What's up guys. So I am going to be getting a rough country 4-5" IFS suspension lift but I do not want to do the blocks in the rear. I want to do leafs. Laying around my shop I have f150 or 250 leafs not sure which model, wagoneer leafs (7 pack fronts, 5 pack rears) and obviously my toyota leafs for the rear. Can I piece together a leaf pack with what I've got that is tall enough for the lift? And obviously that will work well. I don't want to move the spring perches and hangers. Thoughts? Thanks

 

Well it can go one of two ways

Are all these extra springs the same measurements as your Toyota springs as far as width same size ends for the hangers .

You might be able to do it but you would need to do the math to figure if they will give you the lift you need ??

figure out just what you need and what you have .

why not just buy the correct rear springs for the lift you need.

unless these used springs have very low mileage??




It has been quite a few years since i worked in a spring shop but the theory doesn`t change .

 

Thanks for the response man. Wyoming eh? Cold yet!? Lol. So I have not done the measurements yet because I don't even know what I need to know if I am going to even try to build my own leaf pack. I don't know what math to do either.....if you could fill me in that would be awesome. I'd love to learn

Sent from my iPad using YotaTech

 

You have F150's or 250's so if you can weld make new hangers and do the Ford swap/ This will give you enough lift to match the front that you want to get. Many people have done this swap, it's similar to the 63" Chevys only using shorter leafs and no blocks.

This should get you started for reading....
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...g-swap-250609/
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyot...ring-swap.html

I did this to my 85. When I did I made a jig to make sure that my mounts were where I needed them. I can post a picture if you would like...

 

Ya please do! Great information! And yes I can weld.

So it seems I would just have to get 2 spring perches and move the front perch of the rear spring the difference in length correct? What math do I need to do to verify it will be enough lift for me?

 

I made my hangers from 1/4" plate I have and then made a jig for locating them 11" (I believe, will confirm that) in front of the original mount. The jig bolts to the spring mount and to the new mount and then you just use a bottle jack to hold it in place for welding.

Mounts





Jig





Using a 4" shackle and new rear shackle mounts that I made, it went from stock 11 1/4" rim to fender to 17 3/4" (also had a near vertical angle before it settled a bit)

Here is how the truck looks sitting on 33's.



Hope this helps... Any questions feel free to ask!

 

Ahhh yes I read your write up somewhere else on here and thought that jig you made was awesome.

What springs are those? I went and took a peek in my shop and looked at the ford springs that i've got and they look like they are 55" long eye to eye and 2.5" wide and are only a 5 leaf pack. I will take more distinct measurements and take photos of them when I have a chance. It will probably be this weekend though.

Does your truck have a lift on it? how much?

 

Some pics Ford leafs first overall length of springs Wagoneer springs Overall length Length from center bolt to middle eye on end Length from center bolt to middle eye on one end

 

The springs that I used were from an early 90's 2wd F150 with the overload. I believe that they measured 57" eye to eye. They were 2.5" wide. They are mounted long side forward, and matched pretty well with the 85 rears up front. They are mixed with some 1 other mid 80's 4Runner Main cut to fit in the second spring location and 3 other leafs from a stock YJ. Over all it netted me about 6" front and back. I also have my front axle moved forward a few inches (3.5"). If you are going to do RUF's see if you can find a set of first gen pickup rear springs. They are a bit shorter and won't require the front axle to be moved as far forward.

 

I basically did the same thing with my truck. Made hangers, fabbed up a jig that bolted to the new hanger and old hanger and welded them on, and made some shackles(5 1/2" IIRC). My jig for the spring hangers was 11" eye to eye also. My pinion angle wasn't good at all after I swapped in my springs so I got new spring perches and rotated the axle. Also got a u-bolt flip kit which in turn eliminated my factory lower shock mounts so I fabbed those up as well, along with a new upper mount and moved the shocks on top of the axle and pointed towards the center /\ like this. My springs came from a 99 f150 and had 3 leaves plus an overload. Measured 57" eye to eye like 91 4runners and I also mounted the long side forward. So far for what little I drive the truck it seems to ride much better than factory and I'm pleased with how well it flexes. I'm also planning on doing ruf springs and have my packs built. Used the factory rear springs and another rear set from my 87 parts truck. Each leaf gets progressively smaller by 3" on each end. I hope some of this helps. If nothing else I'm another person following ur thread that has already done what u are wanting to do.

 

I orgot about this part. I was going to relocate the perches, but I took my magnetic angle finder and determined that I could use a shim. I'll look back through my build and find the degree for you. The reason why I chose a shim was because I decided on using the wider IFS rear axle from my old Runner and had to cut off all the 4Link/Coil crap. It would need perches/shock mounts anyway so I chose the cheaper/easier way.

 

When I originally put the springs in I used the original sfa axle and that's when I noticed the pinion angle. If I didn't already have and ifs axle that I knew I would be swapping in then I also would have just used shims.

After reading back thru this thread the OP stated in the first post that he was purchasing an ifs lift for the front so feel free to disregard the comments about ruf packs for the front. Unless of course u plan to SAS in the near future then they are good advice

 

I posted the info on the RUFs mainly to illustrate the total amount of lift. The F150's can be tailored a bit higher/lower to better match. ie. no overload, shorter shackles. frenched hangers, weight in bed (spare and such), etc. As it stands the F150's will be a good match for the IFS front lift. If I was to remove the overload it would sit at 5" to 5.5".

 

10-4. It's all good buddy. Didn't mean to sound like it wasn't good info, it most definitely is.