adding rear leafs past level

[fordman]

my 4wd F100 cant hold much wieght with the currecnt rear leafs. it really surprised me. any way i was thinking about adding soem more leafs to the packs in the back. but that may put the truck out of level. is that bad on a 4wd? i have no idea how unlevel it may become. i have no idea how many leafs i would add. i have some overloads. but the truck may also have soem overloads on it now. how many leafs can i put in. how many sets of overloads are you supposed to have under the springs? 1 set or could you do 2 sets of the same size? if the truck goes out of level is this wrong?

[cep62]

When these were new ,the front sat 2-3 inches down.
So if you add some leafs it wont hurt a thing.
Try to find some 3/4 ton springs that should stiffen it up.
The only draw back is , if you put a lot of miles on carrying a lot of weight it'll use up the wheel bearings sooner.

[mr_josh]

I've wrestled with the rear suspension on my F-100 4x4, too. Mine was lifted with add-a-leafs and blocks (big blocks) and has overload coils on the rear shocks (this was all done by a previous owner). It rides so, so rough but the carrying capacity is at least pretty high.

If you want to fix your ride height and capacity problems in one fell swoop, get some spring packs, shackles, and brackets from a newer truck and use those. The 2.25" width springs on the rear of the F-100 are weak, moreso after 40 years of use.

Like cep62 says, however, if you're putting more spring under it to so that you can haul a few cords of wood or something, that rear axle won't be happy.

[fordman]

the truck already has the flexomatic springs on it.

i'm not interested in doing any mods. this truck cant be down very long. i don't want to have to remove and replace spring hangers for wider newer springs.

this truck is only used once a week. to move wood out of the field.

[cep62]

Mine was lifted with add-a-leafs and blocks (big blocks

They came with factory lift blocks about 2"-3 "

i don't want to have to remove and replace spring hangers for wider newer springs.
this truck is only used once a week. to move wood out of the field.

Put some spacers in between the axle and frame to keep the bumper from draging.

[mr_josh]

Mine was lifted with add-a-leafs and blocks (big blocks

They came with factory lift blocks about 2"-3 "

Yup, and then someone went and stacked another set on top of those.

[fordman]

yea mine has those factory lift blocks. i have the leafs but i dont have any kind of spacer. my best bet would be to use the overload springs i have. i just can't remember what it has under the leafs right now. i know it has the lift blocks.

[mlheppl]

Cutting and hauling wood is one of the toughest chores we can put our trucks through IMO. The suspension and drivetrain can take a beating, especially if its myddy or the roads are badly rutted. You can easily stack more wood into that f100 than it can handle. You're already aware that you need more spring in the rear, but don't forget about the front springs.

I know, you're probably thinking wtf??? but consider this, you're hauling your wood home and slam on the brakes, all the weight shifts forward, then a spring brakes. I've seen it happen more than once on 1/2 ton trucks with a full load of wood.

[fordman]

good point about the front springs. they were recently replaced before i got the truck. they still have the new paint on them. no they weren't just repainted and installed. these have a brand new paint on new springs. i also looked at the springs today. i guess they aren't flexomatic springs like i thought they were. so that will have to be a swap in the summer time i guess. i have these aftermarket spring holder things. i might try putting on the truck in the next week or so. that may help it some. my spring packs have 5 leafs per right now plus an overload under them. i don't know that another overload will do any good. i think the aftermarket things i have are some sort of spring stop is what they are. kind of like an overload i guess. you can botl them to the frame and then flip the deal over when you want to put a stopping block against the spring. i should have taken a pic of them but i didn't.