adding a leaf spring

After having the extra leaf added, we just left for our trip up to East Tawas state park. Night and day difference in the ride. Actually the guy at the spring shop said he had already done 6 newer F150. Ford seems to use a softer a and longer spring on the 150 to create a car like ride while not being loaded.

hddecker wrote:

tkhollywood wrote:
Think I am gonna go with the extra leaf. The shop said it will gain an extra 1000 lbs of payload. Plus with all the extra weight I carry on a daily basis with tools for work I think it will help.

It might add another 1000# of pay load, when they are telling you, but what about in writing. Are they going to give you a piece of paper that overrides the factory.

Who is accepting liability?

Totally agree with you.

When I choose to add a leaf to my truck and to add airlift bags to my SUV it was to better handle the maximum payload rating that already existed. Sure a couple hundred extra pounds in payload will likely never cause an issue, but I wouldn't want to be involved in an incident and be overweight at the same time.

The benefit to increasing load capacity of the suspension is that the vehicle is not maxed / bottomed when the maximum payload is reached.

Bucky Badger wrote:

Nvr2loud wrote:
Update on add and extra leaf spring, it was completed last Wednesday and I took the truck and trailer on a camping trip this past weekend.

The leaf added an extra 3" unloaded height from ground to trailer hitch. When I loaded my trailer onto the hitch, the height dropped down to the original unloaded height. Added the WDH bars and the entire rig just stayed at that height.

Wow 3 inches Higher???

3" higher from ground to bottom of hitch receiver, just over 2" higher from ground to fender at centerline of wheel / axle.

It should settle down a little bit over time.

I'm with hddecker. Shocks are for dampening. Springs hold the weight. OP probably needed new shocks. However, if you stiffen the suspension there is less movement the (crappy) shocks need to dampen.

Nvr2loud wrote:

APT wrote:
My opinion is that rear suspension aides are unnecessary with using a WDH. Spend $15 at a CAT scale to understand where you stand .

Maybe unnecessary. I had spring bars that were too low for my tongue weight (bars were 400-600 lb husky brand) and my tongue weight is closer to 800 lbs. I was using a 3/4 ton sierra and the WDH really didn't appear necessary. The handling of the truck gave a different opinion as the steering became a little light. I put the bars on and was fine for 3 years of towing with that truck. The rear never sagged.

Now I have a half-ton and the rear squat is not great. I got a new husky hitch and 801-1200 lb bars this past weekend. Set it all up and took the truck out for a tow, no more squat, leveled the truck out again, however still lots of bounce at the pivot point. I'm having the extra leaf put in right now and hope that it will reduce that bounce.

I've had airlifts in another vehicle and they really stiffened / dampened the bounce between the trailer and truck.

I replaced the shocks on my Ram 3500, with adjustable shocks. They have done exactley what I was looking for, when I'm towing the dial goes to 9, when I'm not towing I crank them back to 5.

The harsh ride when running empty is all but gone and when towing the bounce is gone.

jaycocreek wrote:
I used Helwig helper springs on a 3/4 ton pulling a fifth wheel and pickup camper. There awesome and up to 3500lbs and if you sell your vehicle, you can take the springs with you.

I've also had springs re-arched that were week, I do not recommend that, live and learn!

That would be because "the spring has sprung"?

Amazing how true them old sayins is.

tkhollywood wrote:
Think I am gonna go with the extra leaf. The shop said it will gain an extra 1000 lbs of payload. Plus with all the extra weight I carry on a daily basis with tools for work I think it will help.

It might add another 1000# of pay load, when they are telling you, but what about in writing. Are they going to give you a piece of paper that overrides the factory.

Who is accepting liability?

I would install Roadmaster Active Suspension (RAS). http://www.activesuspension.com/. Takes 30 minuets to install on a Chevy. I really like mine.

Nvr2loud wrote:
Update on add and extra leaf spring, it was completed last Wednesday and I took the truck and trailer on a camping trip this past weekend.

The leaf added an extra 3" unloaded height from ground to trailer hitch. When I loaded my trailer onto the hitch, the height dropped down to the original unloaded height. Added the WDH bars and the entire rig just stayed at that height.

Wow 3 inches Higher???

Super Springs. I have had them on two TV's and currently on the F150. Work great and don't hurt the ride when unloaded.