Spring swap

[1971ford]

Anyone on here with a highboy ever swapped their stock leaf springs (all 4 corners) with different sets from the junkyard from any vehicle that may work?
With my offroad race truck (the '71 f250) I grabbed 64" chevy springs (popular swap for pre-running), took the main leaf, and put several thin leaves underneath the main and it has given me a pretty darn good ride while speeding across the desert.

The stock springs in the highboy are absolutely terrible as far as ride quality but I understand they weren't originally built to flex or provide ride quality.

I'm considering simply finding a vehicle of similiar weight, and swapping its rear springs into the rear of my highboy and then find that same truck and swap that same rear set into the front, or having different springs front/rear. Then I can change ride height and stiffness by adding and removing leaves and combing various leaf packs like i have done with my race truck.
Also considering moving the hangers farther apart front and rear for a longer spring.

My highboy will be towing 6,000 pounds so the springs would be out of something more heavy duty but not as brutal as the stock highboy.
I'd build the packs to level the front 2" higher as well.
Thoughts?

[averagef250]

How old is your truck? How worn out and ready to be scrapped was it when you got it?

In halfway decent shape these trucks ride very good. The highboy chassis has a very stiff frame which helps them handle well.

Bad springs, bad shocks, bad spring bushings, wallered out spring eye mounting holes, bent shackles, loose U-bolts and a dozen other things can cause a poor ride.

[ScreaminZ]

Have you ever installed any decent shocks on the truck yet? If not, definitely try that first as they can make a world of difference in how the truck rides. You might be pleasantly surprised.

[1971ford]

I was going to get some bilsteen 5100's all around but since the truck would sit about 2" higher if i swapped in different springs i didn't want to spend the several hundred on shocks and have the ride still be poor, and then the shocks collapsed/extended measurements wouldn't right with different springs.