Sagging Suspension

[Sublime0069]

My truck is kind of odd, and I have a feeling that it's because it had a 300lb load in the rear for the first three years it was on the road. My rear end sags (I took a tape measure from tire to fender front and back) 2" in the rear. I have 6" of clearance in the front from tire to fender, and 4" in the rear from tire to fender. Could my solution be as simple as getting new leaves for the rear? Or could other suspension components contribute to the sag? Just lookin for a cheap fix cauze it looks odd as hell with a high frontend and a low rearend.

 

[F14CRAZY]

I assume this is a 4 door. Replace the shocks (at least the rear) and add a leaf to the rear if still not satisfactory. Has the truck carried cargo often in its life?

If it's a 2 door, then swapping the rear springs with those of a 4 door would fix the problem.

 

[Sublime0069]

Yeah, its a 4 door XLT. It was my father's company vehicle for 3 years, so it always had a heavy load of a couple hundred pounds of material. I'll have to get some estimates on shocks and leaves then. Guess it'll run a couple hundred in parts. I was thinkin shackles (They give about a 2" lift, no?) by reversing the leaves? Would they damage the driveline?

 

[F14CRAZY]

I left out shackles because I didn't think they were needed. My '92 XL, when empty and usually driven empty has new Monroe Gas Matic LTs (they suck as shocks, BTW) and sits up slightly on level ground. Even with 600+ pounds of cement in the back, it only sat down slightly.

 

[Bronco638]

More than likely, shocks only will not return the back of the truck to factory height. You're going to need to address the leaf spring packs. There are several alternatives: New factory leaf packs (about $360 from Ford), after-market leaf packs (w/ or w/o lift built in), single or double Add-A-Leaf, F150 leaf spring mod, shackles or a combo of shackles & AAL.

It also depends on how you drive your truck. If you would like some added lift for off-roading, go with the custom leaf packs with lift built in, if it's a daily driver and you just want to return to factory settings, go with new leaf packs from Ford, if you're going to continue to haul a heavy load and are on a budget, use the AAL or the F150 mod. Personally, I'd avoid the shackles, they add too much instability.

There are lots of opinions on shocks, you might want to research that using the Search feature.

Hope this helps - Dave.