Leaning truck

[Rusty_S85]

Curiosity got me, I went and pulled up what I got. They are 4/1 Dayton springs load rated for like 1600+ pounds vs. From the factory I had 3/1 rated for just over 1300 lbs. Also my new ones spec out at 1 inch longer, so essentially I'm thinking that is why I'm closer to factory rear ride height even with the drop shackles. There installed so for now I'll just go with it and see what the alignment does.

Yep, that's why with drop shackles your height is almost like OE, you have that extra leaf that increases the carrying capacity which also will increase the height at rest.

It's one thing I have been dealing with for deciding what coil springs to go with on the front. If you go to Rough Country, they have leveling kits for 1980-96 F-150/Bronco but it's a 1 1/2" leveling kit. From Eaton the MC508 is the HD coil springs without factory AC which my truck is not factory AC but I can only get those 1" above stock which I cant figure out if they would provide a level look or not. I could go with the MC3404 which is your standard duty coil springs without factory AC and I can get those at 1 1/2" above stock. Problem is I also have more weight on the front than stock, I have dealer AC, I have a chrome Ralley grill guard with a pair of 6" apollo lights and I am adding a bunch of electrical circuits for a Sniper EFI but I also reduced some weight by swapping over to AFR aluminum heads, Edelbrock aluminum intake, GMP high flow aluminum water pump, shorty street headers, etc. So, I am unsure how the truck would sit and even Eaton couldn't tell me due to too many variables. It might be one of those things where I might have to get in touch with Eaton and see if there would be any issues if the 1" above stock MC508 springs don't provide a level look if I could return them in exchange for the MC3404 in 1 1/2" above stock. They might not go for that as those are custom made springs.

That is the same thing we deal with at the shop when it comes to making changes in the suspension system. Too many variables to know without trial and error and sometimes that trial and error can come at a big expense.

[mat in tn]

Curiosity got me, I went and pulled up what I got. They are 4/1 Dayton springs load rated for like 1600+ pounds vs. From the factory I had 3/1 rated for just over 1300 lbs. Also my new ones spec out at 1 inch longer, so essentially I'm thinking that is why I'm closer to factory rear ride height even with the drop shackles. There installed so for now I'll just go with it and see what the alignment does.

Yep, that's why with drop shackles your height is almost like OE, you have that extra leaf that increases the carrying capacity which also will increase the height at rest.

It's one thing I have been dealing with for deciding what coil springs to go with on the front. If you go to Rough Country, they have leveling kits for 1980-96 F-150/Bronco but it's a 1 1/2" leveling kit. From Eaton the MC508 is the HD coil springs without factory AC which my truck is not factory AC but I can only get those 1" above stock which I cant figure out if they would provide a level look or not. I could go with the MC3404 which is your standard duty coil springs without factory AC and I can get those at 1 1/2" above stock. Problem is I also have more weight on the front than stock, I have dealer AC, I have a chrome Ralley grill guard with a pair of 6" apollo lights and I am adding a bunch of electrical circuits for a Sniper EFI but I also reduced some weight by swapping over to AFR aluminum heads, Edelbrock aluminum intake, GMP high flow aluminum water pump, shorty street headers, etc. So, I am unsure how the truck would sit and even Eaton couldn't tell me due to too many variables. It might be one of those things where I might have to get in touch with Eaton and see if there would be any issues if the 1" above stock MC508 springs don't provide a level look if I could return them in exchange for the MC3404 in 1 1/2" above stock. They might not go for that as those are custom made springs.

That is the same thing we deal with at the shop when it comes to making changes in the suspension system. Too many variables to know without trial and error and sometimes that trial and error can come at a big expense.

the advice and info here is good. the only thing that I might add is "purpose". what is your intended purpose? you want to rake it with drop shackles, and I have done many including my current build. that tells me that you are not "working" your truck and are more sport minded. 500 lbs of tools can adjust your rake just like excessive tongue load of a trailer can. but if you are building a daily driver or a Saturday /Sunday truck then it doesn't really matter about load capacity. what does matter is springs suited for the front end load. like engine weight and total of accessories. that's why they are spec'd out that way. the danger is poor (unsafe) handling or braking. Or being pushed through an intersection the first time you try to stop with that trailer you never really intended to be pulling.

[Mark]

the advice and info here is good. the only thing that I might add is "purpose". what is your intended purpose? you want to rake it with drop shackles, and I have done many including my current build. that tells me that you are not "working" your truck and are more sport minded. 500 lbs of tools can adjust your rake just like excessive tongue load of a trailer can. but if you are building a daily driver or a Saturday /Sunday truck then it doesn't really matter about load capacity. what does matter is springs suited for the front end load. like engine weight and total of accessories. that's why they are spec'd out that way. the danger is poor (unsafe) handling or braking. Or being pushed through an intersection the first time you try to stop with that trailer you never really intended to be pulling.

It's unlikely this Truck will ever see a day of work, I've got a few project vehicles going at the same time, and like the others I'm going to let this one evolve. I'll drive it to work here and there and that sort of thing. I feel like I'll end up lowering it front and back at some point, but I'm a ways away from that point.

[mat in tn]

It's unlikely this Truck will ever see a day of work, I've got a few project vehicles going at the same time, and like the others I'm going to let this one evolve. I'll drive it to work here and there and that sort of thing. I feel like I'll end up lowering it front and back at some point, but I'm a ways away from that point.

then i would seriously look at the spring selection further before getting money spent. not only for the stance but the ride quality. keep in mind that spring rates are selected per the expected load, and it often takes that load to get the ride tolerable. for example, the one-ton flatbed felt as if it had no springs at all when i had nothing but when i had a pallet of shingles on it, it rode nicely.

[Mark]

then i would seriously look at the spring selection further before getting money spent. not only for the stance but the ride quality. keep in mind that spring rates are selected per the expected load, and it often takes that load to get the ride tolerable. for example, the one-ton flatbed felt as if it had no springs at all when i had nothing but when i had a pallet of shingles on it, it rode nicely.

I've been driving it the past day or two just to put some miles on it, and first impressions are it rides super nice.

I understand what your saying 👍while this is the first ford I've played with in 30+ years, I'm on my 5th jeep and this one I've been building for the past 6 years. I completely rebuilt the suspension on it. It's all iron rock components, old man emu springs, and bilstein shocks. Most of those brands unless someone has lived in the jeep or Toyota world have never been heard of, but they are the upper echelon of lift components in that world. So if I get to the point of truly altering ride height there will be lots of thought and reasoning involved.

For now though I'm not going to do a whole lot more driving until after Friday when I can get the Alignment squared away, the more I look at my stance, the more I really think that's a large part of my lean. After that I'm going with body mount replacement.

 

[Mark]

I finally got to get back to my truck, have had a ton going on, but since Friday I put most everything else to the side and got after my leaning issue.

The short answer to "can this old truck sit level" and by level I'm referring to side to side. The answer is mine does now.

I did get an alignment, to my dismay that didn't really impact my issue much at all. There might have been a nominal difference but not enough to correct what I was chasing.

So I went Back to my initial thought of body mounts. I ordered a set of poly bushings, they came in and I finally got a chance to install them. As of right now my truck is sitting level. I'm telling ya, this is something that has bothered me night and day, probably way more than it would bother others, I wanted every corner matching it's opposite corner, and it now is.

Some key take aways for me on this part of the project:

If you really dig through forums there are some really handy techniques for removing the old bushings, I had one of the rear ones (passenger side) really fight me, in the end a 3lb sledge and a punch won that fight.

Online, lots of folks make a lot out of the drivers side rear, for me, it was the last one I did, and frankly the easiest, I loosened the bolt, probably 3/4 of an inch, beat the wham jammy out of it, and in very short order it was loose. From underneath, I fished the old out, and the new in, and never dropped the tank.

Shims! The fine tuning for me was in the shims. I dug through my tool boxes, junk drawers, and every nook and cranny of my shop and rounded up shims and fender washers from likely every automotive manufacturer under the sun, I know for fact there are shims from jeep, dodge, and Chevrolet installed on my truck now 😆.

For a truck that truthfully should have went to a salvage yard, I'm satisfied with how it sits now. On to the next chapter of this old truck. Really not sure what I'm going to tackle next on it.

 

[Gary Lewis]

I finally got to get back to my truck, have had a ton going on, but since Friday I put most everything else to the side and got after my leaning issue.

The short answer to "can this old truck sit level" and by level I'm referring to side to side. The answer is mine does now.

I did get an alignment, to my dismay that didn't really impact my issue much at all. There might have been a nominal difference but not enough to correct what I was chasing.

So I went Back to my initial thought of body mounts. I ordered a set of poly bushings, they came in and I finally got a chance to install them. As of right now my truck is sitting level. I'm telling ya, this is something that has bothered me night and day, probably way more than it would bother others, I wanted every corner matching it's opposite corner, and it now is.

Some key take aways for me on this part of the project:

If you really dig through forums there are some really handy techniques for removing the old bushings, I had one of the rear ones (passenger side) really fight me, in the end a 3lb sledge and a punch won that fight.

Online, lots of folks make a lot out of the drivers side rear, for me, it was the last one I did, and frankly the easiest, I loosened the bolt, probably 3/4 of an inch, beat the wham jammy out of it, and in very short order it was loose. From underneath, I fished the old out, and the new in, and never dropped the tank.

Shims! The fine tuning for me was in the shims. I dug through my tool boxes, junk drawers, and every nook and cranny of my shop and rounded up shims and fender washers from likely every automotive manufacturer under the sun, I know for fact there are shims from jeep, dodge, and Chevrolet installed on my truck now 😆.

For a truck that truthfully should have went to a salvage yard, I'm satisfied with how it sits now. On to the next chapter of this old truck. Really not sure what I'm going to tackle next on it.

Congratulations! Another layer of the onion peeled!