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Old 07-31-2008, 11:17 AM   #1
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Front springs 04 E350

I've never been happy with the ride/handling of my van, especially since the 4wd conversion.

It came with 4400# springs. I replaced them with SuperSprings 5000# springs. Now, I want to try some lighter springs.

Anybody have a gas engined van (~36-3800# springs) and want to try some heavier springs? I'm willing to trade.

Local would be nice, since they are heavy to ship but easy to change out.

Mike - Santa Clara, CA

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Old 07-31-2008, 03:54 PM   #2
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Mike do they ride stiff? I might be interested. Ours sits a little low in the rear.

How do we check to see what springs we currently have? Is it on the door tag?
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Old 08-01-2008, 08:21 AM   #3
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Sorry, I'm only talking about the front springs.

I have a technical book from Ford that lists all the springs. The only way to tell one coil from another is by the 2 letter code tag on the spring or by the wire diameter. If you can measure the wire diameter accurately, I can tell what the spring is.

Mike
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Old 08-01-2008, 09:26 AM   #4
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No problem.. we aren't running coils anyways. We have leafs upfront.
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Old 08-01-2008, 12:07 PM   #5
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front coils on SK conversion

Mike,

One problem you may run into with the lighter coils is that you could start hitting the bump stops more than you wish. We have a 2001 E250 based SMB with a relatively recent SK conversion (2007 F350 front axle). With the stock E250 coils (3700#), we were hitting the bump stops often & hard. Craig at SK gave us some 4600# coils he had lying around to prevent this, but I was worried about getting too stiff a ride & lifting the front end. Instead, we put air bags in the 3700# coils which adds a very non-linear spring constant to the existing coils. Filling the airbags to the middle of their pressure range almost eliminated most of the crashes into the bump stop without adding to the harshness of the ride. In fact, qualitatively I think it even smoothed out the ride somewhat. That said, I, and especially Bonnie, think the ride is still too harsh so if you find any solution to smoothing out the ride with the front coils, please post.
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Old 08-01-2008, 01:55 PM   #6
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What I want to try is some softer springs. Then I will add enough spacer under the spring to get the ride height and set the shocks firm enough to prevent bottoming. Then hopefully, I won't get the 'bouncing' I get on some highways with 25-30' repetitive bumps.

As it is, I never bottom out. Bottoming out a couple times a year wouldn't bother me.

I should call Craig and see if he has a set of softer springs laying around.

Mike
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