leveling a truck apprecaite any help! thanks

[Taylortractornut]

Dad and I used to hobby farm with a Farmall Cub and to get it and implements from A to B we used the trailer with the implements and would park the tractor in the back of the 75 F150 He used air adjustable shocks. Ive had them on a few service trucks but instead of airing them up at the shocks I used steel lines to a valve off my compressors storage tank. Them put in a dump and fill solenoid valve in it for incab adjustment. I think the plain setup was 150 dollars and the extras mostly scavenged for around 40.

 

[stevenf]

crk133
I bought an F-350 in 1999 and my buddy bought a f-150 he whined every time we loaded them both up because his would grunt, groan and squat and we'd end up loading the rest on mine. He finely got tired of the mismatch and went to a ford dealership they had a spring kit that turned it in to the load capacity of an f-250 it included everything plus good instructions if you needed them and it solved his problem he was very pleased and the kit only cost around $150 as I remember. Surely it'd be worth a call hope this helps.
Steve

 

[markct]

well good thing ya have the trailer package, one of those vet boxes is heavy to haul around all the time on a half ton when full of supplys so the tranny cooler is a plus, i would definatly have the tranny serviced, as for the springs, myself i am cheap and on a 10 year old truck i would most likely add a leaf or two from a junkyard truck, but thats just me

 

[JimR]

The best idea is to repair the springs. This can be done by re-arching them. I would also (as mentioned) add one or two extra leafs to beef them up a little. The other alternative is to check the spring dimensions of your truck and a F250 to see if they are interchageable. You could pick up a set at your local junkyard probably cheaper than having the F150's done.

 

[jhburke]

I worked at by brothers spring shop for 19 years. I would say take the truck to a good spring shop. Preferably with the weight it will carry. They should be able to know how much work will be needed in building up the springs.

 

[bgott]

Once you get the springs worked out and the weight on the truck you need to get the front end aligned. The alignment will change with a load and since you're going to be hauling the weight full time you need to have it set when loaded.

 

[crk133]

Well I looked into going to a spring shop and the nearest one is about 200 miles away. Called several places and they confirmed this. So that sort of rules that out unfortunately as that really sounded good to me. i don't really want to go the air bag route so that leaves me to adding a leaf, helper springs, or trying to figure out if a 250 set will go on my truck. I called a dealership and said he said he didnt think they would be interchangable. The quest continues......... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[RobertN]

The F250 springs are probably way too long.

Check with the spring shop; if they recommend an extra leaf, it may be something they could ship.

Check with Ford to see about factory overloads. Sometimes the "Camper" packages come with a factory overload, and a heavier rear sway bar. If you do not have a rear sway bar, it would be worth adding one.

If you add a leaf, you may need longer U-bolts too.

Check in to shocks too; you might want to look at a firmer shock to handle the full time load. I like the Rancho RS9000 adjustable shocks...
Look in to urethane bushings for the sway bar, shocks, and leaf spring pivots/hangers. That would be better than rubber under constant load.
You might also look in to the rear leafs from a lift kit. It might work to put some leafs for a 2" or 3" lift kit in the back.

Is your axle above or below the rear springs? If it is below, put blocks between the axle and spring. That is a common things for affordable lift kits; put new springs up front, and blocks in the back. This would require longer U-bolts too.

For hauling a constant load, think about the tire too. A 1/2 ton probably has "C" rated tires. Think about "D" or "E" load rated tires. It will make a difference in tire life and ride quality/handling.

 

[crk133]

the truck doesn't sag too much. the front and rear are about level now. before i put the box in the rear was about 1.5-2" higher than the front. will timbrens return the back end of the truck to the higher level?

 

[Bird]

Now you've really confused me. If it's sitting level now, why do you want to change it? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif I thought it was sagging in the rear. I think most pickups sit pretty nearly level with no load, but when I bought a new 1989 one ton dually Chevy to pull my 5th wheel trailer, it was high in the back end and it even stayed a little bit high with 2,500# pin weight of the trailer. So I took it to the spring dealer and had them "de-arch" the springs to make it sit level.