Hey guys. 1995 F-150 4wd. Rear leafs are pretty trashed. On the driver side, the main leaf is the only one left.

I started to tear it all apart and I'm having trouble getting the bolt out of the front of the leaf. I can't get it to turn at all. I got the nut off with no probiem, but the bolt is giving me problems. Any ideas?

 

hey handyman, you have almost taken apart your whole truck by now.

just like the rear shackle bolt you have to grind the head off and hammer that sucker out.

it will be a lot more fun working on that truck now that winter is here.

good luck with the springs.

 

I spent one hour trying to air chisel a rivet off the rear spring braket that had rusted off the frame (bothsides). I feel your pain leafsprings are a PITA. quicklook hit the nail on the head. You got to beat it outta there with a BFH. Good Luck.

--Surfin Bird

 

Trust me... the sawzall, grinder, or air chissel was my next move. I figured that bolt would have came out with 10 feet of pipe on a good ol Craftsman 1/2" drive ratchet haha. Couldn't find the breaker bar, so I figured I'd use a ratchet that was under warranty! I'm convinced Sears will take back used diapers...

So basically grind the head of that bolt off and then beat it out from there? Remember I do want to keep that front hanger... it is amazingly still solid haha. The driver side rear one is looking kind of rough. Passenger side rear one was just replaced.

I contacted the local bone yard and they've got 5 leaved springs for $40 a side. I figure that wasn't too bad. I only need to get it through this winter, then it's going as high in the air as I can get it haha.

Quicklook- to be honest... the only thing I haven't torn into is the front differential. So far the engine has been torn down and rebuilt, new transmission has been put into place, the transfer case has had updated parts put in it, the front end has all new axle joints and ball joints, rear diff will be rebuilt this weekend with new spider/side gears, carrier bearings, clutches, and axle shaft bearings/seals. The front shocks/coils are still factory but like I said, they will have to hold out until after winter. Here within the next couple weeks it will have a good used set of leaf springs, maybe shocks (if I decide to put a cheap set on,) and new stabilizer links. I basically have this truck down to a science now. I learned everything I could with my Ranger, and now I've got this truck down. I'm gettin to the point where I can tell you what size socket will take whatever apart on both these trucks hahaha.

 

New question for you guys.

I'm gonna send my buddy up to the bone yard to pick up a good used set of leafs for my truck. He told me I should get a set of 3/4 ton springs. Question is, will they work? Right now I've got the 4 leafs, plus the overload spring. Bone yard told me they had a set with 5 leaves. Now I'm not sure if they were talking about the same setup I got, or 5 true leaves, or what. But if they have 3/4 ton springs, what are my options there?

 

Two things:
to make the area more fun to work in you could take off your bed.

Second, I think that ¾ ton springs are wider than your ½ ton springs so you
may have size issues

 

I think that all 4x4 150 use 3 inch springs and so do the 250s and up. Only the 2wd 150 used amaller springs. Try getting that sawzall on either side of the spring between the perches. Then once you've cut through the bolt on both sides, the leaf pulls right out and so should the head of the bolt.

 

Thanks fellas. I think the spring widths are all the same on 4wd, which is 3 inch. I guess I didn't ask the question right.

Will 3/4 springs bolt right in? I wasn't sure if they were longer or anything. If I can't just bolt them up to everything else then I just won't do it to reduce the hassle. If I can simply bolt 3/4 ones in, I'll do it and be happy haha.