Add a leaf
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 143
Likes: 22
From: London, Ontario, Canada
Just a regular acetylene torch. heat em up and bend em. The supplied clips were small and flimsy. And it really was a simple thing to do, just took time. it all fits together nicely and isn't tough to do at all.
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 694
Likes: 93
From: Minneapolis, MN
All I did was put a jack under the rear axle. lifted the truck up and then set it on jack stands high enough to get the rear wheels to dangle by about 6" when fully sagged out. Important for getting pins in.
1. took rear wheels off.
2. unbolted shock
3. removed u-bolts
4. removed leaf pack pins (needed torch)
5. too whole stack out except for top leaf. (left it bolted up)
6. bent stock leaf stack holders straight up and down in vice.
7. rebuilt stack from bottom up.
8. slid in to place and put pins back thru the top leaf.
9. with the axle low enough out of the way it makes the pins easier to put thru. hence why i dropped it so much lower. then jacked up the axle with the floor jack to meet the leaf stack. buttoned it all up.
10. bent leaf stack holder back around stack. (see pic)
11. wheel back on.
On friday I decided it was too high and decided to pull the one spacer out I was talking about in a previous post. I think it makes it perfect. (see pic)
my rake is about 1" to 1.25" Had 2 dirtbikes and gear in there on the weekend. (800-1000lbs) and she was almost level, still had some rake to her! not bad. Didn't get any pics.
All in all, very happy with it. get the general spring kit. 802lb payload increase and remove the rear spacer shown in pics. combined with my 2" level kit, it looks great. Ride is a bit firmer but not too noticeable. Still rides amazing. Gained lift, reduced any wheelhop, and gained payload. Ain't doing all that with lift blocks!
Will try to get some pics today of the stance. And post. Trying to deal with my accident issues still so the left side is all smashed up (see other thread) Will take pics of right side. lol.
And If I get more wood I'll take a pic. Not reloading it sorry.
1. took rear wheels off.
2. unbolted shock
3. removed u-bolts
4. removed leaf pack pins (needed torch)
5. too whole stack out except for top leaf. (left it bolted up)
6. bent stock leaf stack holders straight up and down in vice.
7. rebuilt stack from bottom up.
8. slid in to place and put pins back thru the top leaf.
9. with the axle low enough out of the way it makes the pins easier to put thru. hence why i dropped it so much lower. then jacked up the axle with the floor jack to meet the leaf stack. buttoned it all up.
10. bent leaf stack holder back around stack. (see pic)
11. wheel back on.
On friday I decided it was too high and decided to pull the one spacer out I was talking about in a previous post. I think it makes it perfect. (see pic)
my rake is about 1" to 1.25" Had 2 dirtbikes and gear in there on the weekend. (800-1000lbs) and she was almost level, still had some rake to her! not bad. Didn't get any pics.
All in all, very happy with it. get the general spring kit. 802lb payload increase and remove the rear spacer shown in pics. combined with my 2" level kit, it looks great. Ride is a bit firmer but not too noticeable. Still rides amazing. Gained lift, reduced any wheelhop, and gained payload. Ain't doing all that with lift blocks!
Will try to get some pics today of the stance. And post. Trying to deal with my accident issues still so the left side is all smashed up (see other thread) Will take pics of right side. lol.
And If I get more wood I'll take a pic. Not reloading it sorry.
My goals were slightly different than yours. I wanted to remove the stock 4x4 lift block, but keep it at the same height. This would give me more suspension travel prior to hitting the overload leaf.
I also flipped over the overload leaf, to give me just a smidgen more travel before engaging that giant hunk of spring steel.
I didn't use a torch, but those old leaf pins were the hardest part of removing them. No impact wrench either, I just used a big vice grips on the round bottom pin part.
Because of time constraints I only got one side done. Which is interesting, because I can compare. The side with the add-a-leaf and no lift block actually sits lower than the stock side. No measurements yet, but it looks like about 0.5", which is surprising. I thought it would be higher.
Havent noticed any ride disparity either. But I haven't driven it much.
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 468
Likes: 50
Mine has that spacer. Stock. He did just the way I would have, no need to ever remove those main bolts, unless your actually removing the main leaf. Ford has been putting those bolts in the difficult to remove way(nuts out) for like 30 years.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 143
Likes: 22
From: London, Ontario, Canada
Yeah the spacer is int here stock, took it out. same width as the leaf i put in. Add a leaf and lose a "leaf" (more like spacer) lol. Turns out perfect IMO. ~1" of rake and 800 extra pounds capacity. Rides nice too.
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 694
Likes: 93
From: Minneapolis, MN
Not the rounded block, but the spacer above the block, that's stock on your truck? The one that looks like it's the thickness of a normal leaf?
So you had two spacers between the overload leaf and the axle? The lift block that's ~1" tall and the spacer that's about 3/8" tall?
Odd. Maybe it's added to the 145" wheelbase trucks to keep the same rake versus my 126" wheelbase truck. Mine only has the ~1" lift block between the axle and the overload leaf.
Is it bolted in with the leaf pack?
From the pictures it looks like someone cut a normal leaf down to use as a spacer.
So you had two spacers between the overload leaf and the axle? The lift block that's ~1" tall and the spacer that's about 3/8" tall?
Odd. Maybe it's added to the 145" wheelbase trucks to keep the same rake versus my 126" wheelbase truck. Mine only has the ~1" lift block between the axle and the overload leaf.
Is it bolted in with the leaf pack?
From the pictures it looks like someone cut a normal leaf down to use as a spacer.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 143
Likes: 22
From: London, Ontario, Canada
Yeah, mine was there from the factory. 3/8" or so. About the thickness of a leaf. Mines a 157" wheelbase if that means anything. Maybe all crews get it? Or over a certain trim level cuz they're heavier? not sure.
FlyFisher
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 333
Likes: 73
From: Big Sky Country
I attempted the install today, but after much frustration with trying to get the leaf-pack pins out, I decided to bolt it back up, save for another day.
The u-bolts came out easy enough. Is there a trick to getting the pins out? I was able to break the nuts loose, but then the pin just spun in place when I turned the nut. There is nothing to grab ahold of with a wrench to keep the pin from spinning with the nut. I lowered the axle until the leaf-pack started to separate from the spacer and was able to get a needle nose vice grip plier in there to grab ahold of the bottom of the pin which appeared to start working. It was such a pain though, that I decided to hold off until I had more time and also wanted to get some suggestions/tips in case I was missing something. Thanks.
The u-bolts came out easy enough. Is there a trick to getting the pins out? I was able to break the nuts loose, but then the pin just spun in place when I turned the nut. There is nothing to grab ahold of with a wrench to keep the pin from spinning with the nut. I lowered the axle until the leaf-pack started to separate from the spacer and was able to get a needle nose vice grip plier in there to grab ahold of the bottom of the pin which appeared to start working. It was such a pain though, that I decided to hold off until I had more time and also wanted to get some suggestions/tips in case I was missing something. Thanks.