I thought I’d share my suspension experience as I couldn’t find any posts that used my idea to improve my ride.
My 2013 F150 has 250,00 Km so the ride was extremely soft and loose. I think it was also experiencing some axle wrap as well. The factory only had 2 leaf springs and I needed it to be stiffer. I wanted to raise the back and stiffen up the ride so I could carry a load better on my work truck. I didn’t want to use lift blocks to raise the back of my truck because that wouldn’t help my truck carry a load.

I had a pair of left over leaf springs from my 2007 F150. The auto wrecker charged me $50 for both complete leaf packs. I think both leaf springs were a bit tired and had lost some arc, but they were good enough for my purpose. Now it is important that these leaf springs are 0.335 inch thick by 3 inches wide. Compare that with my 2013 F150 has much thicker springs at 0.450 inch thick.



I cut both ends at 20 inches from the center holes. Sanded and painted them. Total length was about 41 inches.




Installation is straight forward. I didn’t run into any difficulties except for the dreaded center leaf spring bolts that were seized pretty good. I didn’t remove the current spring pack so you don’t have to cut any of the shackle or frame mount bolts. I also re used the Ubolts as they were plenty long enough for one extra leaf spring.




Add a pair of Rancho RS9000XL shocks (with Bilstien 5100 up front) and I’m done.

I think I'd lengthen the leaf if I did it over again because the lift ended up at 1.5 inches which is good enough, but the ride is far better! I can’t adequately describe how much better it drives with and without a load.

 

Looks great. I like the truck to have a rake in it. This way when you load up it's level. I never understood why you would by a truck to tow but then level it and have to use air bags or such to fix the problem you caused.
Good job and it looks great.

 

That looks awesome! Well done, you!

I prefer a level truck, because I rarely load up the bed. So I'd rather have a taildragger for an hour while I pick up a load of mulch, than to have a rake all the rest of the time. But that's just me!

 

I agree. However, mine is waay too high in the back end and I'm trying to find the best way to drop it a little bit.

 

My local spring shop can take the arc out of your leaf spring with a cold arc. That way you could add a leaf, stiffen the suspension and lower your truck. Keep us posted.