Add-a-Leaf Install: Step By Step "How-to"

[storlied]

Is this possible to do without taking the wheels off? Kinda like shackle install? Drop at the shackle mount and open em up after letting em drop off the axle... seems like a lot less trouble than disconnecting everything from the axle.. there will be more lift.. so with our SUA setup what would need to be done is a small jack between the spring and frame much like the shackle install.... sound good? Or will the arch be so much it won't bolt up to the axle with the truck sitting like it would be? [Bigger Jacks maybe?]

 

[explorerlee]

did you need to re-arch the springs at all?
I went into a shop today looking for additional springs to add to my sporttrac and i was told because the leafs run under the axle adding a leaf would infact lower the truck, and i would have to get the two middle leafs re arched and add another one to get the 1.5-2 inches of lift and a stiffer rear end out of it.
Any suggestions?

 

[badge49]

Just installed my AALs today! I went the easy route and left the springs on the truck; just jacked up the axle and replaced the center pin. The new leafs gave me a bit of rake (about 1.5 inches), but now I can tow without the sag! My thanks go out to everyone who posted in this thread, it was very useful!

 

[badge49]

did you need to re-arch the springs at all?
I went into a shop today looking for additional springs to add to my sporttrac and i was told because the leafs run under the axle adding a leaf would infact lower the truck, and i would have to get the two middle leafs re arched and add another one to get the 1.5-2 inches of lift and a stiffer rear end out of it.
Any suggestions?

Nope. The single AAL will support the arch your original springs while its installed. Adding additional leafs to a leaf pack that is spring-under will only lower you by the thickness of that leaf (1/4" or so). Since the AAL is not flat, you'll most likely gain a little more than an inch of lift in the rear. For example: my truck had rear sag from negative arch in my springs due to me abusing it. I now have about 1.5" lift in the rear.

 

[taylorpro]

Hi all. I dont mean to revive the dead thread here, but i noticed that they only list this kit for up to 97 explorers. but isn't the leaf pack the same on my 99? Just want to make sure I could still use this. great write up BTW OP. If it's compatible with mine, I will be doing this. Maybe even in addition with a stock replacement set of leaf's

 

[Keeper0311]

You'll be fine I just finished installing an AAL in my 2000's leaf packs.

 

[SplashMan]

Put these on both my 99 and 98, work great. You shouldnt have a problem.

 

[slickemhoundd]

Has anyone used aal on superlift springs? And if I used 2 per spring would that severely effect flex aaaaand would the 2nd per side add lift? I want to get a set period just to bring them back to life, 2 per side sounded fun and rugged

 

[$$exploder$$]

Hey David are those the shackles that they have at oriellys? How much of a lift did uget out of them?
Can u post more pics of shackles and how they mount. IV been thinking about getting some but wasn't sure.

 

[$$exploder$$]

Are those shackles okay to use pulling trailers. They just don't seem all that heavy duty. Any input?

 

[MidnightRebel07]

Don't use those shackles, they don't have any center support to be safe or strong. Get yourself a set of Warrior Products lift shackles from Tellico.

 

[$$exploder$$]

Cool how much of a lift would it b. And what would work on the front to level it out?
its a 92 2 door sport with the springs. Spacers or f150 springs and what would I have to modify to get them to wrk

 

[The Breeze]

Nice write-up. I used it as a guide for adding a leaf to my sport trac. Like a lot of people said, I didnt have to remove the top spring from the frame or shackle. I wanna say thanks because I was always skeptical about working with springs and tension but it was easy wit this write-up as a guide.

 

[WidgetTrac]

various application guides show the procomp 13170 (short) and 13133 (long) and rough country 6104 (short) and 6123 (long) for ranger, explorer, bronco2, sport trac, and mazdas - all of which are shown as being 2.5" wide.

the 13120 mentioned above is listed as 2.36" wide - not a big difference, but it seems the wider ones would be stronger and/or last longer, unless...

is there an error in the info or some other reason to use the 13120?

 

[The Breeze]

WidgetTrac- Where are you getting the info on the long add a leafs? I am going to add a long leaf plus the short leaf but I am not really finding any specs or pictures of the leafs.

 

[WidgetTrac]

i'm looking at info from various online vendors - somewhere i found a chart for rough country AALs showing 6104 short type but NO long style for explorer, ranger, etc...
but there was another vehicle shown with 6104 short and 6123 long, and then somewhere else it says 6123 is 44" long, which looks like it would fit around the middle of my pack, so i figure it should work... somebody posted about using a superlift 2180 in another thread here.

i haven't found anything like a chart showing various aal part no's along with length/width/spring rate/arch height, etc. boo. some websites at least tell you the width, but that's it. the pictures are pretty useless too - same pic for all of them.

 

[WidgetTrac]

i'm looking at info from various online vendors - somewhere i found a chart for rough country AALs showing 6104 short type but NO long style for explorer, ranger, etc...
but there was another vehicle shown with 6104 short and 6123 long, and then somewhere else it says 6123 is 44" long, which looks like it would fit around the middle of my pack, so i figure it should work... somebody posted about using a superlift 2180 in another thread here.

i haven't found anything like a chart showing various aal part no's along with length/width/spring rate/arch height, etc. boo. some websites at least tell you the width, but that's it. the pictures are pretty useless too - same pic for all of them.

 

[The Breeze]

WidgetTrac- Yea I see that the most info that I can really find is the width of the springs. I am going to call Rancho tomorrow about their RS50012 and RS50212 Add A Leaf kits. They say they are both 2.5 inches thick and both are the long style but on summit racing there is a $5 difference so I would like to know what the difference is. I am assuming strength but I dont know. I will keep you posted on what I find out.

 

[WidgetTrac]

if you go on summit racing and search for "add leaf" then select 2.5" width and long or short type and a whole bunch will come up - there may be 6+ brand names, each with a bunch of different versions for different vehicles. the skyjacker softride long aal's seem worth looking into too...

 

[97Mounty97]

Awesome write up it helps a lot