Leaf spring shims

[Muffin1]

After solving the soft shocks by replacing with Bilsteins 5100’s I want to try and solve the left side lean I noticed that I have two shims on the left rear spring and only one on the right side, it sits 1 inch higher on the right side and the shim is not a inch thick, but was thinking of removing it and that would help a bit, anyone notice multiple shims on their Ranger?
Also both leaf packs have the yellow ‘+’ on them fwiw, anyone remove the shim is it pinned in?
TIA,
Rob.

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[Frenchy]

So in reality you have one spacer/shim on the left side and none on the right side. This is considered normal. The real question is what do you normally have in the truck and what side is it normally on?

Unfortunately I will say the rear leds are a bit soft in a way that the little lean is going to happen(and Ford says its just fine). When I had the Old Man EMU lift it did the same thing with those leaf springs. Did I like it? Not necessarily but I got used to it.

 

[Muffin1]

Interesting way to look at it, so if I removed the one shim on the right side I’d be negative then on that side lol, im guessing that will accomplish the level I’m looking for.
There must be some poor tolerances on the leaf packs for Ford to compensate in this manner, seems like they created this leaning issue.
They could’ve used better matched springs instead of a after fix which creates a different issue.
As far as what I carry just homeowner stuff nothing commercial or heavy and I usually try to keep it on the higher(right side) if its heavy but that’s not always the case with odd shaped stuff like patio furniture I’ll be moving, and that’s not all that heavy otherwise I just balance it out.

 

[Frenchy]

Actually what you think is a shim is part of the leaf. The only shim/spacer is litteraly on the drivers side. If you remove that you will see the drivers side drop a fair bit more.

 

[Muffin1]

Ahh, I just looked under there again, both left and right have a similar thick one,( what you are referring to as part of the leaf ) and the left side has shim (thinner) so they did try compensating the left but not enough it appears, thanks for helping me understand what’s going on.

 

[Curtis]

@Muffin1 So, what did you do to try and correct the lean? Add a spacer (part# 5598) to a side or remove a previously installed spacer from a side?

 

[Muffin1]

@Muffin1 So, what did you do to try and correct the lean? Add a spacer (part# 5598) to a side or remove a previously installed spacer from a side?

I would need to get longer shackles used on the Tremor so there are enough threads for the nuts to thread on, optimally it would be better to just lower the pass side instead of raising the drivers side to match the already 'high' pass side, so other than changing out the pair of leafs to the multi leaf design that's not going to be possible, so that leaves adding a second shim to the drivers side. Also not sure if the added shim has a 'pin' or 'dowel' so it doesn't shift out of place while stacking two shims, i haven't read anything here where anyone has done this, it appears to be a simple fix but again stacking two shims I'm not sure, and i haven't found a definitive part # for the Tremor shackle, i looked on Levittown ford parts site and while it shows a shackle its very vague as to the specs.

 

[Curtis]

I read something on this forum once that someone tried this…he only used one to raise the leaning (lower) side. But I never got a response on whether or not it fixed his problem so I don’t know for sure.

1 inch spacer lift - rear

http://www.americantrucks.com/eibach-ranger-1-inch-pro-truck-rear-lift-blocks-lb81-35-048-01-02.html

 

[Muffin1]

I read something on this forum once that someone tried this…he only used one to raise the leaning (lower) side. But I never got a response on whether or not it fixed his problem so I don’t know for sure.

1 inch spacer lift - rear

http://www.americantrucks.com/eibach-ranger-1-inch-pro-truck-rear-lift-blocks-lb81-35-048-01-02.html

Hmm that’s an interesting option, solves the stacking issue and getting the correct shackle.
My pass side is 3/4” higher so this would make the drivers side 1/4 up but that would be as close to perfect.
So this is my question if this is the easy fix it appears to be how come others here( and there are many) with the ‘lean’ haven’t done this? whats the secret? LOL Is to good to be true?

 

[Curtis]

Hmm that’s an interesting option, solves the stacking issue and getting the correct shackle.
My pass side is 3/4” higher so this would make the drivers side 1/4 up but that would be as close to perfect.
So this is my question if this is the easy fix it appears to be how come others here( and there are many) with the ‘lean’ haven’t done this? whats the secret? LOL Is to good to be true?

??‍ Like I mentioned, I didn’t hear back from the guy on whether or not it improved the situation. But, the idea of it seems like it could improve the lean a bit.

 

[Curtis]

@Muffin1 if tempted to give it a try let me know…I’d be curious to see how it worked out.

 

[Muffin1]

@Muffin1 if tempted to give it a try let me know…I’d be curious to see how it worked out.

Doing a little research and found this very informative vid,
Although I don’t off-road so I’m guessing I wouldn’t have his issue from the lift blocks. But it sure shows a weak link in the mono leaf spring design if your off-roading With a lift.

 

[Frenchy]

Doing a little research and found this very informative vid,
Although I don’t off-road so I’m guessing I wouldn’t have his issue from the lift blocks. But it sure shows a weak link in the mono leaf spring design if your off-roading With a lift.

That would be the advantage of running the multi leaf pack from ARB. I did not have an issue with it at all and it gave me some extra articulation!!

 

[Muffin1]

That would be the advantage of running the multi leaf pack from ARB. I did not have an issue with it at all and it gave me some extra articulation!!

That’s good to know about ARB in addition to the other manufacturer choices for multi leaf, seems like more aftermarket stuff is available as this design gen moves on.

 

[Rp930]

You could try switching them left to right.

Land Rover Discovery had that problem and that’s how we fixed them.

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