SOLVED: Driver Side Frame 1/2 Lower, Shim Added to Rear Leaf Spring

[P. A. Schilke]

I have that slapper spring too it's what I referred to as the helper. So, I have the mono and the helper but the helper/slapper spring goes just as far in the back as it does in the front.

Hi Pete.

Correct on the helper spring...I only have one "spacer" and you two. Maybe I am confused, but thought the 4x2 and 4x4 used the same frame...so maybe not, eh? Not sure where I got that in my head....Arrrrrrrg! Old age!

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

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[pboggini]

Hi Pete.

Correct on the helper spring...I only have one "spacer" and you two. Maybe I am confused, but thought the 4x2 and 4x4 used the same frame...so maybe not, eh? Not sure where I got that in my head....Arrrrrrrg! Old age!

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Do you have a spacer on the right side too? I have one on the right (passenger) and two on the left(driver). I do believe they use the same frame and the only height difference is the front springs are a bit shorter as the overall height is ~.5" shorter. I'm getting that from this post:

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/2019-ford-ranger-dimensions-layout-and-specs-pdf.1298/

 

[Rviator]

I have a 4X2 with 2 on the left one on the right. It's just about perfectly level left to right.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Do you have a spacer on the right side too? I have one on the right (passenger) and two on the left(driver). I do believe they use the same frame and the only height difference is the front springs are a bit shorter as the overall height is ~.5" shorter. I'm getting that from this post:

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/2019-ford-ranger-dimensions-layout-and-specs-pdf.1298/

Hi Pete,

I have no shim on the right side....just one on the left.

best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[User79]

I believe P.A. Schilke is correct.....one of those on the drivers side is part of the leaf assembly so there is one shim on the drivers side & none on the passenger.

I went by the dealer today & looked at the Rangers on the back lot....14 of them, mixed bag of FX4, 4x4 & 2wd but all supercrew & all of them had the shim on the drivers side.

 

[Rviator]

I believe P.A. Schilke is correct.....one of those on the drivers side is part of the leaf assembly so there is one shim on the drivers side & none on the passenger.

I went by the dealer today & looked at the Rangers on the back lot....14 of them, mixed bag of FX4, 4x4 & 2wd but all supercrew & all of them had the shim on the drivers side.

Seriously? Do you think we can't tell the difference between a spring and a shim? As I stated previously I have 2 shims on the LH and one on the RH (in addition to, as Phil put it, the slapper springs). Mine looks the same as the pic posted by pboggini. Ford may well have removed a shim from both sides on the newer builds.
It looks like the rear axle frame mounts weren't built to the same waterline, oops.

 

[User79]

Seriously? Do you think we can't tell the difference between a spring and a shim? As I stated previously I have 2 shims on the LH and one on the RH (in addition to, as Phil put it, the slapper springs). Mine looks the same as the pic posted by pboggini. Ford may well have removed a shim from both sides on the newer builds.
It looks like the rear axle frame mounts weren't built to the same waterline, oops.

I certainly hope you can tell the difference. I never said it was a spring, I said it was part of the spring assembly....meaning 1 of those items you are calling a "shim" is part of the assembly.

 

[pboggini]

Hi Pete,

I have no shim on the right side....just one on the left.

best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Can you send a pic of the right side? I'd like to see it w/o the shim.

 

[pboggini]

here you go. discussion ended on whats a spacer vs whats part of the spring assembly

https://parts.ford.com/shop/en/us/spring-rear-9343117-1

Hmm:

"No image available"

 

[pboggini]

You may have to be logged into the ford site to access the parts book.
let me do the extra work for you.

a plate...part of the spring package
a spacer (shim) you can install separately.

if you still think you have two shims...you would see three stacked up

Gee thanks for doing all that extra work for me!

Even when logged in, your link doesn't work so I just looked it up myself. I can see that same pic now and I agree that it looks from the pic like that is a part of the spring assembly. I guess what confused me was P.A.'s comment in reply to mine where he said "it does look like you have two" and then he said he had one on the left and none on the right. I'm interested in seeing what that none on the right looked like that he was talking about. Shrug.

 

[Hounddog409]

Seriously? Do you think we can't tell the difference between a spring and a shim? As I stated previously I have 2 shims on the LH and one on the RH (in addition to, as Phil put it, the slapper springs). Mine looks the same as the pic posted by pboggini. Ford may well have removed a shim from both sides on the newer builds.
It looks like the rear axle frame mounts weren't built to the same waterline, oops.

this didn't age well.

 

[Rviator]

this didn't age well.

Ok gee whiz, I didn't have access to the Ford parts list. Ban me from the forum already.
What looks like an extra shim is actually a designed in piece attached to the bottom leaf., many were saying it was two. It is still not a spring leaf but a spacer. There is only one shim on the LH which is better than two on one side and one on the other.
I stand by the last sentence though, that this is an oops on the part of Ford.

 

[TexTazManiac]

I know this is a pretty late post, but I finally got rid of my "Ranger lean".... It came from the factory with a 1/4" shim under the drivers side and it still leaned towards the driver's side by 3/4" of an inch on a completely flat surface. Didn't matter if I had a full tank or not. This drove me nuts (I have about 3000 miles on the truck right now) so I bought an Eibach 1" rear lift kit with 2 blocks from the Eibach web site. Cost 100 bucks, but well worth it for me.

Took me less than 30 minutes to follow the instructions to take out the driver's side shim (1/4") and install the block. I have kept the shim just in case I raised the driver's side a bit too high. Then I'll just put it under the passenger leaf springs.

No lean on level surfaces now. I love this truck -- have replaced all non-Led bulbs with led bulbs, added a Redarc trailer brake controller, Icon Stage 1 leveling kit, Ranger Raptor wheels (from England), and 285/70/17 KO2s. But the lean? Killed me.

 

[IdahoRanger]

So being a newer member and after reading this thread I just checked and have two shims on driver side and one on passenger. 5/2/19 build date

 

[PonyXpress]

can you take of picture of the shims so we can see exactly what they did?

thanks for sharing!

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