Dropped camper on Truck ,Bottomed out front leafs
 

Hi , just dropped new camper in the truck's bed and the front leaf springs are bottomed out ! The rear looks fine , has air bags. Seems like the original springs are tired .
Looking for a recommendation should I replace tired springs or add a spring to the old ones or replace w/ new and add a spring?
Camper is pretty heavy . Thanks

Oh man,you don't want to add a leaf up front.That would ride really hard.I would just replace the worn out springs.

Sweet , Thank for the reply!!!

Are they bottomed out or ALMOST bottomed out? I bought my F250 pickup new and back in the day me and everyone else complained that the new 4X4 IDI's only had about 3/4" or 1" front spring travel before the springs hit the bump stops. One guy installed another leaf and said the only thing he accomplished was it rode like a board even worse than before. The F250 front ends weren't one of Ford's better ideas. The straight axle F350's have more spring travel plus a way smaller turn radius believe it or not.

This guy's experience with worn out springs was that add-a-leaf/leveling kit helped the ride a lot.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1401565-where-to-start-94-idit-3.html

The original owner of my truck had put an extra spring in all for corners since it had a camper on it the entire time he owned it, when he sold it the camper came off and the springs stayed in. It does sit a little taller but it has no more suspension travel and rides absolutely awful, I wouldn't recommend it unless the truck is permanently loaded up.

Thanks for the responses! rubber is all the way down on one side the other there is 1/4" of space.. The sticker in the door says"springs- 9A."
I think the # for the style and fit is 43-498, but there are 4 different weight capacities to choose from #2575lbs, 2755lbs, 3485lbs, 4250lbs. not sure which on is the right one it looks like 2755lbs {43-478}, or 3485lbs {43-498}, is the original size.
I think I need a little more spring when camper is on., but camper will not be on permanently .
https://www.generalspringkc.com/Leaf...997_s/1870.htm

Do you think the originals really get that tired after 30yrs? if they degrade that much I should just install a fresh pair of the same or one notch heavier duty . Not sure. And not sure about what capacity the originals are.
Thanks

If you plan on hauling the camper more often than not the add a leafs arent a bad idea. Something else to keep in mind, most people dislike added leaves because the leaf is much to firm. A light spring with more arc would help perk up the suspension and at the same time not stiffen it as much. I did this when building the spring pack for my 79, it gave me about 2" of lift, without affecting the empty ride, but is quite progressive. (stock 79 bottom leaf under a superduty s-code spring pack).

If you wont haul it that often, some replacements, or having yours re tempered / arc'd would help immensly.

I added some springs to the front of mine as they were too soft and hit the bump stops quite often, rides twice as smooth now. Sure the bad bumps feel a little stiff, but it doesn't hardly ever hit the bump stops anymore.

My springs I added were not add a leafs, they were some softer leads out of an old spring pack. Add a leafs tend to be too stiff as mentioned above

I used add-a-leafs on my friend's sagged '97 f-250 4x4 diesel and he's happy with it. He caries minimal loads, usually empty, but the front springs were sagged which is common. I had the same with my '80 4x4 and the add-a-leafs went into that too. New proper springs will probably ride better, but they're 10x the cost. I expected the add-a-leaf to ride way worse than they actually did.

Installed two extra leafs a year ago rode stiff before and stiff after. Is your truck a 250 or 350 you never said what it is.

x2

If you can find a shop that can re-temper your springs that would be the way to go. You can stay local, and hopefully save some money.

That's debatable, we had a genuine blacksmith shop that specialized in replacing, rebuilding, re-arching and repairing semi and other heavy truck springs that we sent our spring work to. I got the bright idea of having them re-arch my pickup front springs when the truck was fairly new for some added travel but they told me they'd be right back the way they were in not too long a time. As much spring work as they did, I figured if anyone would know, they would.

I replaced mine as they seemed saggy and only an inch or so of travel to the bump stop.
spent 800$ on heavier springs (3600lb vs stock 2800 I think?) And after new springs and all new hardware it sits as it did before lol.

I think there may be an air bag kit that can fit the front, and also may be air shocks where you can pump up and gain more ride height. As cumbersome as those options sound I'd experiment with those instead of replacing springs if I did it again knowing what I now know.