Pretty much self-explanatory in the title. My 96 F-150 2WD has one fully broken and one almost broken rear leaf spring hanger. I did track down the parts. Dorman OEM Solutions 722-001 Shackle and 722-003 Hanger Bracket.

Well as I am sure it is obvious I can't lift the vehicle by jacking under the axle. I borrowed my brothers big floor jack because mine only lifts to a top stop of 18 inches. My frame is 17 inches off of my driveway. His big jack only lifts to 20 inches. I don't feel confident stacking up wood on which to lift the jack higher and I feel less comfortable putting a 6 by 6 on the jack's pad.

The only thing I can think of is some sort of saddle extension but I can't seem to locate one.

The local spring shop says he'll do the labor only for $280.00. I'd really like to be able to do this myself but if the cost of the tools exceeds the cost of having the job done I don't know if it's really worth it.

Any ideas?

 

Use the jack under the diff and jack it up high in the air, now put stands under the frame. Use tall enough stands to hold the frame up allowing the axle to full hang on the springs. Take the wheels off for added clearance if need be, keep in mind you can keep the whole deal lower if you do remove them.

You can put stands under the frame just forward of the rear spring front hanger if need be. If you need to block at the stands to make them higher, put the stands on blocking, not blocking on top of the stands.


Set it at the right height so you can use both floor jacks as needed to move the springs/axle up or down as needed.

Once you got it where you like it and think its safe do what I do, give it the "test", try and knock it off the stands pushing and shaking the truck. If you can't, its ready to be worked on as it sits. If it looks iffy rework the stands until you like it.

Oh and be sure and block the front wheels so they can't roll either direction.

 

I hope you have those Dorman hangers in hand. It can be very difficult obtaining them otherwise. They always seem to be out of stock. I used the jack stand method when replacing the hangers on my '92 F350. I used an angle grinder from Harbor Freight to grind the heads off the rivets then knocked them out with a big hammer and punch. It took several hours and a few beers, but well worth it. After the fact I bought a Hi-lift jack from Harbor Freight for the next time I needed to lift the truck from other areas than the axle.

 

I just did mine and I used concrete blocks under my jack to get the lift I needed.Also used jack stands under the frame for safety.Use wheel chocks too. $280 doesn't seem like a bad price for this job.It was a lot of work as the spring bolts wouldn't come out and I ruined one of the bushings on one side and had to hammer and chisel it out. I had to work it from both sides which meant 2x4s on top of the concrete blocks so the spring eye could drop below the frame so I could get to the innner side of it. Take your time and be patient.Good Luck

 

I do have the Dorman parts in hand. I have an uncle in the parts business. Unfortunately he isn't allowed to use his discount for others so this was a one time deal. I might get a part time job with the chain he works for just for the discount. I planned on using the grinder and punch method to get the old ones off. I read about that on this site and it seemed like the easiest.

As far as the hi-lift jack they make me nervous as heck. I remember using the old style ratchet jacks on my 60's and 70's era GM full size cars. I have had more then one fall over and they were way lighter then the truck.

I have one pair of chocks, I'll get a second pair. I didn't even think about that. Thanks.

If I need to block the jack stands for extra height what should I use? I have read a few posts about cinder blocks breaking.

So as for other posts I have read some have said to drop the fuel tank. Others have said to unbolt the bed and prop it up for higher up and safer access. Any thoughts along those lines?

Thanks for the help so far.

As a side note I have thought up a method for building a jack saddle extender. There is a surplus store in Wheeling Illinois that sells scrap steel for $0.60 per pound (stainless is $2.60 per pound). I stopped in today and they had some square steel tube that looked to be 4" wide by 10" tall 1/4" thick. It was about a 1 foot long piece. If I can find a rod that will fit the saddle mount hole on the big jack I could drill the tube and weld the rod into it. Then I could drill and grind out the other side for the saddle to fit into it. The only hting that concerns me is my ability to arc weld the rod in so that it is strong enough that it won't break off.

 

For the guy who mentioned that the Dorman hangers are hard to come by, here's an alternative. http://www.stengelbros.com/SpringShackles.htm

I just bought a set of these last week. Haven't put them on yet because I have not had time. Anyway, as you can see the price for the kit is right, or you can buy just the hangers (or the shackle, or the bolts, etc.) whatever you need. I had a couple questions about them so I called and the guy I spoke with was totally helpful. No problems with back ordering or anything, they had them in stock. I ordered on line at about 10AM. The order was packed and shipped by that afternoon. I paid for the regular UPS ground and still got the parts THE NEXT DAY. I was totally shocked. Looks like pretty good quality stuff. Give them a try.

 

Thanks for giving us the info on another source for spring hangers. I replaced mine last fall with hangers from http://www.autoandtrucksprings.com/. I called and talked to the owner just like you did for the other vendor. I also was impressed with their knowledge and service.

 

Looking at their site, I see their prices are better as well. The complete kit with shackles and bolts is only $129 for both sides. Not a bad deal. LMC Truck gets $30 just for the frame bracket.

 

As for the jack stands, I went and bought a 2"x8"x8' and cut 1 foot sections. I stacked them under the stand until I got the height I wanted.

I drilled the rivets on the driver side, because of the gas tank. I used a cutting torch on the other side.

 

NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER USE CINDER BLOCKS TO RAISE A VEHICLE!!!!!

NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER GET UNDER A VEHICLE THAT IS ONLY HELD UP BY A FLOOR JACK!!!!! Always use jack stands.

Sorry for shouting, but people have been killed for not following those two simple safety precautions.

 

My uncle lost an eye (actually not the tissue, just the vision) when he was a young man working on a car that was on a jack and not otherwise supported. When I picked the parts up from him this weekend we were discussing jacking the truck up and he issued the same stern warning "Make sure you put it on jack stands and make sure they are solid, This family doesn't need another object lesson!"

He didn't need to tell me but I understand why. Since my dad, his brother, passed he's my last fishing buddy of his generation. Smokes a darned good brisket too. But I digress.

I was thinking of stacking a bunch of 2 X 10 pieces and sandwiching them with steel screwed to the faces and lag bolting it all together for a crib under the jack and under the jack stands so I don't have to put them to the top extension. I was also going to only jack up one side at a time.

Am I understnding correctly that the gas tank does not have to be removed? It is a dual tank model and the guy I bought it from said the previous and original owner never filled the rear tank because he only used it for local hauling. He put a few bucks in the front tank to get it home. I switched to the rear tank and it reads dry.

 

I would advise against making blocks to go under the jackstands. When you raise a vehicle higher, you have to increase the size of the footprint to maintain stability. Just putting the jackstands on top of wood blocks doesn't do that. To me that would be a big no-no.

Your uncle (and your dad too) would probably tell you the same thing that my dad told me when I was a kid. "Always use the right tool for the job." If you need taller jackstands, buy taller jackstands. Spending $100 on jackstands might not feel good right now, but it's a lot better than being crippled for life or killed because you were too cheap to spend the money on the right tool for the job.

Just my two cents.

 

I mentioned before I purchased a Hi-Lift jack after I changed out my spring hangers. It is used strictly for ease of getting the vehicle raised off the ground. I agree it is IMPERATIVE to use proper jack stands BEFORE ever working under the vehicle.

 

My experience with a Hi-Lift taught me that they are dangerous. They are great for getting you out of a tough spot but otherwise useless. A little lift and they are not too bad.....much more then a couple of inches and they are worse then the old bumper jack was. Very unstable.

 

Last set I had to change I really cheated. Truck had no bed installed and I just used the cherry picker to raise and lower the frame.