Rear Leaf Spring Replacement

[10forty2]

Soooo, 3 years ago, after noticing that the front springs were in a negative arch, I decided to install air bag helper springs (Firestone Ride Rite) to see if that would help. It did, but after riding with just the air bags to make up the difference, I still noticed a significant amount of lean and dip/dive in curves. I bit the bullet and ordered new leaf springs for the front. Before last season, had them installed and, wow what a difference.....except that it restored the original ride height to the front, and made big girl squat like the young bucks' ridiculous-looking pickup trucks with the so-called "Carolina Squat." And, she still has more body roll than I want to deal with.

Well, she goes under the knife tomorrow to replace the rear springs, add rear air bag helper springs and new Bilstein shocks all around. I'll probably get the shop to do the CHF while they are under there. The parts were expensive enough, and I'm NOT looking forward to the labor costs. BUT, I don't have enough equipment at home to do the job in my driveway. Looking forward to her driving like a new one!! We'll see......

[10forty2]

Geez...after getting all the parts delivered, and everything torn apart on one wheel well, find out that whereas the actual spring is correct, there are 2 spacer blocks that are attached to the original springs, and must be in place, else the rig will squat even lower with the new springs. So.....had to stop, order longer centering pins for the new springs so we can break them apart to add the spacers on the bottom of the spring pack. THEN....we discover that the gold-plated mounting hardware from Ford (u-bolts, nuts, top plates, end bolts, washers...not really gold but priced as such and only available from Ford due to odd lengths and sizes) were the wrong parts......so, after arguing with the parts guy at the Ford place he calls me back to look at his computer and discovers that there are actually 2 different rear suspension diagrams for the 1999 F53 chassis, and the one he ordered parts from was NOT the one I needed.......now, we wait for the new, CORRECT hardware to arrive next week and then pay double labor to the shop to open everything back up and get it all replaced.

THAT'S why I don't go to Vegas and play table games.......

[10forty2]

amxpress wrote:
Who’s doing the repairs?

A local repair shop. The same mechanic that did the front spring replacement. No, it's not a suspension specialist. The closest one for bigger rigs (mainly heavy trucks) is about 2 hours away...other side of Winston-Salem. I went to them initially and after they looked at it, they wouldn't even align it until after the springs and kingpins were replaced. So, I asked them to work up a price to do just that.....it's 4 years later and I'm still waiting.

The shop I'm using is owned by a guy that I've known since he was a kid. He went to truck mechanic school and has become a top notch mechanic. Opened his own place about 3 years ago. He primarily does small automotive repairs, but when I twisted his arm a little, he agreed to do my rig. I've also used him to replace the brake calipers and brake lines a few years back.

[amxpress]

Who’s doing the repairs?