Rear Leaf Spring Upgrade Question

[Shoran12]

If one were to swap the rear leaf springs out with aftermarket for better ride quality and wanted to keep the same ride height in the rear, which after market springs would be best? Also, I imagine payload rating and possible towing may change a bit, so what would be a good way to determine max towing and payload (honestly I would probably never get close either way)?

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[Grumpaw]

Your Rangers towing/load capacity will not change....still will be 7500 lbs max with 750 lbs hitch.
Springs, air bags, suspension additions will not change the weight ratings. They will/may change HOW the Ranger handles the weight, the handling on the road, ect.

 

[RangerPNW]

Neither payload or towing rating would change, you can help decide how it rides with "x" payload, but you won't increase the overall rating.

 

[Frenchy]

Your Rangers towing/load capacity will not change....still will be 7500 lbs max with 750 lbs hitch.
Springs, air bags, suspension additions will not change the weight ratings. They will/may change HOW the Ranger handles the weight, the handling on the road, ect.

Except the moment you start to dog squat then you have a problem. This is common with those you do a leveling kit only.

 

[Frenchy]

If one were to swap the rear leaf springs out with aftermarket for better ride quality and wanted to keep the same ride height in the rear, which after market springs would be best? Also, I imagine payload rating and possible towing may change a bit, so what would be a good way to determine max towing and payload (honestly I would probably never get close either way)?

It truly depends on your plans. Be aware that tue Ranger has the amount of rake for a reason as that is factored in for payload and towing capacity. If you level the truck the payload and towing capacity will go down. How so? Simple, if you try to load too much on tge toung or in the bed you will get the wonderful dog squat. Only way to avoid that is one of the following, 1 dont get a leveling kit(Deavers leafs will help the ride and not raise the rear), 2 get a lift kit from Old Man EMU(they have 3 different leafs available for different loads you will run and not make you loose capacity), 3 dont buy cheap leafs like Icon(in the single leaf form it may be comfortable but wont hold near as much as the factory leaf).

Also if you havent already you might want to change the rear shocks as that makes a huge difference

 

[Fitzmotor]

Gentlemen I'm pretty sure the leaf spring does dictate payload rating, not towing, but it's ability to carry weight is directly proportional to the leaf spring rating.

 

[Shoran12]

Yeah

It truly depends on your plans. Be aware that tue Ranger has the amount of rake for a reason as that is factored in for payload and towing capacity. If you level the truck the payload and towing capacity will go down. How so? Simple, if you try to load too much on tge toung or in the bed you will get the wonderful dog squat. Only way to avoid that is one of the following, 1 dont get a leveling kit(Deavers leafs will help the ride and not raise the rear), 2 get a lift kit from Old Man EMU(they have 3 different leafs available for different loads you will run and not make you loose capacity), 3 dont buy cheap leafs like Icon(in the single leaf form it may be comfortable but wont hold near as much as the factory leaf).

Also if you havent already you might want to change the rear shocks as that makes a huge difference

Yeah rear shocks were probably going to be the first thing I did. I’ve heard a lot of people had success with changing out the rear shocks. May try a coil over kit in the front after but hoping rear shocks will improve the ride quality a bit.

 

[Grumpaw]

If one were to swap the rear leaf springs out with aftermarket for better ride quality and wanted to keep the same ride height in the rear, which after market springs would be best? Also, I imagine payload rating and possible towing may change a bit, so what would be a good way to determine max towing and payload (honestly I would probably never get close either way)?

Before we all stare throwing advice, pieces/parts/mod ideas at you, just what are you trying to do, and what are you not happy with ?
Is the ride too soft and your trying to stiffen it up, too hard and you want to soften it up ?
What are you towing or plan to tow ? Need to know as there are ways to fix the ride quality, depending on what you want to accomplish, BUT, there's nothing that will raise the recommended towing/hitch/load capacity over what Ford recommends. That is not only arrived at by springs, shocks, ect., but also the whole package including frame, engine, tranny, rear end, ect.

 

[Dereku]

Except the moment you start to dog squat then you have a problem. This is common with those you do a leveling kit only.

Honestly it still holds the same legal rating no matter how dumb it looks.

 

[Shoran12]

Before we all stare throwing advice, pieces/parts/mod ideas at you, just what are you trying to do, and what are you not happy with ?
Is the ride too soft and your trying to stiffen it up, too hard and you want to soften it up ?
What are you towing or plan to tow ? Need to know as there are ways to fix the ride quality, depending on what you want to accomplish, BUT, there's nothing that will raise the recommended towing/hitch/load capacity over what Ford recommends. That is not only arrived at by springs, shocks, ect., but also the whole package including frame, engine, tranny, rear end, ect.

Well what I’ve been noticing is that while the suspension seems soft enough (at least in the rear) I can feel all the cracks and road imperfections through the gas pedal and into the seat. I have the stock Bridgestone Duellers on so maybe they just don’t ride well. Tires are inflated to 32 psi. I do get the wave like bucking of the suspension at times on the freeway but that doesn’t bother me very much. Mainly just feeling the roads. My two tacomas and Silverado felt much better in this department. It also could be a tradeoff Ford made to have best in class towing and pretty decent payload for this size truck. I just wanted to make sure I dont do anything to kill the trucks capacity, which I figured leaf springs would affect payload if they’re too “soft”. Mainly concerned with the best bang for your buck as far as ride quality goes.

 

[Shoran12]

Before we all stare throwing advice, pieces/parts/mod ideas at you, just what are you trying to do, and what are you not happy with ?
Is the ride too soft and your trying to stiffen it up, too hard and you want to soften it up ?
What are you towing or plan to tow ? Need to know as there are ways to fix the ride quality, depending on what you want to accomplish, BUT, there's nothing that will raise the recommended towing/hitch/load capacity over what Ford recommends. That is not only arrived at by springs, shocks, ect., but also the whole package including frame, engine, tranny, rear end, ect.

I don’t currently tow but may at some point in the future so I’d like to now do anything that takes away from the usefulness of this truck. Payload I doubt I’d hit but occasionally I do load the bed down. I drive a hood distance to work so anything that will make a commute a bit better without the loss of stock off-road ability or truck’s usefulness would be nice. That may not exist though but I’ve seen many things mentioned here, all of which people feel differently about.

 

[Grumpaw]

That is pretty much how it will ride when empty/no load....doesn't matter if 2 or 4 wheel drive. Once you start to load it payload wise, it will actually ride better. Tires will have a lot to do with how it "feels" as far as road surfaces, tread design, psi, ect.
I have modified my Ranger to accommodate my towing a heavy travel trailer, thus the items I added were to handle the weight rating that Ford recommends....what I did , did not raise the ratings, just handles it much better.
If your planning to tow , again, it depends on what. A light utility trailer, or towing a few thousand lbs will not require much more than a good set of rear shocks.
Getting up to a larger travel trailer, aside from the hitch equipment, might require better shocks, a sway bar, or a Roadmaster Active Suspension set up (which I have), better set of bump stops, and I could name a few other mods.
Just depends on your long term plans.

 

[Shoran12]

That is pretty much how it will ride when empty/no load....doesn't matter if 2 or 4 wheel drive. Once you start to load it payload wise, it will actually ride better. Tires will have a lot to do with how it "feels" as far as road surfaces, tread design, psi, ect.
I have modified my Ranger to accommodate my towing a heavy travel trailer, thus the items I added were to handle the weight rating that Ford recommends....what I did , did not raise the ratings, just handles it much better.
If your planning to tow , again, it depends on what. A light utility trailer, or towing a few thousand lbs will not require much more than a good set of rear shocks.
Getting up to a larger travel trailer, aside from the hitch equipment, might require better shocks, a sway bar, or a Roadmaster Active Suspension set up (which I have), better set of bump stops, and I could name a few other mods.
Just depends on your long term plans.

Yeah towing wise, in the future may be a small fishing boat (my dream). My wife has been looking at travel trailers (her lifelong dream) and I always assumed I would end up having the get a 2500 sized truck for that. Lately I’ve been trying to convince her of some smaller travel trailers (say 5-6K fully loaded) I could tow with the Ranger. So one way or the other I’m sure towing will be a thing lol.

 

[Grumpaw]

Yeah towing wise, in the future may be a small fishing boat (my dream). My wife has been looking at travel trailers (her lifelong dream) and I always assumed I would end up having the get a 2500 sized truck for that. Lately I’ve been trying to convince her of some smaller travel trailers (say 5-6K fully loaded) I could tow with the Ranger. So one way or the other I’m sure towing will be a thing lol.

If your not planning on towing anything heavy, and maybe just a small boat, I wouldn't get anything other than a set of rear shocks, and maybe a set of Sumo Blue Bump Stops to replace the stock stuff. If you decide to go heavier in the future, you will already have them. Just those 2 items will easily get you up to 2500-3000 lbs without a problem.

 

[Frenchy]

Gentlemen I'm pretty sure the leaf spring does dictate payload rating, not towing, but it's ability to carry weight is directly proportional to the leaf spring rating.

You are correct to a point. The springs are one of the biggest factors. From what i was informed in a Ford class was Suspension and Breaks being the biggest factor. The powertrain takes part too of course.

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