08 Leaf Spring Conversion - Anybody Done it?
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Tuned
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Beaumont Tx
08 Leaf Spring Conversion - Anybody Done it?
Has anybody swapped 08+ springs on to 99-07 trucks? I ran accross this on EBAY today, just wondered if anybody had done it.
1999-2007 F-250 F-350 Superduty Leaf Spring Conversion:eBay Motors (item 260431451855 end time Jul-18-09 14:15:14 PDT)
Has new mounts that move your front leaf spring mounts forward.
If you just moved the front spring mounts forward, wouldnt the axle be too far forward if it was centered on the leaf spring? Since the rear spring mount stays in the same place.
My thinking is, If I could pick up a set of 08 leafs and the spring mounts I need, I could do that and run a 6" OUO Traction Block.
I talked to the guy that had the kit listed on EBAY. I asked him the same thing I asked in the post above. His response was:
No, just think if you welded 8 inches onto the front of your current leaf springs…..the rear shackle and axle center pin remain in exactly the same place, its just that the front eye is moved forward by 8 inches….this actually makes the leaf springs the same length in front and in back of the axle like it should be….the 99-07 design is really a terrible design because of the shorter front section really affects ride quality and limits maximum load….
Like I said, we have them on all of our company 1999-2001 F350 duallies, and it makes a huge difference, both in ride quality and weight carrying capacity, and there were absolutely no issues with regard to axle location, simply removing the existing front hangers and replacing them with ours 8 inches further toward the front is all that’s necessary….
1999-2007 F-250 F-350 Superduty Leaf Spring Conversion:eBay Motors (item 260431451855 end time Jul-18-09 14:15:14 PDT)
Has new mounts that move your front leaf spring mounts forward.
If you just moved the front spring mounts forward, wouldnt the axle be too far forward if it was centered on the leaf spring? Since the rear spring mount stays in the same place.
My thinking is, If I could pick up a set of 08 leafs and the spring mounts I need, I could do that and run a 6" OUO Traction Block.
I talked to the guy that had the kit listed on EBAY. I asked him the same thing I asked in the post above. His response was:
No, just think if you welded 8 inches onto the front of your current leaf springs…..the rear shackle and axle center pin remain in exactly the same place, its just that the front eye is moved forward by 8 inches….this actually makes the leaf springs the same length in front and in back of the axle like it should be….the 99-07 design is really a terrible design because of the shorter front section really affects ride quality and limits maximum load….
Like I said, we have them on all of our company 1999-2001 F350 duallies, and it makes a huge difference, both in ride quality and weight carrying capacity, and there were absolutely no issues with regard to axle location, simply removing the existing front hangers and replacing them with ours 8 inches further toward the front is all that’s necessary….
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,810
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From: Central Ohio
Hmmm I am curious as well, is the older design really not centered? And the only diff with the new ones is that they centered it by lengthening the shorter section to equal the longer one??
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Tuned
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Beaumont Tx
I measured mine and they are definitely 8" shorter on the front side. Supposedly they will ride alot better with the front side longer. Also with the longer springs they are able to use thicker springs for more load capacity. I asked this same question on one of the other sites and had a guy tell me what with the longer leaf spring I would experience more wheel hop. Dont know if this is true or notB but even if it is, I'm wanting to go to a 08+ Leaf spring and a OUO 6" traction block set up. Which would eliminate the wheel hop problem if it did exist.
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Tuned
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Beaumont Tx
Just heard back from him again, he told me:
We are not going to send you a picture of the mounts for the simple reason that they can be copied……..that is the reason there is no picture of the mounts to begin with in the auction….if you are interested in this kit, you are welcome to do the buy-it-now…….if not, we understand and thanks for your interest…..Scott @ IST
We are not going to send you a picture of the mounts for the simple reason that they can be copied……..that is the reason there is no picture of the mounts to begin with in the auction….if you are interested in this kit, you are welcome to do the buy-it-now…….if not, we understand and thanks for your interest…..Scott @ IST
Elder User
Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Gulfport/Biloxi, MS
Just heard back from him again, he told me:
We are not going to send you a picture of the mounts for the simple reason that they can be copied……..that is the reason there is no picture of the mounts to begin with in the auction….if you are interested in this kit, you are welcome to do the buy-it-now…….if not, we understand and thanks for your interest…..Scott @ IST
We are not going to send you a picture of the mounts for the simple reason that they can be copied……..that is the reason there is no picture of the mounts to begin with in the auction….if you are interested in this kit, you are welcome to do the buy-it-now…….if not, we understand and thanks for your interest…..Scott @ IST
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Tuned
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From: Beaumont Tx
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Tuned
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Beaumont Tx
Well I've tried talking to the guy that has the listing. Not much luck on getting info out of him. I asked him if he would sell me a set of just the mounts and he told me he couldnt because this was the last set he was trying to clear out, thats why the price is so cheap. LOL I told him:
Well I'm interested but want to see what the brackets look like. So send me a pic of them and we'll see what we can do. There has to be a way to let me see what they look like if you are "trying to clear out this last set". Why wouldnt a person just be able to get a set of factory mounts and move them forward 8 inches? Just put yourself in my shoes, would you spend $1000 on something that somebody doesnt even want to show you a picture of?
He responded:
Because:
1) you don’t know the correct location to mount them (not as simple as 8 inches forward)
2) what are you going to do when the main frame crossmember falls out (and it will if you do the sequence wrong)
3) how do you plan to handle the parking brake cables (existing bracket is 8 inches forward of existing spring mount)
We’ve already figured out all these issues and several others that you will encounter…..
Well I'm interested but want to see what the brackets look like. So send me a pic of them and we'll see what we can do. There has to be a way to let me see what they look like if you are "trying to clear out this last set". Why wouldnt a person just be able to get a set of factory mounts and move them forward 8 inches? Just put yourself in my shoes, would you spend $1000 on something that somebody doesnt even want to show you a picture of?
He responded:
Because:
1) you don’t know the correct location to mount them (not as simple as 8 inches forward)
2) what are you going to do when the main frame crossmember falls out (and it will if you do the sequence wrong)
3) how do you plan to handle the parking brake cables (existing bracket is 8 inches forward of existing spring mount)
We’ve already figured out all these issues and several others that you will encounter…..
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Tuned
Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Beaumont Tx
I'm going to do some measuring on a 08 model. I'm not sure what he meant by:
Posting Guru
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Just heard back from him again, he told me:
We are not going to send you a picture of the mounts for the simple reason that they can be copied……..that is the reason there is no picture of the mounts to begin with in the auction….if you are interested in this kit, you are welcome to do the buy-it-now…….if not, we understand and thanks for your interest…..Scott @ IST
We are not going to send you a picture of the mounts for the simple reason that they can be copied……..that is the reason there is no picture of the mounts to begin with in the auction….if you are interested in this kit, you are welcome to do the buy-it-now…….if not, we understand and thanks for your interest…..Scott @ IST
Senior User
Joined: Nov 2005
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From: ky
I'd do some measuring, because you can get the leaf springs from salvage yards for 100-200$ a piece. there are 2 or 3 codes for srw and drw each, also with or without the aux springs. they all list the same price no matter which one from the places with them. and how many miles could they have on them coming from 08s?
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