THe answer is that the springs are slanted front to back as the OP stated. I don't think that this is a contributing factor to the bushing wear. I looked at my truck, and even with the track bar pulling the axle to the left because of the taller springs, they are inline and follow the width of the frame at the front and back.

I agree that the 1/2" difference in the back is negligible. The shackles could each be flexed to one side or the other 1/4" which is nothing on a leaf spring suspension.

Ford may also be widening the frame as it goes forward to accomodate radiators, engines etc. Because of ride height and suspension movement the the front of the frame needs to be wider to make room, since it is also higher for mounting the springs. Obviously it is just outside the limitation for the setup as the front springs are nearly flat from the factory. As it goes towards the back those limitations don't exist. The location of the body mounts and the rear spring mounts are outside of the frame rails, thus the frame needs to be narrower.

Just like the turning radius. They could place the leaf springs closer together but that would mean the engine would have to go up higher to make room. It's a compromise. A side effect of the widened frame in the front may be the stability as mentioned, but I don't think that was the primary intention since the trac bar is a much better method of locating the front axle.

 

http://www.afcoracing.com/tech_pages/leaf.shtml

All the way at the bottom and in the middle...


Dick

 

I can appreciate Mercury45's frustration with the measurment critique by several posters. While I whole heartedly agree the measurments need to be accurate, the margin of error by any of them is well below that of the major difference between the front and the back of the front springs. It is easy to see by laying under the truck and looking forward that they spread out a fair amount towards the front. Whether it be 2" 2.5" 3" 3.125" the real question was WHY? I think that is what we need to concentrate on addressing here.

 

Perhaps the opposite is true when the leafs are in the front. Wider at the front makes it feel tighter?

 

I'm guessing its a valid design feature that worked well for ford. It creates stability in the front as was said above.



Dick

 

I guess I dont see a big deal if the springs are perfectly parallel side to side as long as each set of mounts is oriented the same. That is where excess bushing wear would come into play. If they werent the same the bolts would be hard to get in. FWIW, my factory springs and bushing were replaced last fall w/ 150k miles on them. No noise, just sagging.

 

i've never had any noise or tracking issues with my 03 f350. i did replace front springs at 100k because they were sagging pretty bad. put new x code springs in and haven't had any problems yet. i agree with mudmaker.

 

I see and fully appreciate the point... put yourself in my shoes for a second. I already said 6 trucks in all were measured and have similiar results. The rear springs are just about in line + / - 1/2" and the fronts are out in most cases by 3"+ these measreuements were taken by 4 different people and we all came up with the general concensus that the front is much worse then the rear, therefore we are concentrating on the front springs.

I am sorry if there is a slight hint of "attitude" But do the actual numbers matter? If it is over 3" it seems pretty severe to me, do you want plumb bob measurements - would it make you happy? Or help others help me with my problem, then i will get them for you, If you gave me a valid reason why you need EXACT measurements and cannot trust a laser level (which may have been used to build the very house you live in) then I will do the plumb bob...

Its just that i am busting my butt trying to get as much info as possible. A hand level was no good, now a laser level is no good. Tonight (given the wind is not extreme) i will try to get measurements with a plum bob - hope i can find it.

kenny

 

THANK YOU for that post... so i am not crazy its just very depressing to pinpoint issues like this

thanks, kenny

 

If what you are saying is it is ok if the mounts "aim" at eachother then yes i dont see a problem either, but the springs are not in parallel with eachother.

I have new springs to go in that may solve the clunking i have (we think its the springs since i replaced everything else), but its a strange problem and want to learn about it

kenny

 

i have the same clunk in my front end, i have replaced alot of parts as well with no fix. any mine too does get worse when its wet, im curious to see what you find out to fix yours.

 

whoever posted this....

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

http://www.afcoracing.com/tech_pages/leaf.shtml

it explains alot

kenny

 

what springs do you have and have you put 700 ft lbs on your track bar bolts... thats what I had to put on mine along with some friction tape to prevent it from acting up

kenny

 

I just found it funny that such a big deal was made out of this design....love the thread title with the caps, LOL. I haven't even clicked on this same thread that is on FTW.


You mentioned yourself that Superlift stated that they had an issue and complaints with the bushings you currently run.

Like I posted before, if they weren't aimed at each other it would be hard to get the leaf springs in and more importantly the spring eye bolts to go through.

 

Maybe I am different then most people DC, when I see or hear about something I do not understand and I want to understand I try to research it.

Having the springs Cocked did not seem to make sense to me at first but it is finnally starting to. Cocked springs will still have extra stresses in the sideways motion then having the springs mounted || BUT like you have been saying all along, with a quality bushing I wont notice.... once i get the new springs in there i will prolly be fine. But i may have to get new springs mounts, since these appear to be opened too wide.

I have never had those bolts out myself personally, so i do not know how hard it was for the guy who changed my springs to do that. I got upset with him cause of not torqing everything down right when he did it so theres no sense in me calling there right now. Everthing is torqued properly now according to my gearwrench torque wrench. And my pittsburg big torque wrench.

My next step is to have somebody who does this all the time look at the springs, the spring mounts and let me know if i need new mounts. I would not mind buying new mounts to go along with new springs (that i have ready to go in) - Actually this is what i prefer to do if the mounts are questionable at all.

As for the bolt for the spring eye - the bushing i have (the one i showed you a pic of) has a metal sleeve on the inside, if the bolt does not take up most of the space of this sleeve there will be play in it too wont there? Well maybe not since when the weight of the truck is on the spring it will be pulled to one side.

I will check tonight the extra bushing i have inner hole DIAM to the new spring inner hole DIAM.

trust me - i want it to be right, i do not remember my stock springs doing the noise, I have to beleive the clunk is coming from this issue, the new springs will prolly fix it. I just wanted to know why the offset - that other post with the link to the other website really helped explain why. IT has to do with handling and such - now it makes sense.

Kenny