Superduty spring swap thread

[1971ford]

yeah but that would take a bit!

How about these?

New flipped rear u-bolts thanks to Alcan Spring and added two leaf springs.



Eh. Not bad for what it is

The rear was doing more of the work which is surprising especially after i just added more leaf springs.






New Rancho's up front, Bilstein 5100's in the rear and aired down to 20 psi (would of gone lower but we were doing pavement pounding between some trials) and it rode pretty damn good.
I forgot to drive it up on something to max the flex out to see what it has.

[CrypticRacer13]

What trail was this? Looks like a blast

[1971ford]

This was off Mormon Emigrant Trail, right by sly park. We decided against Strawberry pass because my buddy figured it would still be snowed in and these trails were for sure all ready to rock. We ended up pavement pounding for hours looking for the trails then my buddy's buddy let us in on a "secret" trail that took us to the absolute coolest camping spot i have ever seen. This place was cool, you just have to know where the good stuff is.

We're going to strawberry pass august 6/7, not sure if i can make it through "the squeeze", though. it's supposedly impossible for a long wheeblase or wide truck, mine's both. but i'm tempted to try and get the body through it and drag the bed through. That has been my strategy... i nailed the flatbed a few times in order to protect the body. Didn't do any harm to it either

[1971ford]

All the pics of the trip.

You have to crawl a gigantic rock slab to get up to this camping spot but it is so worth it. I drove my truck up the slab, but of course i'm the one with the camera so no shots. It was enough of an angle to where multiple tires spun on the rock just trying to pull the truck straight up this beast, i can't believe my carb didn't flood.
http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk29 ... 1QQtppZZ24







And yes. THose are hotdogs, on a fishing pole, over a fire. Problem?

[CrypticRacer13]

Look like a sweet spot to play on for sure. How did the manual steering treat you? The more an.more I drive the ford the more I love having a manual box

[1971ford]

ANother believer!!!!!!!! haha.

You may be a part of the elite group of manual streeing box lovers. If you keep your tires aired up (if on pavement), greese all your zerks and tighten your box, it is so easy to steer i can't see why i would ever want to deal with a PS swap and the leaks that come with it.
Aired down to 20 in 4lo on the trail it would of helped to have PS, sure, but it was not bad! I didn't have to hear a PS box whine, didn't have to leak PS fluid all over and didn't have to fill up the pump again after it all drains out

[CrypticRacer13]

Yeah an elite two haha. Its so fun to work at driving these things, my new saying is " you don't drive a truck this old, you operate it" I greased the zerks an the box is as tight as I can get it an it's still a sloppy mess haha I need to replace the lower rag joint an the ujoint on the shaft its had jobs of play in it alone.

[1971ford]

Yeah an elite two haha. Its so fun to work at driving these things, my new saying is " you don't drive a truck this old, you operate it" I greased the zerks an the box is as tight as I can get it an it's still a sloppy mess haha I need to replace the lower rag joint an the ujoint on the shaft its had jobs of play in it alone.

yeah mine is sloppy still too. just under 1/4 turn of the steering wheel of play now. Used to be a half turn!
Someone on pirate had that same saying, i thought it was perfect

[CrypticRacer13]

Mines at about 1/2 turn right now haha once I change that joint it should be titts after that.

[rhablitzel]

Thanks for the thread! I have been considering several "budget" lift options for my 1970 F250 project. I was looking for a little more lift so did some searching and found 6.5"-8.5" super duty lift springs by the same company. I am guessing that these springs would provide about 5" of lift on a highboy. For $276.14 shipped to your door, how can you go wrong? Now I just have to convince the wife to let me have more money for the project. I will probably purchase these in a few months when tax returns come through. Plenty of other work to do for now.

Here is the link for these springs:

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/detai ... 22610.html

Thank you for all the good info everybody - you just made lifting my budget project a reality.

[rhablitzel]

Just ordered the Pro Comp Super Duty 6.5"-8.5" lift springs for my 1970 F250. I will post pictures and give installation details as this project moves forward.

Oh and by the way, you can get 5% off the list price by doing a simple coupon search before checking out.

[Manny]

ANother believer!!!!!!!! haha.

You may be a part of the elite group of manual streeing box lovers. If you keep your tires aired up (if on pavement), greese all your zerks and tighten your box, it is so easy to steer i can't see why i would ever want to deal with a PS swap and the leaks that come with it.
Aired down to 20 in 4lo on the trail it would of helped to have PS, sure, but it was not bad! I didn't have to hear a PS box whine, didn't have to leak PS fluid all over and didn't have to fill up the pump again after it all drains out

Sorry Ryan i will not be staying manual steering with the elite apparently. Give you prop though you gotta have some are strength now for all the wheeling with manual. Also you are smart since you haven't broken a thumb yet

[1971ford]

ANother believer!!!!!!!! haha.

You may be a part of the elite group of manual streeing box lovers. If you keep your tires aired up (if on pavement), greese all your zerks and tighten your box, it is so easy to steer i can't see why i would ever want to deal with a PS swap and the leaks that come with it.
Aired down to 20 in 4lo on the trail it would of helped to have PS, sure, but it was not bad! I didn't have to hear a PS box whine, didn't have to leak PS fluid all over and didn't have to fill up the pump again after it all drains out

Sorry Ryan i will not be staying manual steering with the elite apparently. Give you prop though you gotta have some are strength now for all the wheeling with manual. Also you are smart since you haven't broken a thumb yet

To be honest....

With the Cummins install came a dodge power steering box. Turning 37's with a pinky at a stand still and no ford power steering wine/leaks... I must say, it's nice

[KRob]

Ryan,

I want to just run through a few things and make sure I have this right. I am planning on doing a similar conversion as yourself however I will probably go 4bt.

-The stock superduty springs will result in about the same height as the old highboy springs or 2in raise?

-open the highboy wholes up to ¾ but you have to open up the bushings a little…thus do you think a 2cm bolt would be better?

-What size shackles ended up being best…it sounds like your running 5 ¼ but where talking about doing 4 3/4 …what size ended up being best.

If I go with stock SD springs will the ride height change much, will I need to work drive shaft issues. What would your suggestion be on the rear. I would like to improve ride quality with as minimal change as possible after that….granted it doesn’t have to be great because it’s a work truck.

Thanks
Rob

[1971ford]

Ryan,

I want to just run through a few things and make sure I have this right. I am planning on doing a similar conversion as yourself however I will probably go 4bt.

-The stock superduty springs will result in about the same height as the old highboy springs or 2in raise?

-open the highboy wholes up to ¾ but you have to open up the bushings a little…thus do you think a 2cm bolt would be better?

-What size shackles ended up being best…it sounds like your running 5 ¼ but where talking about doing 4 3/4 …what size ended up being best.

If I go with stock SD springs will the ride height change much, will I need to work drive shaft issues. What would your suggestion be on the rear. I would like to improve ride quality with as minimal change as possible after that….granted it doesn’t have to be great because it’s a work truck.

Thanks
Rob

If you're looking to restore the original height of the highboy I would probably get a set of 2" leveling superduty springs (I believe these are made anyways). The stock superduty springs by themselves even with the slightly longer shackles you'll make, sat pretty low from what i remember.
I wish i could be more help here

Yes, instead of opening up the bushing more like I did It for the 3/4" bolt it would be much easier/better to figure out what exact bolt size that bushing is and pick up a drill bit accordingly.

I need to measure my current shackles, I forget where they are at right now, but they're pretty long, and that's for a few reasons... I was getting bad death wobble so with the increase in caster I have no more death wobble and a nicer cruise. Also with the extra arch in the 4" springs I am running it gives room for them to flatten out while flexing. And, to give a tad bit more ride height.
You may not need these things so maybe just run a shackle that is just long enough to allow the leaf spring to flatten out without hitting frame.

If you're running stock SD springs or 2" leveling springs you should be in the clear for sure drive-shaft wise. I had to lengthen mine but I am sitting pretty darn high now. If you're chasing after stock height then the driveshaft should be perfect length for you.

In the rear , I'm not sure, i've seen a few things done. I've seen people put in superduty springs back there as well but that's not a direct swap. And i've seen people put in the chevy 64's if the truck needs to flex more. That is also no where near a bolt in swap.
I believe what i will be doing is the chevy 64's with airbags.