Sources for F150 coil seats?

[Iron Weasel]

Obvious answer is a junkyard - which is a possibility but not one I'm looking forward to as the one and only U-Pull-It place here doesn't allows jacks of any type in their yard which would make moving axle up and down as needed to remove the springs difficult. Ford has discontinued the F2TZ5A307A part and F2TZ5A307B is something like $65. For that price of two, I could buy 2" lift springs and be done with it, but I'm cheap.

All I'm after is a small 2" lift to compliment the 31's I just put on as inexpensively as I can get. Looked at the Daystar (and other brand) coil spring spacers made of polyurethane, but I've heard some not so good things about them as well...breaking after a short period of time being the #1 concern. Again, for the price of those, I could spend a little extra and get new lift springs anyway.

Normally, I don't mind doing some "junkyarding", but trying to tackle this task in a yard that doesn't allow jacks isn't really up on my list of things to do.

 

[94Gexplorer]

i made my own with some washers heres a pic

cost me 10 bucks for them and its done with arc welder

 

[Slowlyvverot]

I've heard of some users using 2" worth of washers as spacers. but other than that, i'd say keep your eyes peeled for them to pop up for sale on the forum.

 

[KPSquared]

Get 8 or 10 of your buddies together and go out there and flip the truck onto it's roof... then it's way easier to pull the axle out of the way...

I would say watch the "Used Parts" section on all the RBV forums you can find, or get some washers and build spacers.

 

[Maniak]

Around here, we only have 1 u-pull it place left. I was there not too long ago and pulled the axles out of the front. To do so I had to remove the springs to get the suspension to move enough. No jacks needed.. Just a 1 1/8" combo wrench and viola the spring comes out.. The vehicle was suspended by the frame on jack stands made of old rims..

I asked one of the truck (non u-pull it) yards what they would want for lower spring seats off the f-150 and the pair was going to be $50.

Soo, check your local yards for the f-150 seats or as already mentioned watch here and any other RBV sites you can think of. Also post in the wanted section here.

The 2" springs have a couple things going against them..
1: Not everyone can get it aligned after installing. Its right at the cusp of what some vehicles can handle.
2: The 2" lift springs have a different spring rate than the factory springs. If you like your current ride adding the spacers/seats will change the ride less than outright replacing the old springs.

Not really a problem, but at least something to think about... The 2" lift springs are 2" over "stock height". If your springs have sagged 1/2" already you going to end up with 2.5" of lift..

Just some input.. Some people love their 2" springs.. others the spacers.. I personally like the spacers but I haven't used the 2" springs so I'm more than likely biased but it is nice to have options..

~Mark

 

[Iron Weasel]

Long post coming up, grab some and a .

It's a crap shoot at the junkyard - some vehicles are supported at the frame with old wheels under them, others are supported at the axles. I'm saving the JY as a last resort option. For the rear, I'm probably going to go with a set of these: http://copperheadfab.com/index.php?action=productview&productid=165

For reference, I went out and took some measurements:

Ground to bottom wheel well:
Driver Front - 33 9/16"
Driver Rear - 33"
Pass. Front - 33 3/4"
Pass. Rear -: 33 1/2"

Front spring loaded height:
Driver - 10 1/4"
Pass. - 10 3/8"

Tire to bottom of wheel well:
Driver front - 4 1/4"
Driver rear - 4"
Pass. Front - 4 1/2"
Pass. Rear - 4 1/2"

Wasn't expecting matching measurements, but they're all pretty close for a 16 year old vehicle. Fuel tank being on the rear driver side makes that spring sag by about 1/2" more. 1/8" difference in the springs kinda surprised me though, I was expecting the driver side spring to be sagging more.

Anyway, Rockauto says that stock replacement coils would have a loaded height of 11.5". I've done some extensive Googling and couldn't come up with a total overall length for Skyjacker 2" lift coils, but going off what Rockauto says, they should give around 13.5" loaded height which would be about 3 1/8" higher on the passenger side and 3 1/4" higher on the driver side.
However, that's all based off Rockauto dimensions and the assumption that Skyjacker springs have a 13.5" loaded height.

I did find these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110505640074&_trksid=p2759.l1259#ht_1380wt_939 a little while ago. The seller says they're 2", so going by simple math, if I bought / installed these then they "new" dimensions with the 2" spacers and Copperhead Fab shackles would be:

Ground to bottom wheel well:
Driver Front - 35 9/16"
Driver Rear - 35"
Pass. Front - 35 3/4"
Pass. Rear -: 35 1/2"

Front spring loaded height:
Driver - 12 1/4"
Pass. - 12 3/8"

Tire to bottom of wheel well:
Driver front - 6 1/4"
Driver rear - 6"
Pass. Front - 6 1/2"
Pass. Rear - 6 1/2"

Lastly, here's what the camber looks like right now, would it be able to be put back into alignment with the spacers I found on Ebay?

Full size version here, it's a little over 1MB in size: http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/100/camberbig.jpg

 

[jd4242]

those f150 seats look nice

 

[billlesmerises]

On E-bay they sell a set of aluminum spring spacer's. They are 1" in height, and it say's it will give your vehicle 3" of lift. I will be ordering a set of these real soon. Check them out. It's better than urethane.

 

[Anime]

I'd say get the factory spacers from one of our forum vendors that are Ford dealers. While they aren't cheap, they are quality stuff, and you'll save yourself the hassle and gas of driving around trying to find some rusty old used part that will cost nearly the same. Plus, when you eventually lift it more and trade in the spacer lift for springs, you can probably sell them off on the forums and break even.

Washers are a good budget deal, or find some of the spacers that pop up on the forum from time to time when some members get a few sets made and sell them off.


1" spacers on ebay that give 3" of lift? That would be quite incredible.

 

[Albino 94LTD]

May not get 2" but,,,,,,

Kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

Change your radius arm bushings and put the front bushing section under the steel coil seat, front side down.

You might have to cut off a little bit of the section that goes through the bracket so it will fit in the 'cup' of the coil seat.

It will add a little height AND provide more cushion for a smoother ride.

I knew I should have taken pictures last week Brings my 2.5" Duff lift up to almost 4"

 

[Iron Weasel]

Kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

Change your radius arm bushings and put the front bushing section under the steel coil seat, front side down.

You might have to cut off a little bit of the section that goes through the bracket so it will fit in the 'cup' of the coil seat.

It will add a little height AND provide more cushion for a smoother ride.

I knew I should have taken pictures last week Brings my 2.5" Duff lift up to almost 4"

Good idea, but I replaced the radius arm bushing about 2 months ago and the old ones were pretty chewed up.

Still considering those aluminum ones I saw on Ebay, but it's not going to be something I purchase right away. I'm also keeping an eye on Craigslist to see if anyone here has an early 90's F150 they're parting out. Just for shiggles, I called the closest Ford dealer, well the only one within 60 miles, and nobody in the parts department had the slightest clue what I was talking about, even after giving them the old part number. :scratch:

 

[bakerman67]

I recently replaced my springs w obnes out of a full size bronco, expecting a 2-3" lift it amounted to about 4" . this caused a lot of camber issues and a very expensive alignment. but if that is the way you want to go i would sugest going to your local parts store and seeing if they have loaner tools get a spring compressor and try that route. here the springs cost about $5 each so it is pretty inexpensive.