I am looking at buying a rough country add a leaf kit for the front of my F250 4x4...I mounted a plow on there, and the front end is hanging lower than I like...plus the garage says they cant do the alignment because there is to much sag in the springs....

Anybody do this? how hard is it? I've replaced rear springs before, but never added leaves or anything....

THANKS!
Phil

 

It's easy, Did my F350 in a few hours. Just make sure you have a good set of jack stands. I did mine on the truck, without removing the leafs. I left the tires on too. After securing the truck frame on stands, I removed the U bolts, slowly lowered the axle a couple of inches, then removed the leaf spring center bolt (the leafs will pop apart a bit so be careful)then add the new leaf in, clamp them together and put the new center bolt back in and tighten. Then jack the axle back in place and re-install the U bolts. A couple of notes: My U bolts threads were long enough, Rough country supplies new center bolts, and last, you might have to remove the factory spring clamps as the new leaf has a bolt together spring clamp. The factory clamp on mine was right in the way of the new leaf, so a used a cut off saw and cut and ground it off. The truck sits about 1.5 inches higher, and is level now. I bought the kit directly from Rough Country, they shipped it to me in two days. Very happy with the results.

JoeG

 

its simple, Did it on my 56 jeep. saport the axel with good jack stands pull the springs, the kit should come with a new centering pin, but not shure. I used some big c clamps to hold the spring togather while I unbolted the centering pin. put the spring in then use the centering pin to tighten everything back up. shoudn't take that long, good luck.

ec

 

If the front end is sagging that bad from simply ading the plow frame (I am assuming you didn't have the plow itself on to go to the alignment shop) I would consider having the front springs re-arched. I'd still do the add-a-leaf because of the added weight of the plow. Most truck spring shops can do this, or know where it can be done. You could even have them put the extra leafs in while they have them, or if you find a shop price having them add extra spring plys, without having to buy them aftermarket. They can usually supply the extra leafs cheaper.

 

I have considered have them rearched, but I think would be more cost effective to put new springs in. The old ones would have to be pulled anyhow, and this way I can do it myself. I can get HD springs from JC whitney for around $130 each. I don't think the springs are that bad though. This was the mechanic's point of view when he first saw the truck. He never even attempted to align it. I had it in for new ball joints when they basically told me they couldn't do the job...well, it took me about a week using all the spare time I had to do it, but I was able to accomplish the whole job, minus having the old ones pressed out and new ones pressed in, by myself. I didn't think it was hard, just time consuming. This was a Ford dealer I took it to by the way. I figured I saved around $300 doing it myself....

Once I get the right add a leafs from the company I ordered them from I should be in business...

I'll keep you guys up to date on this...

Thanks for the help!
Phil