LMC Truck/Leaf Spring Swap

[Fly2day]

So I had ordered 4 door leaf sping pack, new rear shackels and all new hardware from LMC last week. I was told that it would be at my door by today, its not here and I get a call from them saying sorry when we told you we had everything in stock we were missing some nuts and waited to today to call you. Anyways long story short can I re use the nuts that attach the leaf spring to the front hanger or can I just buy new ones from an auto parts store? LMC did acknowledge their mistake and gave me a gift card so that was nice of them to offer.
Thanks, Brad

 

[Brandon96]

If you have the opportunity to, you might want to consider giving those LMC leaves back as they might not be what your looking for...

Thread from a few days ago:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=292644

But yes you can re-use the bolt, as far as I know.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

If you have the opportunity to, you might want to consider giving those LMC leaves back as they might not be what your looking for...

Thread from a few days ago:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=292644

But yes you can re-use the bolt, as far as I know.

There have been several dissatisfied members here who have bought the LMC springs.

 

[Fly2day]

it seems as though he had a 4 leaf set up plus a helper springs to begin with and was looking to lift. I have a 99' Sport with the sagging rear mono leaf, I am just looking to level out my truck and improve the ride not lift it. I would hope, even if the LMC springs are not as beefy they would be much better than a mono leaf. I dont have the option to pull ones out of a junk yard, it would seem LMC would be my best bet besides have a spring shop make some for me ($$$$). You still think I should send them back? What else could I do to fix the sag...Every thread i read on hear says to get a 4 door leaf pack if I want to do it the correct way.

 

[Brandon96]

Do you have the mono leaf with the air bags?

And I did not pay close enough attention to realize you had a sport. It will probably work out for you IMO.

 

[Fly2day]

No air bags... I am putting new shocks front and rear too (RS5000) so like I was saying I would hope that the LMC would help the rear of a sagging sport back to factory ride hight. Thanks for the help

 

[Lacky01]

I say it MIGHT work, but don't junk your old springs until your satisfied.

If theres a U-pull-it yard close by, they'll pull the springs out for you for a little $. I recommend a pair of low mileage leaf packs from a 4 door. the ones I got had about 90K miles on em. I pulled them myself only cuz I'm cheap and didn't want to pay someone else to do it

I say give it a shot and post your results. stop by your local hardware store and see if you can't get some high quality replacement nuts. the old ones would probably be just fine, but id feel more comfortable with new hardware.

 

[Fly2day]

I will post results when they are in, I really hope they work okay cause once their in I cannot return them, and that would be a waste of a few hundered dollars. Unless you could call them defective somehow... OR have a spring shop arch them more to improve the hight. IDK we will see...

 

[Fly2day]

Parts arrived today from LMC and I must say they look real nice. New leafs and shocks going in next Friday so we will see exactly how much the new leafs will lift the rear, but either way they have to be much better than whats on now... Will update with results when finished...
Brad

 

[countryhero]

i got a 98 mountainner an i want to put 33" tires on but my leaf springs are under the axle can i just move them to the top or will i have to change them out? please help me 719 232 6156

 

[Explorer Junky]

If you have the opportunity to, you might want to consider giving those LMC leaves back as they might not be what your looking for...

Thread from a few days ago:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=292644

But yes you can re-use the bolt, as far as I know.

Of course he was not happy with those. He wanted LIFT with OEM replacements. Will not happen. I have a pair from LMC. They have been on for 2 years now, and I have had no issue with them. I put in AAL, and got about 1-1/2"-1-3/4" initial lift with that. I still have just over an inch right now 2 years later. I will state this again for anyone who is wanting or expecting to get lift with leafs. You either need to add leafs to your pack, or have your current leafs re-arched. Of course there is always the (IMO) the unsafe way of shackles to get a couple inches of lift. But, I don't remember the OP stating he was looking to lift!

 

[gmanpaint]

Anyways long story short can I re use the nuts that attach the leaf spring to the front hanger or can I just buy new ones from an auto parts store?

You most definitely want to use stock nuts for the front mounts. They have EAR tabs on them to lock the nut into the frame.

 

[Fly2day]

One more thing I was thinking of and I'm sure it doesn't matter but the leafs from LMC are 2.5 inches wide and the factory springs are 3. Can someone chime in on this please? Does it matter?

 

[hunterdan]

They are 3" at the widest point but narrow down to 2.5" at the u-bolt mounts.

Dan

 

[Fly2day]

So at the ends where the leafs go into the shackle/hangers are 3 inches? I looked at my truck and it looks like there is a small gap between the leaf and the shackles already just wanna make sure its okay to have a gap if they are more narrow than factory.

 

[99SportX]

The leaf does not and should not contact the shackle. The center sleeve of the spring bushing contacts the shackle. The sleeve will be the correct width and the leaf will be narrower.

 

[hunterdan]

The mono leaf is 3" at it's widest points, as I mentioned, then narrows down to 2.5" at the axle mount and the eye mounts for the shackle and frame. There should be little to no gap between the shackle and spring bushing, just enough to slide it in the shackle really.

 

[Fly2day]

So I got everything put in yesterday...New Rancho 5000s front and rear and the leaf springs as well. I am very happy with ther results. Measured both sides before and after and gained 1.25 inch on the drivers side and 1.5 inch on the passenger side... I attribute the quater inch difference to the full gas tank...But either way it rased it up and it rides sooo much better its unbeliveable. Also a lot of the parts I ordered from LMC had the Ford Co. stamped on it too which is nice.
Also want to give a big thanks to everyone on this site who answred my questions and how helpful the write ups were to guiding me through everything it makes it a lot easier.
Brad