Hi Everybody,

Finally got my dream 1996 2wd inline 6 stick shift truck. Its been running great so far. Problem is when I try to load the bed with anything. I tried hauling one yard of dirt and the bed rides super low. If I had the hitch on, it would have been scraping the road.

1) Is the truck not supposed to be able to carry a yard of dirt?
2) Why would somebody stuff a washer in there?

To fix, can I get away with new springs or do I have to upgrade to SD spings or airbag helpers. I'd like to tow a 4500LB boat/trailer.

Thanks

 

Cubic yard of dirt weighs close to 2000 pounds, maybe more if wet. Not surprised at all it is sagging so much. Are you sure that is a washer and not an insulator from the leaf spring that came loose?

Best things to do for helping your tow situation would be to make sure your springs are solid (front and rear), improve your shocks, and add factory sway bars. What's its current axle gear ratio?

 

Just saw that my axle code is "12" = 2.73 ratio. Guess that means I shouldn't tow more than an empty trailer?

I live in FL btw, steepest inclines are bridges and boat ramps.

 

2.73 is definitely the highway gear set - you'll get great gas mileage but can't pull much. At least the manual transmission has a 1st gear that makes it a little better.

Consider upgrading to a 3.55 rear end to tow. You could pull an entire rear end off of any F150 from 87-96 that has the gear ratio you need. A limited slip wouldn't be a bad idea either since it is 2WD. Take it as an opportunity to do a major upgrade on your truck and also knock out some maintenance as well.

 

There's more to hauling heavy than just gears, and a yard of Florida dirt is HEAVY - particularly for a 1/2-ton pickup. Changing the axle won't change the truck's certified (& LEGAL in most places) GVWR & GCWR. What are yours? Click this & read the caption:


(phone app link)

If you need to haul that much, you need a heavier truck; not a modified F150.

 

It does seem to me that the bed is riding a little low. I hauled 2 yards of dirt and my leaf springs were completely compressed, but it drove great and it wasnt as low as yours.
you does your truck have the higher gvwr package? if it doesnt you probably can do the suspension mods that will make it the same as if it did. mine had 6 leafs on each side from the factory, the ammount of leafs on the truck will also effect the way it sits when loaded.
And the other guys are right, swapping in a 3.55 rear end should help with carrying loads. and lastly, if you have a manual trnasmission, do you know which one it is? of the five speeds, you are gonna want the zf, not the m5od if you will be hauling and towing.

 

Simply adding more steel leaves to what the truck has to carry will REDUCE the amount of dirt it can carry, by the weight of those leaves. There's more to hauling heavy than just springs. The WHOLE CHASSIS has to be engineered for it: brakes, wheel bearings, tires, frame, transmission, gears, engine, EEC programming, and more. That's why it's so hard to find 2 apparently-identical trucks with the same weights on their VC labels.

The only way for a typical owner to increase the hauling capacity is to use a different truck with higher capacity.

 

My suggestions for a different gear set were aimed at his towing problem, not his bed sagging problem. If it's not legal to tow his boat he obviously shouldn't. But it's also not legal to do 85 on the highway, yet I do it all the time.

 

I don't have a an RPM gauge but tried revving the engine through the gears to, then comparing to an RPM calculator. 1st gear maxes out at 25mph, so I figured the rear end had already been swapped out to a 3.55 or 3.73. Truck has the m5od, confirmed by the super tall reverse gear. GVWR = 6100 per door sticker. BTW the brakes on this truck are the best Ive ever had, better than Toyota Tacoma or any of the sedans I've had.

I'm just going to put an air bag kit under the rear leafs and keep the towing under 5,000lbs. Truck has already exceeded all expectations for a 23 year old $2,500 Ford.

 

The rear end might have a tag on it with a code telling you what gear ratio it is.

Or you can block up the front wheels and jack up the rear end, put it in neutral, and see how many rotations of the driveshaft it takes to spin the wheels one full revolution. If you discover its a swapped in rear end, it will also be obvious as to whether or not it has a limited slip or locker in it based on the way the wheels move.

If you are interested, you can also swap in a cluster that has a tachometer. The gauges are modular so you can keep your original mileage. But you would need to pull it from a 96 truck only because of the wiring differences present in that year.