The rains parted ways for a couple days, so I attacked the leaf spring mod while the sun was shining. The objective was to maintain the amount of lift that the custom leafs and extended shackles offered, minus the war153 shackles.
I went to a spring shop here and there is a man who is very well known in both the off road racing and drag strip racing world. He builds custom leaf packs for well known drivers/owners across the country. I shot the breeze with him for a good long time and learned a couple things.
According to him, the slider pads between the leafs are only installed for a human creature comfort. They eliminate squeals from the leafs sliding on each other, and that's it. He also informed me that in newer HD trucks the manufacturers are now just using lithium grease instead of the plastic pads. The pads leave a gap in the leafs at the ends and in fact make them weaker. For stronger packs, he removes all the sliders. He told me for any packs he builds for recreational use where they are being used for extreme use, they are removed. He does suggest leaving the spacer shim on the overload spring. Another thing, is to never weld on a leaf as it will weaken them severely and can cause premature breakage. Powdercoating is also frowned upon as heat is an enemy. These are made from a high carbon spring steel, and are tempered. (I found out how hard these are from having to use a carbon bit in a big drill press to make a bolt hole wider on the add a leaf). To shape an arch in a leaf a hydro press and a anvil / sledge hammer is used. He told me a story of using a tree stump and a mini sledge for a trail repair in the middle of nowhere once. LOL
The F-150 leafs are off a 92 2wd. These are 2.5" in width (4wd are 3") and are 5 leaf packs. Years '80-96 are what your after for this mod. After cutting off the stock center pins and leaf clamps, the main leaf is discarded. The lower leafs, including the overload leaf is used.
Here is a nice spring chart to use for reference use.
Here is the 4 lower leafs cleaned & painted.
I re-used the Ex main leaf, a single leaf I had made from a spring shop that was added to my old packs, plus a short add a leaf. Here they are stacked and the 1/2" center pin bolt installed loose. You can see the arch diff in them. Each leaf you install in the packs will net you up to a 1/2" of lift. There are 7 leafs in these new packs.
Use a couple C clamps to draw the leafs together, then simply tighten the nut on the center pin nice & tight.
Cut the bolt to size. You can leave a little of the stud on as it will fit inside the hole on the plate. Just don't leave too much of it.
I ended up using some 2.5" U-bolt style spring clamps until I can get a diff style. 2 flat stock bars with bolts are better to clamp them with than the U-bolt as it offers more surface contact and less stress to the leaf. As soon as I cut & drill some up, I will replace these. Here is the packs finished.
Getting started with the install.
Both sides installed with stock shackles.
Before with war153 installed.
After with stock shackles and new leafs.
Objective accomplished! I got 4" of lift with these new packs, and have the needed lift for the 35" tires. Total cost for these packs with hardware/paint.....$100
