Those of you who have tried to address this problem. What did you try? How well did it work? Did it change your ride while unloaded? And how does it feel? I tend to think less is more. I will rarely tow, or haul a lot of weight. This truck will see mostly highway miles. What set up would you recommend for 2 hours of highway miles a day? What set up would you never do again?

 

Rear end sag sound like a personal issue and maybe you should see a doctor J/K

What is it we are working on, year model as a starting point.
What makes you say the rear end is sagging? Lets see a picture of the sagging.
Did you check for broken leaf springs?
Are you sure someone did not install a rear leveling kit?
I am guessing you know pickup trucks sit high in the rear and when loaded level out, my 81 F100 does this when I hook the 20' enclosed trailer to it.
I dont think I have heard of anyone having the same problem unless they really loaded the bed or had too much trailer hanging off the bumper or used a leveling kit.

The problem is if you want the truck to sit like it did when it left the factory and you dont have a leveling kit installed you are going to need to replace the rear leaf springs and with new springs it will ride ruff out back with out a load or they break in a little and that will take time.
I would say if you like the ride and the nose is not pointing to the trees, sits level, and you dont plan to load it up I would just leave it as is.
Now if you like the ride but may load it 1 or 3 times a year I would look into air bags you can air up when you get a load and let air out when unloaded.
Air bags are made to lift on the frame and axle, DO NOT get air shocks as shock mounts are not meant to support a load.
Dave ----

 

thanks Dave, its an 84 f150. Rwd longbed, stock springs and standard rake but about 2-3 inches lower (26”) on the rear under stock height (28”). Im sure the front is low and weak also, it bottoms out on a few potholes near the house and so I'm planing on replacing the front springs with a set of progressives that will give it about 1-2” over stock height on the front. I like the stock ride, kinda prefer levelled. But need to take turns at highway speeds so im thinking of adding a leaf or helper springs to balance it out as there is some side to side imbalance as well.

 

Seems like the springs are tired if they are dropping that much when loaded. I have used leaf springs from Bronco Graveyard and ATS and Moog replacement coil springs on my trucks.

What does that have to do with the springs? Sounds like you should look into adding sway bars.

 

This 2 inch drop is unloaded. And your spring stiffness plays into cornering as does the sway bar. But the sway bar wont have an impact on ride height. Once i replace the front springs i expect i will need to (add a leaf) or i will end up aiming at the sky. Im mostly curious about how it will ride?

 

Where did this 28 inch stock ride height number come from? And where is it measured? If your tire wear is good on the front and you change the ride height in the front, your tire wear will go out the window unless you get it aligned, if they can get it in.

 

The 28” ride height came from the dimension drawings at the garagemahal. Its measured from what looks like the ground to the bottom of the base trim back by the rear bumper. Im assuming the front sag given i still have what looks like a natural rake.


https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/dimensions-and-weights.html

 

The factory designed the rearend to be higher than the frontend stock. The rear springs have a few thin curved springs on top. This gives the empty pickup as good a ride as possible, which is hard to do with a pickup truck. There is one very thick flat leaf on the bottom of the pack. When you load the truck down (what a pickup was designed for), the thin leaves quickly flatten out onto the bottom thick leaf to carry the load. The truck loaded will be level or a little below level as the thick bottom leaf carries the load. That is why pickups have a natural rear high rake. The big fad now is leveling kits, which raise the frontend to meet the height of the rear. Problem is, if you ever do carry a load, the truck has a terrible sag to the rear. Your headlights are too high, the frontend alignment is thrown off, etc.

Nothing wrong with modifying your ride height for a special purpose or look, but it is the way it is for a reason.

 

I have never looked up stock specs for ride height so I don’t know. Sure it does but generally speaking the stiffer the spring the harsher the ride. I have factory installed front and rear sway bars. You can have softer springs and still have good handling with that setup.

 

Agreed, so my thought process is. Since the fronts need replaced and a 2 inch taller progressive rate spring should reduce the risk of bottoming out and provide a softer ride that seems a reasonable answer to the front springs. But given i already have 2” of sag on the rear, wether stock height or leveling springs they are just as likely to overshoot and aim for the moon. So im thinking an add a leaf spring in the rear should help and at least take me back to a level or stock raked look albeit taller than stock. I'm fine with taller, given i prefer a little taller tire than stock.

 

It sounded like you are measuring from body lines or bumper and that is not how it has to be done.
All measurements have to be from flat level ground to the frame, either the bottom or factory measuring points.

Bumpers were not factory on pickup trucks so they were dealer added.
What if that bumper was replaced and the holes for the molding were not in the same place as manf. abc and xyz?
Bed was replaced the the bumper is moved up or down to "look good" being off a 1/4" would mean a lot if from the bumper / molding.

As DaveF pointed out if you raise the front that will throw off the aliment and you might not be able to bring it back in.
And you can do the front without doing the rear because once you raise the rear that will throw the front off again.
It is a "all or nothing" when raising or lowering a car / truck.
I also got to ask how do you know it is bottoming out? I would put a little white paint or shoe polish where the rubber bump stops hit and go for a normal drive and then check if that white mark has any markings on them.
Maybe the wrong shocks were installed, too long, they are bottoming out? Also dont forget the shocks can also "top out" when the axle drops, that is how coil springs are kept in in cars.
Dave ----

 

When I worked at the Ford dealer in the mid 90’s all the trucks were delivered with front and rear bumpers. Rear bumpers were not required and could be deleted for credit/discount.

Exactly. You’d have to be hitting a bump pretty hard to bottom out the suspension. Either that or have the bed loaded down.

 

 

What does note (1) say?

 

From what I am seeing they are measuring "LH" load height (both empty & loaded height) from the bed floor to the ground not the bumper.
I also dont see this being true as the bed could have been removed and replaced now with new bushings or shimmed higher because the cab has new bushings and sits higher.
But it is better than nothing I guess.
I am not seeing "CB" cab height on the picture so I guess from ground to roof top?
Again not good if the cab has new bushings.
Dave ----