I'll be following the advise of lots of people from here and am going towards putting new leaf springs on my car. I've seen lots of places listed here but I would like to know which supplier would be the most reliable when it comes to the product itself.
Mine came from an '85 E150, but I measured a bunch of those vans and they were all the same. Go for one that has six leaves per side, use 3-4 of them. Some of the others like the 250's and 350's, ambulances, diesels... Those might fit but they would be ridiculously overkill.
I'll go to Autozone tomorrow to see if they have any. As for the extra holes, keep em or cut them off?
I don't think they'll have them new at Autozone, mine came "Certified Pre-Owned" from Pull-A-Part. Not sure what you mean by extra holes...
btw, just checked the autozone site and they don't even carry the springs for that van at all. They don't even have it listed under the suspension category.
Oh, I'd definitely not try to use the whole leaf pack. Car will ride like a bulldozer. I opened up the clamps and used only three of them. Which three is up to you... If you use the three biggest like I did, you might have a harder ride than some people would want but you'll feel you can take on any corner. If you use roughly the same lengths that the Maverick had, you should get a slightly firmer than stock ride because the leaves are thicker, but they should act about the same as stock. I actually used the main leaf from the Maverick too because the bushings were a different size in the van springs. And I had to buy new spring clamps of course, because I butchered the old ones taking them apart...
Was not that difficult once I found a van that was not supported by the rearend. First thing is to find one that you can safely remove the springs from, or get them to raise the van for you. At least that's how it is at Pull-A-Part. Once you do that though... Just need some PB Blaster or other penetrating oil, a breaker bar, ratchet, some strong sockets, (I used 1/2" deep impact sockets) vise grips, and a BFH.
also when i pull the leaf springs apart should i expect to be hit in the head from spring action? or is it pretty simple haha. Sorry im a young guy that doesnt know much yet but enough to get it done.
No... Be careful of course... But when you have the leaf pack off the van, you should be able to get them apart safely. Douse the center bolt holding them together with penetrating oil first, then while that's soaking take the clamps off. You'll probably have to break them. Then put a C-clamp or two, vise, whatever you have on hand to hold them together while you take out the center bolt. When the bolt's out, loosen the clamp. They won't be under much pressure. You could probably even do it without the clamp, but just to be safe, use the clamp. Safety glasses too. And a life jacket. See my disclaimer at the top of my tech article and don't get hurt!
Good luck, man! I think it's awesome that people are actually doing this. I almost didn't write that article for fear of ridicule, but it seems a lot of people are interested in the idea.
