Adding rear leaf springs
So I’ve decided that I pretty much hate the air bags that came on my rig. It’s another 2 items I have to frequently check on, I hate airing them up, and as they do lose air slowly I find it’s a pain w...
Forum Discussion
S1njin wrote:
I was considering adding the extra leaf (or two - the 2nd leaf on both sides only costs an additional 50 bucks) and forgoing the airbags entirely.
Suggest getting that shop to tell you how much capacity and lift each leaf will provide.
When I added parts called "repair leaves", one to each spring pack on an '83 E350, one leaf on each side took it from sag to lift. Two would have been too much.
Repair Leaves are sold by Width, Thickness, Length, and maybe Arch. They're very inexpensive. What runs cost of installation up:
1. Trimming the Leaves. They're probably too long, and probably don't have a Hole for the Center Bolt. Spring Shop should have an "Ironworker" machine that can shear length off and punch the center bolt holes. That's a Labor/Machine Shop charge.
2. New Hardware, and a set of four new U-Bolts runs the cost of the project up significantly. Center Bolt not so much.
3. Installation Labor shouldn't take long, but at $100-something an hour, that too adds up fast.
