Rear Leaf Spring Upgrade Question

[Frenchy]

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

The moment you start to dog squat you are taking weight off the front tires and making the vehicle more unstable. So no it is not within legal limits anymore.

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[Shoran12]

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.

I’ve been looking at the Fox shocks. I’ve seen all the major names mentioned here as well.

 

[Grumpaw]

You have to understand that shocks have no bearing on load capacity....that is the function of the springs.
Shocks only act to dampen the compression and rebound of the springs. The main reason to add heavier duty shocks is to soften the compression/rebound when carrying a heavier load. Under a heavy load, the springs will compress/rebound more "violently" or "harshly" when a light duty shock is used. A heavy duty shock will handle the heavier compression/rebound much better.
Think of the difference between a 4 inch thick piece of regular foam rubber as opposed to a 4 inch thick piece of closed cell memory foam...both will compress and rebound, but the memory foam will compress/rebound at a much slower and controlled rate.

 

[Frenchy]

I’ve been looking at the Fox shocks. I’ve seen all the major names mentioned here as well.

If you're not worried about going off-road whatsoever a good set of bilsteins or eibach will do just fine

 

[Shoran12]

If you're not worried about going off-road whatsoever a good set of bilsteins or eibach will do just fine

I may do some off-roading. Wouldn’t be anything crazy but we have been taking the truck out on a few trails with the kids.

 

[Bsthroop]

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.

Leafs are one factor, but the gvw is determined by the entire vehicle including axle capacity and tires. But nothing you change will alter the legal gvw besides buying a bigger truck. Towing capacity also is driven by transmission and drivetrain ratings.

 

[Grumpaw]

Leafs are one factor, but the gvw is determined by the entire vehicle including axle capacity and tires. But nothing you change will alter the legal gvw besides buying a bigger truck. Towing capacity also is driven by transmission and drivetrain ratings.

That is true...all the components are in the equation. It is actually easy to lessen the load capacity by simply swapping to a rear spring that is rated less than the stock springs. But adding springs with a heavier load capacity will not raise the Ranger's capacity simply because the rest of the truck will still be rated for the factory spec's.
Think of the factory rear hitch platform....it's rated at 7500 lbs with a 750 lbs hitch weight. You could swap it out for a class 4 hitch platform that is rated for 10-12,000 lbs with a 1000 hitch weight rating, but the truck itself will still be rated for the factory specs.
Just adding "heavier". "bigger" or more "robust" will not alter the factory spec's.

 

[Bsthroop]

This guys springs were within capacity, but....

 

[Fitzmotor]

Well if you put F350 leafs on a F250 (which are rated higher) the specs on the truck wont change but the carrying capacity goes up.
There is a spring shop around here that will build or rework your spring to whatever you want, softer ride, ride height changes, or the most common is increased carrying capacity.

 

[Bsthroop]

Well if you put F350 leafs on a F250 (which are rated higher) the specs on the truck wont change but the carrying capacity goes up.
There is a spring shop around here that will build or rework your spring to whatever you want, softer ride, ride height changes, or the most common is increased carrying capacity.

Yes generally the only difference between a 250 and 350 is springs-same axle, same frame until you go to duals. But just don't hit the state scales.

 

[Ranger8729]

Well if you put F350 leafs on a F250 (which are rated higher) the specs on the truck wont change but the carrying capacity goes up.
There is a spring shop around here that will build or rework your spring to whatever you want, softer ride, ride height changes, or the most common is increased carrying capacity.

I remember ordering my earlier trucks (every gen up until my '19 was ordered) and being able to select the paylod packages. Zero changes to the truck, just springs for the rear/tire size change. I actually swapped in different springs on my '91 work truck to go from the 1000lb to the 1200lb payload springs when I changed my gear load out for work.

 

[Fitzmotor]

A while back I actually went the other way on my 1975 F350 with the super heavy duty SCS towing package, the spring was like 5" thick at the axle, it's a 10,000 GVW rated truck, I had to soften it, I dont carry those kinds of loads since I made it a Crewcab.

 

[GTGallop]

Check out Deaver. Not sure if he's still making packs for the Ranger.

Edit to add link - https://deaverspring.com/product-category/leaf-springs/

 

[JasonTremor]

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.

The Tacoma and Silverado both had multi-leaf spring packs where the non-Tremor package Rangers get a mono-leaf rear spring as I recall. That is likely the source of the additional ride quality issues you are seeing. You could start with upgrading the rear shocks like others have done. Swapping to the Tremor or other aftermarket multi-leaf spring set could be a long term change to soften the ride up a bit. Just an idea to think about.

 

[Shoran12]

The Tacoma and Silverado both had multi-leaf spring packs where the non-Tremor package Rangers get a mono-leaf rear spring as I recall. That is likely the source of the additional ride quality issues you are seeing. You could start with upgrading the rear shocks like others have done. Swapping to the Tremor or other aftermarket multi-leaf spring set could be a long term change to soften the ride up a bit. Just an idea to think about.

This was my thinking to improve ride quality. It’s either tires, leaf springs, or shocks. I’ll try to find the part number for the tremor leaf springs and possible see about getting a set in the future.

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