just wondering if anyone knows if I can cut my front coils to match up with placing my rearend on top of the leafs? I think I'll get 3" on the rear by placing it on top... any ideas ?

 

Of course you can cut the coils, but that gives you less suspension to do the work with. I would recommend if you are looking into dropping the front end, do it right the first time and buy lowering springs, they are cheap, will give you a much better ride and will be a far better choice in the long run. Absolutely nothing is gained by chopping coil springs other than the look only chopped springs can give you.

 

Do you know where I can find the lowering springs ?

 

Cutting the coils will effect your spring rate as well. Plus if you do it with a torch or plasma rather than a saw you will have the effects of heat on the coils and they will sag even more.

As for the spring under conversion for the rear - I would bet it's more like 6" difference. At least the guys with toyos and other trucks that go to spring over for lift get about 6" of lift when they do it...

 

Ok if you have the money buy the dropped beams , $600 + , the back you can buy the shackles and hangers to drop it 4 inches , if you have an overload spring in back you can remove it for another inch and have a softer ride , I personally didn't have the money and cut 2 full coils without taking them out , just dropped the axle and removed top spring holder , cut and reinstalled and jacked it back up , my camber was off neg 3 dagrees , so I found a shop to bend my beams to o camber , replaced aftermarket bump stops on the frame , my springs are stock and already were sagging , my truck rides very nice and no problems , I ran a lowered shock , djm up front , check my gallery , running low pro file tires which dropped me another 2 inches also , good luck .

 

A rear flip kit will give you ~5-6" of drop. That's what I did to my truck. Dropped beams are probably the safest and easiest way to drop the front, but if you don't have the coin, you can start cutting coils. You will need at least 3" of front drop just to get the truck level (see my gallery). If you want a little rake, you will need to go about 4". I'm planning to trim a coil out of my front springs to get a little rake.

 

Sounds good to me especially if you had the thin "wired" springs to start with
the shortened springs (Chase talked about it) would prob'ly be better IMO.

Wimpy springs make for a bouncy ride too.
Shocks can't "fix" wimpy springs, BTDT.
Mine came stock with wimpy springs and I complained to a friend of mine
from back in high school... he was the -service manager- at a 4 wheel drive
shop in Tucson AZ and we were now only 22 years old. 4 wheel drive stuff
was big business back then.

He told me...
"the stiffest springs Ford makes are too wimpy too, buy some from us... $425 :)"
I told him... "thanks for the information, I'll test your opinion for free, since the
pickup's still under warranty ;)"

The service manager at the Ford dealership said...
"the stiffest springs will make it ride like a lumber wagon! :/"
"yeah, that's what I want... -lumber wagon springs-! :)"

Heck! :)
Made the sucker ride -just right-! :)
If I wanted a mushy-*** ride, I'd a bought a car. :/
Leave me out-ta that. :/

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/spacer1.jpg
Check out the wire size on that sucker. ;)

http://www.panix.com/~alvinj/file12/zerks.jpg
Greeezy springs make for a better ride and better traction both. ;)
That's the overload leaf held in place there. :)
I re-arched the over load leaf to match/support the rest of the spring pack
under a normal load. Believe me or not, that makes for a less "bucky" and
more smoother ride. No kidding. :)

Removing the overload leaf might do the same tho?
Might be "bouncier" but not have that icky "bump/buck" to it?
...that bumping into the overload leaves provide? {shrug}

Alvin in AZ
ps- My 10# sledge worked fine on the 5/16" leaves but the 5/8" overloads
needed my "new to me" 16# sledge to "move" 'em. :)

 

I don't really think spring cutting is a good idea - as I said - it affects spring rate and even more if you use a torch. People are tight on cash and will do what they will do.

What I do'nt understand is why people don't move the coil bucket UP on the frame. It gets you a different ride height (camber change will ensue) without having to cut the spring...

As for your grease zerks on the springs - that's great and all for you street guys, but get any dust/dirt and there and it's bad news. You REALLY have to stay on the maintenance with it that way. Meaning spring teardown and re-greasing a lot. I'd personally do with a Delrin or telfon slider between the leafs...

Last - as for taking out the overload leaf - yes it will make your ride much softer/less bucky - but remember that leaf is out next time you pick up a pallet of drywall or sod at the local HomoDepot. If you put a bunch of weight back there without the overload you might be looking at hitting a negative arc with your springs and that's no good at all

 

I can see why you are the "chase truck" and not the "lead truck". ;)

1) I do like your idea of moving the spring holder up tho. :)
Everything could be put back no sweat, after a guy got tired of looking silly. ;)

2) Just cut it and then spray water on it and it won't effect the heat treating
of the spring far enough to matter. Cold weather would have the same effect.

3) Funny you talking about the grease causing problems with dirt, sand and
gravel... That's excatly what the 4 wheel drive "dudes" complain about the
plastic pads. LOL :) There's no getting away from grit's effect! But this way
I put new grease in there ever' 3000 miles when I grease everything else. :)

4) Just say "wood blocks". ;) Place the wood blocks on top of your springs
just before you overload-the-crap-out-of-it. That's what a brick layer friend
of mine does. LOL :) Yep he's strictly into Fords too, after trying all the rest.

Alvin the chipmunk in AZ

 

You obviously don't follow the desert racing scene. The "Chase Truck" is the mobile pit crew. We follow the race truck and fix everything out in the boonies when something breaks. We not only have to be able to get to where the race truck is in Baja but also have the parts and knowledge to fix them and get them out. In other words - we're the ones with the brains/know how and the skills to save other people's *****...

1) I don't know why people don't see how cleanly this can work for what I consider pretty minimal effort (grinding rivets, cutting bottom of the coil bucket off, drilling new holes in the coil bucket). Then again what I consider "minimal" work some people think is a 3 week project... Oh - and this idea has been used by cheap ***** to lift trucks too...

2) Cutting the spring still effects spring rate - no matter how you cut it. The spring rate is determined by wire gauge and overall length. You change the overall length you change the rate. Cutting with a toch just makes them even more likely to sag.

3) The grease catches more dirt than the delrin pads. Want to try a test? Put some grease on a piece of cardboard and sprinkle dust/dirt over it. Then put a piece of delrin down and do the same thing. Pick up each piece and shake it off. Which one HOLDS the dirt it/to it?
Side note - some of the desert race guys used to grease their leafs like you do. They would however make a leather "boot" that covered the entire leaf and they would pack the entire thing with grease like a CV boot. Then again they always re-built the entire sprink pack after every race and re-packed with fresh grease.

4) A proper length "bump stop" would do the same thing. Thing is most people don't think about this and never would think there even COULD be a problem like this. Running around on the bumps or wood block is no fun though. Well, I guess our seats are springy enough to act like a suspension
My buddies 73 4wd Chebby only squats 1" or so when we've got 2 stacks (pallets) of 1/2" drywall in it, and even when unloaded it rides smooth. How I will never know - and it still amaizes me!

 

alvin, just to add i agree with the wood blocks. i know this one mason that does side jobs with his 88 f150 with the 300 i6, and he does the wood block thing. man seeing that thing loaded up with like 2 tons of sand is funny, but he does the job and well too.

 

My buddies 73 4wd Chebby only squats 1" or so when we've got 2 stacks (pallets) of 1/2" drywall in it, and even when unloaded it rides smooth. How I will never know - and it still amaizes me![/quote]


Chase - the spring packs / hangers etc are all pretty much rusted solid?!?
(or maybe not in California)

 

Nope. It's a small lift pack that was on it when he go it. No rust in the truck other than a small hole in the roof (yup - california truck). Neither of us can figure out the springs - although neither will complain either He calls the truck "big 'n ugly" because it's all different colors (white front clip, blue cab, 2 tone brown bed). Sure it doesn't "match" but it is one heck of a workhorse!

 

You will see a drop of 5-6" after flipping the rear,the most that is usually cut from a coil (Fseries) is 1 coil which is about an inch drop, Ive heard of others cutting more but alignment would be a concern,there are a couple of companys making dropped Ibeams like DJM and Street ride pro /(aim industries),the aim ind beams are supposed to make your track width a little wider, but they cost about $100.00 less.We did a 73 last year using 3" beams and aftermarket 1" dropped coils,flipped the rear ,had about an inch rake with 17"cragars,it drove awesome.My 91 bronco has same setup for 11 years now and works as good as it did the first day.You can save a little money on shocks by researching other(shorter) models,my 91 runs ext cab mid 90's v6 Ranger fronts and toyota 4x4 rears.I use gas magnums which are less than sport truck shocks and come with lifetime warranty.If you do cut coils use a saw like was said earlier it wont take the temper out of the coils,(learned that the hard way).You can get around 3 inches for free in the rear by flipping the front coil mount over,only cost is new grade 8 bolts,thats if you dont want the full 5-6" from a flip.Let me know if you have questions I have already screwed up on many of my trucks over the years and can tell you what not to do.

 

A couple of generally accepted notes on spring cutting.

The old rodders rule was for every 1 inch removed ... the spring rate increases 15%....stiffer.

Another very general rule of thumb, every full coil cut lowers approx 2".
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