Ford Ranger Forum - Forums for Ford Ranger enthusiasts!

Go Back   Ford Ranger Forum - Forums for Ford Ranger enthusiasts! > > >
Forgot Password? Join Us!

Welcome to Ford Ranger Forum

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread

  #1  
Old 05-27-2015, 07:54 PM
Undrstm8ed Undrstm8ed is offline
Habenae Est Dominatus
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,893
Default Heavy Duty Leaf Spring Swap From Stock 93/97 Rangers...

I spent three hours today swapping out my std, XLT, 4.0L Ranger leaf springs out. From what I understand and have found is the OEM leafs for 2WD are 1100lbs. 4x4 are 1250lbs, and these are heavy duty upgrades that put me at 1750lbs. I must say what a difference !

They make the 349lb Flip-Pac on the back seem like it’s not there whatsoever. With the stock leafs in place, hard braking or coming into a corner just a little warm. The bed would dance all over and make for an uncomfortable experience without trying to push it. It was seriously needed for all the gear I carry and for my overlanding needs; and I still think I may have to still add-a-leaf for helper springs when all is said and done.

Now I am no bad-ass as far as muscle bound but I did this with no help, just hand tools, on an asphalt pad, and with no lubrication.. (yea, that’s what she did say…) those in colder climates that get snow, will likely need a can of PB Blaster to aid in keeping the swears and tool throwing down.

Tools needed:

- 18mm socket deep
- 19mm socket deep
- 21mm socket deep or short
- 19mm box end wrench
- 21mm box end wrench
- A large screwdriver or small pry bar
- 3/8” & ½” ratchets
- A hammer (doesn’t need to be the hammer of Thor either)
- Pair of jack stands (safety first)
- A ratcheting strap
- 4-way or tire iron
- Brush (to wipe off dirt on perches)
- Blanket/sheet to work on

I had started on the Passenger side due to the Sun being a bit less overhead and I was trying to beat it to the other side for the afternoon, so much for that. If I had to do it again, not that its any more difficult but I would have started on the driver side. Really the only difference is the emergency brake cable bracket attaches to the forward shackle/mount on the drivers side.




First loosen the lug nuts before jacking the vehicle up.



Now, you can use what ever jack you prefer. Myself I happened to have recently purchased my Hi-Lift jack and wanted to give it a shot rather than leaving it strapped to my hood like “some” of the trail-queen JEEP owners I know.



Now the leaf springs I got seem to be compliant with 2WD and 4x4’s just a matter of having already the 2” block on the 4x4’s which isn’t present on the 2WD models, at least for the 93-97 models. I purchased them from rockauto.com at $154 and some change. After they came in I attempted to show someone else the link to them and they seem to be gone now from the options. So I am posting the manufacture and part # sticker. They are located in NJ or NY and sadly unless you have a part number, they aren’t to up on their product knowledge for older vehicles, that was my impression.



As you can see there is quite the difference in the leaf packs as well as the U-bolts needed. Now for U bolts there are two different sized axle shafts to work with. I am not sure if its related to whether or not its 2WD or 4x4 or if it’s the axle or engine sizes. Maybe someone can chime in on this and answer that question for some people. Now the original bolts for mine were ½” x 2 7/8” x 6 1/2”. I opted for a 10” version because of the need for maybe a 1-2” block and a helper spring at a later date possibly.

Now I’ll be honest, there are several places here in SoCal I could get U-bolts from. Everyone wanted to charge me twice of that which I paid for mine, and they all seem to be getting them from the same place. $120+ was excessive for U-Bolts, made in America sales pitch or not.

There is an awesome place in Santa Anna, CA that does 85% leaf springs and U-bolts, custom, right there on the spot while you wait, and they know their shit. $43 + $11 in gas (beats $120).
Those familiar in the works of Deaver know already who I am talking about. Scott down there is very knowledgeable on several levels and is a no bullshit kind of guy. Tell him what you want to do, and he will put you in the right direction.



Anything longer than 10” you will need to jump up a size and re-drill your upper spring plates. ½ bolts are only available up to 10”, anything larger I believe bumps you to 9/16 or more.



First loosen all of the bolts on the stock U-bolts, you will need an 18mm socket for this. Do not remove them fully, leave them assembled.



For the forward bolt you will need your 21mm socket and a 21mm box end wrench to hold the head on the reverse side. And same for the rear bolt. The shackle bolt is removed with just the socket as the nut on the back has a retainer style bolt that aids in R&R’ing it. The shackles don’t technically need to be removed but I did so to check the bushings and it did make lining up the holes upon reassembly easier.







Once these are pulled you can now pull the upper spring plate and carefully lift the spring pack out by dipping it backwards and pulling out from behind the rear wheel hub. At least that’s what seemed easiest.



Reinstallation is simply the opposite as removal in every way. Leaning the new spring pack inwards towards the front, lean it forward and tilt the rear upwards and rest it on the lower spring perch. ** DO NOT SET THE LOWER PIN IN THE LOWER SPRING PERCH HOLE AT THIS TIME !**

Front (larger bushing)



Rear (smaller bushing) without shackle attached yet.



NOW STOP !

Now here is the part where I am going to save you some time. The new spring pack as a double nut for the upper guide pin and does not go through the upper spring plate as it should. The upper spring plate should be flush to the spring pack to be correctly fitted.







Simply using a UNI-bit or step drill bit, drill out the center of the upper spring perch. If one of the nuts used for the U-bolts can swim inside a bit that’s perfect, but don’t over do it.



Now since I know better now and I am also not using a block of any kind yet. I should have asked for double washers from Deaver, lesson learned. Once the plate was able to pass through the upper spring pack pin. The threads on the u bolts were likely going to bottom out on the shank before tightening down as needed. So adding two ½” washers to each shaft tightened things up nicely. A 19mm deep socket helps with speed threading the new nuts. Tighten with 19mm Wrench.







Now before you tighten the U-bolts, grab your ratchet strap. Wrapping it around the rear shackle on the passenger side and the axle, ratchet the axle backwards until you can guide the lower pin into the hole in the lower spring perch. With a little guidance and a wiggling it should go right in. Torque bolts down to 55-60lbs









Cont...
__________________
_______________________

My Build Pg. Threads
+ 93' Ranger Overlanding Build
+ 94' Ranger Bed Overlanding Trailer Build
+ 12° North Industries ~ I Support

Last edited by Undrstm8ed; 05-27-2015 at 08:08 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 05-27-2015, 07:55 PM
Undrstm8ed Undrstm8ed is offline
Habenae Est Dominatus
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,893
Default Re: Heavy Duty Leaf Spring Swap From Stock 93/97 Rangers...

As you can see I have enough thread for an Add-a-leaf helper spring and up to a 2 ½” block.



Now the only thing that changes for the driver side is the E-brake bracket and the direction to which you need to pull the axle to set the lower pin. (needs to be pulled towards front of the truck not backwards usually).





At this point you can tighten everything down to factory specs, reinstall the wheels, remove jack stands, and lower down the vehicle. DON’T FORGET TO TIGHTEN THE LUGS BEFORE DRIVING AWAY !!
I also suggest at 25-30 miles retighten the wheels if you didn’t use a torque wrench and after 500 miles check all of the bolts to the springs. They will loosen up some. At 1000 miles I suggest a 3rd tightening down.

Now the ride quality was most impressive and I may have gained a ¾ to 1” lift in the rear but the springs have not settled yet so I am unclear of if that slight lift will remain in a week or a month. Either way I have the leveling kit for the fronts I am doing in another day and room for a block in the back if needed still along with the Bilstein 5100’s all around.



By weekend I should have the 2” body lift done. Then the tires go on so I can stop rolling on street/autocross tires and look proper.

I hope this helps someone anyone considering a HD leaf spring setup or just giving someone the confidence to doing replacement leaf springs for similar needs for capacity improvements.

Myself I am still considering SAS swap for the front end yet. The future will tell….
__________________
_______________________

My Build Pg. Threads
+ 93' Ranger Overlanding Build
+ 94' Ranger Bed Overlanding Trailer Build
+ 12° North Industries ~ I Support
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 05-30-2015, 05:46 AM
msparks msparks is offline
Ford Ranger Driver
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 905
Default Re: Heavy Duty Leaf Spring Swap From Stock 93/97 Rangers...

Awesome job! Thanks for the write up.....
__________________
2005 FX4 4.0 SOHC L/S 4.10 Automatic Transmission k&n drop-in air filter, filter box mod, LED tag and back up lights
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 05-30-2015, 05:26 PM
Undrstm8ed Undrstm8ed is offline
Habenae Est Dominatus
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,893
Default Re: Heavy Duty Leaf Spring Swap From Stock 93/97 Rangers...

Quote:
Originally Posted by msparks View Post
Awesome job! Thanks for the write up.....
Thanks..

The next day after I did the Leveling kit up front but I think I will just do a complete build thread and put it all in there. rather than clutter up bandwidth.
__________________
_______________________

My Build Pg. Threads
+ 93' Ranger Overlanding Build
+ 94' Ranger Bed Overlanding Trailer Build
+ 12° North Industries ~ I Support
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 01-04-2016, 04:44 PM
Danny74 Danny74 is offline
Banned
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 138
Default Re: Heavy Duty Leaf Spring Swap From Stock 93/97 Rangers...

Thank you for this write up . This is very helpful to me
I have a 95 2WD Ranger that I want to increase the payload capacity by adding bigger springs.
I am assuming that since this article was 1st written that you added the add-a-leif spring helpers that you mentioned?.
Can you tell me what you think the payload capacity is now ?
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 01-06-2016, 07:46 PM
Undrstm8ed Undrstm8ed is offline
Habenae Est Dominatus
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,893
Default Re: Heavy Duty Leaf Spring Swap From Stock 93/97 Rangers...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Danny74 View Post
Thank you for this write up . This is very helpful to me
I have a 95 2WD Ranger that I want to increase the payload capacity by adding bigger springs.
I am assuming that since this article was 1st written that you added the add-a-leaf spring helpers that you mentioned?.
Can you tell me what you think the payload capacity is now ?
Glad It was useful.. I have not needed to add the helper springs in just yet. The main reason for preparing for them was the fact I was going to buy a 10" tall, 2 drawer, Truck vault system for obvious reasons. - http://www.truckvault.com/Products/B...ckup_Truck.php . However, cost factors, the fact that despite the use of less materials, they were willing to let me "have it my way" but the costs went beyond the logic.

I have since then came up with an alternative option that allows me to improve upon the overall design constraints their product would have left me with, I can build what I want and how I want out of lighter materials, lose only 28lbs of same capacity in structure, and for a 1/3 of the cost overall. Weight was the biggest concern for a giant "steel" drawer system. This will be another full on write up for others to try or use. So far I've got 3 maybe 4 others now on the hook to have me design out their bed vaults and build them... We'll see how that goes.

Ideally the OEM leaf springs are 1100lb units. The newer leafs bumped me 1750 by comparison and also added 1.375" (1 3/8") of lift in the rear.

The add-a-leaf spring kits very by manufacture and style and weight needed.. (from less to more in what I was considering, see below links for ideas)



- 550 Ez Level Load Capacity: 550 lbs
http://www.hellwigproducts.com/looku...posite+Springs

- 1250 Ez Level Load Capacity: 1,250 lbs
http://www.hellwigproducts.com/looku...s.+Capacity%3B

- 983 Ez Level Load Capacity: 2,000 lbs
http://www.hellwigproducts.com/looku...posite+Springs

Ideally, I'm still at the 1750lb level. Hope that helps too...
__________________
_______________________

My Build Pg. Threads
+ 93' Ranger Overlanding Build
+ 94' Ranger Bed Overlanding Trailer Build
+ 12° North Industries ~ I Support

Last edited by Undrstm8ed; 01-06-2016 at 08:00 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 03-03-2016, 06:21 PM
AG-Ranger AG-Ranger is offline
Ford Ranger Owner
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 64
Default

Thanks this is great. My truck is leaning to the driver side so once I'm done fabbing new bumpers, I'll be doing this leaf upgrade. I'll definitely reference this thread.
__________________
'93 Ford Ranger XLT; extended cab; 4WD; 4.0 liter V6 OHV. 3" inch BL; BF Goodrich AT 33"X12.50X15 on Cragar Soft 8s; trimmed out fenders; paint job is rattle can bedliner; home made front bumper is 3/16" plate around 4"X4"X3/16" rectangular tube.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 03-04-2016, 01:40 PM
Undrstm8ed Undrstm8ed is offline
Habenae Est Dominatus
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,893
Default Re: Heavy Duty Leaf Spring Swap From Stock 93/97 Rangers...

Quote:
Originally Posted by AG-Ranger View Post
Thanks this is great. My truck is leaning to the driver side so once I'm done fabbing new bumpers, I'll be doing this leaf upgrade. I'll definitely reference this thread.

__________________
_______________________

My Build Pg. Threads
+ 93' Ranger Overlanding Build
+ 94' Ranger Bed Overlanding Trailer Build
+ 12° North Industries ~ I Support
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 02-26-2022, 06:46 PM
Danny74 Danny74 is offline
Banned
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 138
Default Re: Heavy Duty Leaf Spring Swap From Stock 93/97 Rangers...

I never got around to doing any type of spring upgrades to my truck. Other things popped up and I didn't have the funds to do low priorityupgrades likethis. Although now I know somebody who's got set of stock springs for 50 bucks, & and I was wondering if I could bastardize them and just and a couple Leafs out of them to my stock ones.
.
Does anybody have any opinions or insights on this?. I remember doing a bastard pack for my Jeep Cherokee years ago. Stock Springs from most of the vehicles are real cheap at a junkyard near me for cars that are within 10 years of age.

Last edited by Danny74; 02-26-2022 at 07:25 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 02-28-2022, 12:46 AM
Undrstm8ed Undrstm8ed is offline
Habenae Est Dominatus
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,893
Default Re: Heavy Duty Leaf Spring Swap From Stock 93/97 Rangers...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Danny74 View Post
I never got around to doing any type of spring upgrades to my truck. Other things popped up and I didn't have the funds to do low priorityupgrades likethis. Although now I know somebody who's got set of stock springs for 50 bucks, & and I was wondering if I could bastardize them and just and a couple Leafs out of them to my stock ones.
.
Does anybody have any opinions or insights on this?. I remember doing a bastard pack for my Jeep Cherokee years ago. Stock Springs from most of the vehicles are real cheap at a junkyard near me for cars that are within 10 years of age.


I'll apologize upfront.. tend to get carried away with details and explanations as someone who generally over analyzes things...

but your '93 Ranger is 29 years old, I can certainly relate to things being a bit tough for some folks, wanting a good deal on things.. but I have to ask. Why would you take the cost of time, labor, tooling, pride in clean & prep, maybe paint, possibly chasing around town for supplies; whether that's even just lunch or a coffee, to buy additional 10-30 yr old parts to bastardize a set of springs just to save what? $24 even $60
  • Plus not get the benefits of new(er) truck feeling ride?
  • A bump in payload capacity? Safety and peace of mind?
  • A product and component that has a progressive lost over time and use to loose its tension therefore mitigating the actual purpose they provide on a vehicle known for axle wrap already?


The delay, for whatever reasons they may be has certainly more of a cost now.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...HQYShFDw%3D%3D

New Cost $204


Just do it right and be done with it. I'd assume you work hard for your money,.. Yes? GET SOMETHING for it..


Here's a cost analysis for perspective.

My Ranger has a 17 Gal tank.

On the daily grind I can net 19-21 MPG, Reg gas is $3.99 at one of my better watering hole for the truck. Premium fuel is $4.39 at the same station right now [Cant wait to re-read this post in 10 years]

With premium fuel, I tend to get that extra 1-2 MPG from above,at a $ .40 premium, with a total cost of $6.80

Some quick math 1mpg + 2mpg = 3mpg/2 = 1.5mpg x 17gal tank = 25.5mpg Avg.

Less $4.39 for another 1Gal [19-21mpg] / less $2.41


So for the current price of a King-Sized Candy bar + Tax I got an extra 25.5MPG average. $2.41 is an acceptable loss for the cost of $ .40 a gal more.

My rig runs better, I get the better MPG, the gas is NEW [lol] and I was likely going to buy a King sized Candy bar or 2 Arizona tea's anyway.


As I said, I trust you may work hard for your money. If you're still filing a 1040a or only have one income stream coming in, you need some deductions. Create your name into an LLC, have your paychecks rewritten to your business name - possibly paid as a 1099 from your employer, pay yourself, put your truck into your business name and write stuff off. Fuel, maintenance, payments.. whatever. Its cheaper than the alternative of having children for write offs.


UPDATED MOD: The new Deaver Springs, a set of F31, I picked up the guys over at https://www.12degnorth.com/product-p...d-ranger-83-08

Still need to be installed once the front TTB arms are turned and done new for Mid-Travel set up..

.
__________________
_______________________

My Build Pg. Threads
+ 93' Ranger Overlanding Build
+ 94' Ranger Bed Overlanding Trailer Build
+ 12° North Industries ~ I Support

Last edited by Undrstm8ed; 02-28-2022 at 01:02 AM.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Leaf spring swap Q & A kool_ade85 Suspension Tech 18 01-29-2015 09:05 AM
64" leaf spring swap questions 86indy Suspension Tech 2 11-09-2014 02:39 PM
Stock leaf spring codes - Help! ernestrulezd00d Suspension Tech 6 07-20-2011 07:16 AM
leaf spring swap? TMO Lifted Suspension 5 01-27-2011 04:05 AM
Stock heavy duty Suspension ELLIOTT General Tech 0 01-03-2011 06:46 PM