[Beene]

So this may be a question with a simple explanation but I'm at a loss to know what it is. I've noticed that many of the people that have large lifts on their trucks complain about the increased ride harshness due to the higher spring arc. Is there any reason why someone couldn't lift a truck(even if only the back) by making a new section that sat say 8" lower and reusing the stock spring pack and mounts there? Obviously it would be harder to reverse but you could use the stock mounts to center the new section and bolt it there to hold it while you weld in the rest. I guess you could even just grind through the welds to go back to stock if you wanted. Just a thought.

 

[shawnb99]

there are kits like this for the front, for the rear of most, one option is to flip the rear shackle, this in turns lowers the mounting point by roughly 4". in regards to ford pre-08, you can retro the newer rear leaf which is indeed longer, this in it self gives better ride, and when lifting requires less arch. if i were to go with a big lift , i would order rear leafs for an 08-up, and retro the mount.

 

[layson]

So this may be a question with a simple explanation but I'm at a loss to know what it is. I've noticed that many of the people that have large lifts on their trucks complain about the increased ride harshness due to the higher spring arc. Is there any reason why someone couldn't lift a truck(even if only the back) by making a new section that sat say 8" lower and reusing the stock spring pack and mounts there? Obviously it would be harder to reverse but you could use the stock mounts to center the new section and bolt it there to hold it while you weld in the rest. I guess you could even just grind through the welds to go back to stock if you wanted. Just a thought.

One thing to think about is quality. My old Icon 12" leaf spring kit road just as good as the stock truck. It had 8" springs and 4" blocks/hangers. If you spend the money on a quality kit with a good set of shocks you don't need to worry about moving the leaf mounts to utilize the stock leaf springs.

 

[shawnb99]

correct, a good system that utilizes thinner multi leafs will have far better flex. again though, by giving some lift by hard part, it takes out some harshness as well, only bad there is you still only have the travel of the spring height difference, not the hard parts. you can easily over flex some springs by adding hard parts to aid in clearence without limiting the travel.

take a good look at the front of these leaf sprung trucks.... and a shackle hanger and gain 4" with out limiting travel, and now you just extended the arch in a matter that could cause spring damage.

 

[Karls03]

For a quick 6 inches of lift you can cut off the rear hangers at the frame and fab in some front mounts in their place. This will point the shackle down for a quick lift. On our gasser mud trucks it's good for about 6 inches of lift with OEM springs. Of course you have to pay attention to pinion angle and such as that when doing this.

I think Fab Tech makes a lowered front leaf spring hanger for the rear springs also. Seems like it would help with excessive up pinion angle if the rear was dropped as mentioned above.

In the end, these mods, a 22061 Pro Comp leaf spring (what I use out back), a 3 inch block and you should be good for about 10~13 inches of lift.

Just an idea...