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Old 09-24-2015, 04:42 AM   #1
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Front leaf spring arch, and resulting travel or lift?

I'm considering aftermarket progressive leaf springs for my 88 F350 D60 front axle, but I haven't removed the existing 2wd front suspension to make room to measure how much arch I want.

Can anyone comment on how much arch their front springs were, and how much travel or lift they ended up with?

I want to keep the van as low as possible on 33" tires as its main duty is interstate towing. So without knowing the arch, I was going to order 1"- 2" 2200 lb capacity F350 springs and hope its low enough or modify the frame hangers higher if its to low.

Thanks!

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Old 09-24-2015, 06:44 AM   #2
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Re: Front leaf spring arch, and resulting travel or lift?

The SMB leaf over axle setup is almost completely flat. I haven't removed them to see if there is any arch.
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Old 09-24-2015, 06:58 AM   #3
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Re: Front leaf spring arch, and resulting travel or lift?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tapatio
The SMB leaf over axle setup is almost completely flat. I haven't removed them to see if there is any arch.
Thanks Tapatio.
Id like my leafs to end up flat like yours. I imagine yours looks like this..

http://octopup.org/sportsmobile/4x4
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Old 09-24-2015, 07:19 AM   #4
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Re: Front leaf spring arch, and resulting travel or lift?

Advertised wheel travel is 22" with the sway bar disconnected.

http://www.sportsmobile.com/sportsmobile-4x4/
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Old 09-24-2015, 08:37 PM   #5
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Re: Front leaf spring arch, and resulting travel or lift?

Would love to know how they measure to get 22" of travel from a leaf spring.
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Old 09-24-2015, 10:50 PM   #6
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Re: Front leaf spring arch, and resulting travel or lift?

Combined articulated wheel travel? In that case, my crawler would have nearly 60" of travel (which really has more like 18" of vertical travel.)

You can't simply go by free arch to determine ride height and/or travel. As an example, a spring with little arch and a high spring rate can have exactly the same ride height as a spring with a lot of free arch and a low spring rate... however, they will perform DRASTICALLY different. If I were in your shoes and insisted on making one-off hangers (is that what you're doing) I'd first have the van weighed, get some rough dimensions of where your hangers will be (even cardboard mockup brackets taped to the frame could get you semi-close), determine your desired ride height/loaded arch (and intended use) and start calling spring manufacturers.

Commercially available "kits" might start looking like a better value after that... Maybe buying production springs from U-joint (or other?) and making your brackets fit the springs would be a good option (or is that what you meant in the first place?)
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Old 09-25-2015, 05:37 AM   #7
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Re: Front leaf spring arch, and resulting travel or lift?

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheLetterJ
Commercially available "kits" might start looking like a better value after that... Maybe buying production springs from U-joint (or other?) and making your brackets fit the springs would be a good option (or is that what you meant in the first place?)
Thanks. I'm going to ask Chris. Even though his hangers wont work, Im sure his springs would.
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Old 09-25-2015, 06:50 AM   #8
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Re: Front leaf spring arch, and resulting travel or lift?

My springs and hangers are made to work together. Length, center pin location, lift height, etc.

So yes, my kit would make the conversion MUCH simpler but you already know that
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Old 09-25-2015, 03:43 PM   #9
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Re: Front leaf spring arch, and resulting travel or lift?

Quote:
Originally Posted by UJOINT
Would love to know how they measure to get 22" of travel from a leaf spring.
22 inches my *ss. No way.
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Old 09-25-2015, 03:51 PM   #10
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Re: Front leaf spring arch, and resulting travel or lift?

Quote:
Originally Posted by UJOINT
Would love to know how they measure to get 22" of travel from a leaf spring.
Add up all four corners?
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