Old Truck Suspension Question - KNOWLEDGE NEEDED

[Stark in the Wild]

Hi all,

I am the proud owner of a 1980 Ford F250 Custom. I bought it for very very cheap and it needs some suspension love. But as most of my classic car knowledge lies in old muscle cars I am looking for some knowledge. I crawled under the car to have a look at the leaf-springs and they don't look like anything I have seen before. One leaf above a spacer not touching anything and then two pieces below the pile of springs. Just need to know if this looks like a stock suspension for a Full Size Truck of the early 80's era? Any thoughts and/or advice is much appreciated and thanks in advance.

P.S. I know it needs some suspension work before heading back out to the trails...just trying to determine how to go about it best on a budget.

 

[buellconvert]

That's an upper overload spring...not sure if it's oem or not, but very typical of an F-250 of that vintage and those lower pieces are the lower contact points for the bumpstops mounted above...

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[Mike W.]

Looks like a 80's stock rear leaf setup..

 

[nitro_rat]

factory, the bumper brackets are riveted to the frame...

 

[twodollars]

Looks stockish to me. Should have no trouble finding something far more comfortable to replace them

 

[TwinStick]

It looks factory to me. One sure way (at least I think) is if the overload spring contact perch is riveted (not bolted) to the frame. Looks like rivets to me. My money says it is stock.

 

[Stark in the Wild]

Awesome thanks for the confirmation everyone! I figured it was an extra spring on top for heavy loads and hoped it was all stock. Now that I know that for sure time to do some upgrading. I appreciate quick help!

 

[rayra]

You can restore a better ride somewhat if you break down that stack and repaint and grease the stack. As long as your ride height and carrying capacity still seems good, you might not need to replace them.

 

[Stark in the Wild]

You can restore a better ride somewhat if you break down that stack and repaint and grease the stack. As long as your ride height and carrying capacity still seems good, you might not need to replace them.

Awesome thanks for the tip! After looking at the Ride Height I think thats exactly what I am going to do.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

You will also be able to hear the overloads "clack" when they hit the stops going over bigger bumps at moderate speed which is normal.

 

[nitro_rat]

Hope it's not against the rules to post an external link. There's good info on rebuilding leaf packs here: https://ck5.com/forums/resources/52-front-spring-swap.34/

 

[rayra]

Just be careful, Stark, it can be dangerous work. Especially as you try to recompress the greased leafs.
You might first try jacking the vehicle up by the rear frame, unload the suspension as much as possible and give the leaf packs a thorough application of penetrating oil. More than once. Not as good as takign it all apart, but might be enough to figure if it's worth the additional work of disassembly

 

[IdaSHO]

Stock overloads, but last photo shows than at least one pad is missing.

These...

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