55 Pickup front springs question

John Burne

John Burne

Member
After we finished up the engine swap I noticed I was feeling bumps in the road more than previously. A closer look at the leaf springs revealed they were flattened out and the right side is actually bending over into the negative. Here's my question: Did the 55 pickups w/ the 223 6 cyl come off the line with lesser springs than the 8 cyl. trucks did? I'm just wondering if these sagged out over time or were designed for a lighter motor. Ralph has a fresher set of springs I may buy off him and install. I like the standard height, but I'm open to upgrade suggestions regarding the front end and brake upgrades. Thanks, John
 
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Springs, both leaf and coil, will loose their ability to support a car after fifty years of springing. If you take leaf springs in for rebuilding, tell the spring man if you want the car to stay, or go up, or down from where they are now. A good spring shop may be hard to find everyplace, you may have to ship and wait.
 
I have the same problem on my 53 f-100, driver side 3/4 inch lower then pass side .changed both sides to brand new springs new shocks ,checked everything ,still 3/4 inch lower on driver side . I took a piece of one old leaf and made a spacer for driver side spring pack ,now I am about 1/2 inch lower , but spring still bends to the negitive,so far no one can figure it out. Someone told me it could be the rear springs causing an effect on the front springs, I you find the problem please let me know also.
 
Got rid of the stock front end and installed a Mustang II front end on my 55 f100.Added a Flaming River column and it sits perfect and turns like power steering .It isn't stock, I know ,but it sure drives nice.:D
 
Well I'm into a spring job. Reliable Ralph had a set of springs that look quite new. They were on a front axle he bought for the disk brake kit. I bought em and got the truck jacked up and blocked up last night. I sprayed the nuts and tried later with a mid size breaker bar. Not a chance. I'll try tomorrow with an impact gun and heat I guess. I had hopes of a quick change out without bothering friends, but 50+ years have rusted up those bolts good. I've got a 4' breaker bar if I need it, although I'll add more blocking before thrashing around with that beast of a tool. - John
 
I had the same problem with my 53 f-100, installed new springs in front, new shocks ,made sure rear springs were not binding , still truck sagged one inch lower on driver side , keep in mind , the driver side has the fuel tank, the steering box and column ,another 70 lbs or more ,and drivers weight . after trying everything I took the truck to A local spring shop,two hours later and $250.00 ,truck is perfect, they added a full length leaf ,and re arched the leaf pack.everything good simple fix.
 
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