I am also having trouble with my front leaf springs. They are sagging bad, only about 2 inches from stops! What can I do to fix this? Is this a common problem with the diesel? 86 f250 4x4 single cab. Do they make helpers for the front?

 

It's normal, the front springs on the F-250's are negatively arched and look worn because of it. You can get add-a-leafs for the front. It will stiffen the ride a bit though. I put some on my 85' F-250, lifted the front almost 3" but settled a little after a year.

 

Any changes to the ride height on an IFS axle requires a lift kit.

Just adding helpers, spring leaves or air bags will get the alignment so far out of spec that there will not be enough adjustment to get it back to right.

 

im pretty sure you have to buy drop brackets for the dana 44 because I wanted to do the same thing.. suspensionconnection.com and jackit.com has the brackets I think

 

So, 2" from the bumper stops is normal? That aint much travel, or are the factory springs that stiff. I don't wanna fix it if it aint broke.

 

its normal .. I thought the same thing you did and yeah there perty stiff

 

Well allrighty then, I'll leave it alone. Thanks fellas.

 

Yup, I had even added a 300lb bumper to the truck which is why I had the helpers put on and I still ended up with 5* of positive camber. I'm sure it would have aligned ok a year later as it had settled noticably.

 

The 44 and 50 IFS are both picky about ride height.

Given the cost of decent mud tires, a good alignment is also a must have.

 

Mine to on my 1990 F250 diesel are also only 2" from the stops.

 

alright I gotta question? if I put add a leafs on and my truck looks bow legged your tellin me I can take it to an alignment shop and they can set it back to correct camber right?

 

They can get it as close as possible at least, although maybe not 100%. Like I said before, I had an alignment right after my helpers were installed and they maxed out the adjustment with 5* of positive camber left. It wasn't enough you could tell from looking at it though. Rotating the tires would probably eliminate most, if not all uneven wear I may have accrued. About a year later I noticed they had settled a bit and I am sure it would have aligned ok then. I had also added a few hundred pound to the front of my truck to kill some of the lift given by the helpers. Since it appears you do some plowing, you may be able to come out as well as I did.

 

I was thinking about getting air bags to help with this. Has anyone done this?
Shawn

 

I plow snow and I installed air bags on mine because the plow weight had the front riding on the bump stops.

When I had it on the alignment rack one Saturday, we played with air in the bags to see how much air I could run and still be in alignment.

1" increase in ride height was more than the adjusters could compensate for.

Whe you look at the front tires after driving forward in a straight line, if the tires are vertical | | you are as high as an IFS axle can handle.
They actually prefer a very slight / \ look.
If you have \ / look, you will not get the alignment set anywhere close to spec.

The drive forward for at least 10 feet is critical, when you back up they will always look / \ from the toe in pulling the bottoms out.

 

so add a leafs are a no no? with my 44 .. i plow snow mainly with mine to and it drags the front way down.. that plow is super heavy