Conversation Between HDBiker67 and WE3ZS

Hey Tom,
Thanks so much for all that info. SOrry you had to retype it all...lol...that is so frustrating. I'd be tempted to forget it. I appreciate your help.

So, I got my anti sway bar installed. By the way, I didnt have to drill out the holes on the new brackets for the U-bolts, they fit just fine.

I also checked the bump stops. Like yours, my front is 1.25", the rear is about 3.5".

now back to more searching and reading. hahaha..
Jim

Part six......
Finding a decent set of used spring can be a challenge but can save you some money, of course you may not know how many miles or how much abuse they have seen. I got very lucky with a set of take-offs with 20k miles from a co-worker for free. They are available from the dealers, try to get as much discount as possible, my local Ford stealer didn't want to play ball with me so I went to my local mechanic that I use for inspections and such and had him order the blocks from the same dealer using his 25% shop discount, he is a decent guy and didn't add on any middleman cost for me.
The part numbers are:
V Code fronts----F81A-5310-ADB
X Code fronts----F81A-5310-AFA (what I have)
B Code rears-----3C34-5560-L
I hope this has been some help to you. I am more than happy to provide any info, EXperience and opinions about improving and using these great trucks.
Tom

Part five.......
With my Toyhauler (11500gvw/1250) tounge hitched up using a decent weight distributing hitch I was able to bring the front back down to stock height (1.25" travel) and the rear was at about the same travel to the rear bumpstops. Far from the best setup for towing heavy, you ran out of suspension travel over just small bumps and dips.

Part four......
Whatever you do, DO NOT USE A BLOCK ON THE FRONT! It's very unsafe and illegal in PA. Speaking of your front springs go look at them. Check how much space you have between the frame mounted bumpstop and the top of the axle. I only had 1.25" with 70K miles. Thats not much suspension travel for a 9000lb truck! I now have over 4" and it does not bottom out anymore. I INCREASED my front spring CAPACITY by 2700lbs over stock and it rides better due to not bottoming out. It does ride like a truck now but thats fine with us, it is a truck! You may want to look into maybe V codes to give you a little lift/travel on the front to stop the harsh bottoming out against the bumpstops. They will increase the capacity by 900lbs and up the compression rate from the stock 350lbs/inch to 430lbs/inch and provide about 1.75" lift/travel. So if you have 1.25" like I did they would give you 3" of travel and eliminate most all bottoming out.

Part three.......
You don't really need to change rear blocks, thats beauty of modding the B codes, you get the additional lift of the F series trucks without the cost of new taller truck blocks (my new 3.75" blocks cost me $140, but since I got my springs free it made it easier to swallow!). With the modded B codes you can reuse the factory Ex 2" blocks (they are there already).

Part two......
As far as what year(s) to look for in a donor truck. Pretty much any 4x4 F-250/350 from 1989 to 2004, in '05 the Superdutys went to coil front springs while the EX's stayed with leaves for their last year. I just saw some F-250 fronts on Craigslist for about $200, but can't remember where, look around some PA locations.

OK, here's part one.
HD, Glad to help any way I can!
"Building" the rear spring pack is a peice of cake, half hour job and only basic tools and a couple of decent sized C clamps. It's the number and type of parts you add from the original pack that dictates the amount of lift you will see. I used the two shortest leaves, the Ex's thicker spacers, the EX's cut-off slapper bar leave and F-350 3.75" blocks. Yeah I went big, over 4" of lift with all Ford factory parts! You can mix and match any and all items to get the final result you want. My project was set in motion by the wimpy factory EX springs and how they bottomed out so easily as well as wanting our buggy to be the best tow rig I could make it.

Hey HD, I can't seem to be able to send you a PM, maybe not enough posts for you yet? Might need 25 posts to start that function. I'll try to break my reply up into bite sized peices so it can land here.
Tom

Hey man,
Hoping you can help me clear things up on this spring swap deal. The more I read, the more confused I get. I thought I had a good handle on it. But now, I'm not so sure.

So I didn't realize you had to "build" the rear B code springs, But I got instructions on that on my last thread. Basically combining the original Ex springs & the B code springs. Correct?

The main question, when looking for the springs, do I need a specific year range? Should I look for 2005 F250 spring since my Ex is an 05?

Do I have to have blocks? I'm not really interested in lifting it. Whatever the new springs lift it "naturally" is fine, Its just not my main reason. From best I can tell I will need some kind of block in the front to level it out? Will I HAVE to have one in the back?

I am having a heck of time trying to find these springs. Do I need to get them from a dealer?

Thanks,
Jim