Rear Leaf Springs

[Vintage Iron Fab]

Can the broncos just put 3" rear leaf springs on from a f-150 or do you need the f150 hangers??

[philofab]

Can the broncos just put 3" rear leaf springs on from a f-150 or do you need the f150 hangers??

You can use 3" F150 4x4 springs without mods or different hangars. The 2.5 width 2wd springs will need two .25 spacers (or washers) per a bushing or use of hangars and shackles from an F150 2wd.

[monkei]

Are there any good cheaper alternatives to the >$700 Deaver 5" F40s?

[philofab]

Are there any good cheaper alternatives to the >$700 Deaver 5" F40s?

Find a set of used ones or try and build your own hybrid pack out of junkyard springs. I can tell you right now Deavers will work way better than any junkyard combo.

[tcm glx]

Buy deavers, new or used, its the best way to go.

[Polarcub]

While I agree with Tony National used to offer a spring as well for the broncos. My current set of J40s was much less than 700...not sure what they are listing as but when I picked these up a year ago they were trying to get some off the shelf and gave me a super deal. It may be worth a call to deaver and find out. It may also be worth seeing if a parts store has the rear springs form a superlift or the likes while I am partial to deavers if you get the taller springs out of a kit they are a decent leaf spring that will get you through until you can get the deavers or another.

[tcm glx]

Yeah, I agree with Jer, nationals are great as well.

Superlifts or ranchos I am sure will get the job done for a while, but would not compare.

I am most likley going to have a set of used f53s as well as a set of f64s available shortly.

I have been wanting to replace my f53 with a new set instead of rebuilding mine, and I am picking up a bronco for my brother that has f64s, and we are going to throw f53s on it as well.

[johncharlesb]

The cheapest and easiest is used Deavers/Nationals.

I am building a set of "junkyard" GM 64 inch springs now. I wanted the added length of the GM spring. There is a post showing these setups under Ranger Rear Suspension http://www.gofastbroncos.com/forum/view ... f=15&t=597 I may change to a Deaver/National 64" spring pack later, will have to see how these work. I suspect they will work and cycle well, but be prone to cracking because of the limited number of leaves. The GM spring rate is 155lbs per inch. My current spring rate is 288lbs per inch.

John

[Dust]

What is the OE Bronco spring pack rated at?

[johncharlesb]

What is the OE Bronco spring pack rated at?

Those rate numbers were pulled off an Eaton chart, but did not see a Bronco listing. There are rate calculators around the net:
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_li ... ngrate.htm
I will measure the 1995 main leaf thickness later and run it through the calculator. Here are the other dimensions:
http://www.sdtrucksprings.com/index.php ... ts_id=7755

[lifeinthesouth]

I was very happy with my Alcan springs.
http://www.alcanspring.com/
They have been around for many years and all there spring packs are custom made to your specs.
They have all the baseline info for the vehicle, stock rate, weight, etc. you give them all your specs and they build them. They're all mil wrap, 9-10 leaf packs. They even have a page on their website to enter all you info for a quote.
Customer service is great and prices are good too... ~$500 a pair.
Just throwing out another option.

[johncharlesb]

What is the OE Bronco spring pack rated at?

The 95 Bronco main spring was 5/16ths or .3125
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_li ... ngrate.htm

[vegasff13]

Deaver is selling the f53 at 30% off right now. I have a set Im picking up at right around 521$. Cant beat that price for NEW Deavers.

[monkei]

Deaver is selling the f53 at 30% off right now

isn't that a 3.5" wide spring?

http://www.deaverspring.com/products/leafsfd.html

I want the J40 (5") but they don't seem to come up used much.

Bronco Graveyard sells a deaver 10 leaf pack for a Bronco sold as 4" lift for $550

http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/i-335 ... leafs.html

[Jasonj105]

Thats 3.5 lift,because its for the 2wd i think its 2.5 inches wide

[shockseals.com]

ive got F53's and with gear and 4 people they arent tall enough...just an FYI for people building chase rig/prerunners. The rate is good though.




more pics...

http://www.animalhousedesigns.net/album ... jave_trail

[philofab]

ive got F53's and with gear and 4 people they arent tall enough...just an FYI for people building chase rig/prerunners. The rate is good though.

When I got my F64s everyone told me they are stiff and the F53s are a better way to go. I actually can't imagine the rear
needing to be softer than it is. It rides a little stiff if it's completely empty but once my
spare, a bag of tools, ice chest, and recovery case are in there it works great. Much better than most people will let you believe a leaf spring setup can work.

[Dust]

Is there like a chart that lists what the configuration for all these alphabet springs are?
The Deaver site shows what they fit but that don't tell me nothing spec wise...
I know, I should know, but

[Polarcub]

ive got F53's and with gear and 4 people they arent tall enough...just an FYI for people building chase rig/prerunners. The rate is good though.

When I got my F64s everyone told me they are stiff and the F53s are a better way to go. I actually can't imagine the rear
needing to be softer than it is. It rides a little stiff if it's completely empty but once my
spare, a bag of tools, ice chest, and recovery case are in there it works great. Much better than most people will let you believe a leaf spring setup can work.

I am with you on that, I had the F64s and the rate was fine I think shackles would have really made them better overall but the J40 is IMO a much better spring. Even before I put the extended shackles in the performance was much better. Now that I have the shackles on there I wont change the leafs with anything else. I still am not a fan of going narrower on them. Especially loaded.

[philofab]

F53 is actually an F150 2WD spring. It is 2.5 inches wide and 3.5" of lift
F64 is a 3" wide spring with a 3" lift
J40 is a 3" wide spring with a 5" lift

As far as rates go, these leaves are very progressive and the rate increases quite a bit under compression.