Thanks JWA. You know a lot about these vans and I appreciate you sharing your expertise. The rear springs on the E150 were shot and the van was sagging low with just 200 lb. in the back, that's why I got HD rear springs. I would like to make the van close to level, as it is the headlights are pointing at the ground about 20 feet in front of the van. I'm asking about front springs mostly to level the van but also to see if it would help with handling. I assume there will be little to no effect on handling based on your reply. I made a 1/4 turn on the steering gear last week which got rid of 3-4 inches of play in the middle of the steering, and the handling is significantly better. I'm concerned about the safety of the steering gear now that it has been adjusted. I'm looking into getting the steering gear rebuilt by Powersteering.com which I read may be better than Redhead for these vans.

 

Enjoy the durability of it, the older king pin, you can jump a curb and literally do no damage, where the other brands gotta go to the alignment shop.
I have to find someone to install my springs, shops here seem ignorant, want to tell me the danger of struts, that gets you crossed off my competence list, not knowing what is on a vehicle as you claim to be a mechanic, and beware everything has Chinese copies which some may be equal, most are inferior, they can't even get camshaft tempering right as of late, needless to say the weight bearing coils and leaves will be detrimental if not properly heat treated. Ford vans are I-beams, designed and built for durability as Ford was heavy in the commercial market, they are not for comfort, I've owned Fords with them since I could drive, they hold up the longest of any other vehicle without shop attention, but they can not be made to ride like the others, shops that know them and can properly adjust them are getting rare, I was shocked to find one here, near me, all the classics are filling the lot.

 

I'll throw my 2 cents in here.
1988 E150 high top conversion w/5.0 and AOD transmission.

Around 6 years ago I thought I would rebuild my suspension. Not because it was sagging but because the van was nearly 30 years old and I wanted it to last another 30 without having to be worked on.
I went to Moog's website and selected the springs that their web site said were for my van. Since they didn't sell direct I wound up buying the coil springs through Wal-Mart who happened to have the cheapest price and I could pick up locally and save shipping.
Ford engineers the suspension to be in alignment and a certain ride height from the factory. As you drive and sway from side to side, the I-Beams are always moving but the front end stays in alignment. One place where you run into issues is when you change the coil spring to a different spec from what Ford originally used.

The springs that I bought DID NOT not work on my van as they were a bit taller then the originals. Being taller caused the I-beams to tilt down farther then they should and the wheels were in a positive camber that you could see looking directly at the front of the van. I was told that they would settle down over time. I went on several trips to the mountains with 8 people and full.y loaded down with camping gear where we drove on gravel roads for 20 to 40 miles each time. The springs did not settle and my new tires were starting to wear on the outside. To fix the issue I reinstalled the old springs which to this day are still within spec at alignments.

Walmart would not take the springs back claiming that I had to deal through Moog and Moog said they couldn't do anything for me so they lay on the floor off in the corner of the shop. Since I have never bought through Walmart again and though Moog builds good parts, I avoid them when ever possible. As with all purchases now, I ,make sure of the return policy!

I was surprised that Moog would not take care of this issue as even talking whit their tech guy, he said the springs I selected were what his site showed to be correct though there was another with one lower rating that I could try but they wouldn't exchange the springs.


As you can see from the pic below, on the left, C= non movable spring retainer. B is the axle beam and C the spring. E supports the axle pivot. If you were to lengthen the factory spring, A, the axle would be pushed down farther then it should be and you would go into positive camber. To keep the geometry then you would also have to lengthen E, the picot bracket. On my 88, if I remember correctly, the pivot bushings fasten directly into a cross-member and are not mounted to brackets like in the pic. But you should be able to get the idea of what I am trying to say.



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Also if you find a Ford service manual for your van, it will have a section devoted to the suspension and ride height. below is a page from my 88 manual. to get a proper alignment on my van, the ride height needs to be within the specified specs. Putting heavier and taller springs on the rear would certainly through more weight towards the front end.

 

Yeah the later ones with balljoints allow correction, you can get away with 2" taller, any more is past adjustment, the older has king pins, beans require bending.

 

Thanks for reminding me that the 1992 and above use ball joints! Are you saying that the adjustable cam selves around the ball joints can account for the camber up to a 2" taller spring? Would he need to replace the stock adjustable cam bushings?

As to the king pin axles, ford did make a 1/4" steel plate that goes under the lower spring perch and that would normally account for mild sagging springs.

 

Yes, seen several guys have gone up 2" and the camber was corrected, the 5.4 powered van is lifted by 6.0 diesel coil springs, not sure exact height on that, but was pretty obvious, I've lifted many 2" and used the same shocks, only a problem if you are rock climbing as they are out to the max and will not drop, but then again on a budget, you don't want drop as it'll bring an issue elsewhere, breaking something. When raising it, the cam adjuster needs replaced, I just added bags into my coils to stop my wheelchair lift from breaking one side down, once settled at 35psi I had it aligned, needed a cam bushing, mine was zero, no adjustment.