spring shops can bend them to your size. Not a part you have to order. What you posted is really flakey. No mechanic with a bit of experience would do that if he cared at all. Those are hanging by 4 threads or so.
Yeah, they are cheap. Spring shops can bend them to your size. Not a part you have to order. What you posted is really flakey. No mechanic with a bit of experience would do that if he cared at all. Those are hanging by 4 threads or so.
I know!!! Freaked me out when I saw it. It hasn’t been roadworthy since I got it so no big deal but when I saw it I was wondering what kind of hack did it but I wanted to be sure given my inexperience on the these trucks.
That is scary! At least they are rusted enough to keep them on.
I agree with fenders, the helper springs are not needed. I have mine for looks and I like the idea of being able to load my truck up enough to use them. I took my old u bolts to a big truck shop and they made me a new set in a few minutes. They couldn't make front u-bolts because they didn't have a die small enough for the front springs. You would also need to figure out how long of bolts you need if you remove the helper springs. Easy enough job though.
If it is helpful I run 4 leaves and am about to add a fifth on my new rebuild F100 after 20 years. I can throw 500#s in the bed with four leaves and no issue. You'll be quite fine with your lower stack for light duty, even if they are rusted up. The top leaf on your bottom stack is what actually matters for safety. The top rack isn't going to matter at all if the main lower leaf fails.
I got some more info by digging into the shop manual…
It does not show the helper springs as an option on the F250, only the 350 and up. Because this was a farm truck the tailgate as a grain door in it. Maybe they needed the extra payload support.
Stock for a F250 looks to be 9 Leaves which is what I have. So the helper springs are going to go since I still have 3/4 ton capacity. Good reason to take the springs off and clean up all the pivot points and replace the Ubolts. Also easier to clean up and paint the rear end out of the truck.
Well that's interesting. I never looked that closely at that part of the manual.
My 55 F250 has the overload springs. It was a farm truck and had a Knapheide bed on it. I think it might have come as a cab and chassis new. Definitely farm country where the truck lived but was built in Kansas City.
I wonder if the overload springs were a regular dealer add on in the farm communities.
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