Rep builds a bunch of old Fords

[reptillikus]

So im starting the suspension upgrade.

From top to bottom:
rear Excursion (G code)
rear Superduty (B code)
front Superduty (V code)

...and a set of the correct helper springs

I also bought a set of Sky's low clearance shackle hangars & their adjustable tracbar.

Springs coming apart:

...and after some wire wheeling and paint

i bought a whole bunch of new anti-friction pads from Dorman, because most all of them were shot

Amazon.com

Ford used these plastic shims between the leafs, but all of mine were broken except for one

Fortunately Speedway sells it in a roll, which i already had from rebuilding the leafs in the '90, so i made some new ones

...and now ive got the rear springs all back together

I added the 2 lower leafs from the Excursion pack to the B codes, hopefully itll work out well

I goofed on the front leafs, the new center pins i ordered have a shoulder thats too long for a 2-leaf pack. Also apparently the local spring shop closed their doors so i had to order another set online, which i wont get until probably Friday So i guess its going to be another week until i can swap the front springs.

 

[Pony_Driver]

So im starting the suspension upgrade.

From top to bottom:
rear Excursion (G code)
rear Superduty (B code)
front Superduty (V code)

...and a set of the correct helper springs

I also bought a set of Sky's low clearance shackle hangars & their adjustable tracbar.

Springs coming apart:

...and after some wire wheeling and paint

i bought a whole bunch of new anti-friction pads from Dorman, because most all of them were shot

Amazon.com

Ford used these plastic shims between the leafs, but all of mine were broken except for one

Fortunately Speedway sells it in a roll, which i already had from rebuilding the leafs in the '90, so i made some new ones

...and now ive got the rear springs all back together

I added the 2 lower leafs from the Excursion pack to the B codes, hopefully itll work out well

I goofed on the front leafs, the new center pins i ordered have a shoulder thats too long for a 2-leaf pack. Also apparently the local spring shop closed their doors so i had to order another set online, which i wont get until probably Friday So i guess its going to be another week until i can swap the front springs.

I always wondered what those shims were, just never followed up on it. Thanks for that.

 

[reptillikus]

Dont worry, im redoing it all

I bought graphite paint, so i disassembled the springs and repainted them. Ive also decided to use the steel shims from the Excursion packs, so they got painted too:

If i have time this weekend im going to start assembling them. I also have to get the 4th pack apart & painted. Going to try to get that done so i can hopefully start the front spring swap monday. Theres been lots of rain in the forecast, and theres more coming so we'll see how this all goes.

 

[reptillikus]

all 4 leaf springs are done being rebuilt again. This time fully coated in graphite paint, and the steel shims from the excursion leafs are in the rear pack now instead of the plastic ones i made

Brought the truck around, and snapped the very last pic before i rip the suspension apart again

It already has a PMF 2.25" Superduty Shackle Reversal kit on it. This time around im replacing the original spring hangar on the frame rail with Sky's low clearance one:

Yesterday i got the driver side bracket on the frame:

Today its raining, so maybe tomorrow i can get the passenger side bracket swapped.

I thought this was interesting- shows the difference between the X code leafs im removing, and the V codes im installing

The X code has almost a full inch more arch to it, and both leafs are 1/8" thicker in the middle & 1/16" thicker at the ends. So this pretty much confirms what everyone on the internet says, that the front end should go down ~1" and the ride should be nice & soft. We'll find out soon enough. One of my front shocks is shot, so i ordered a pair of Bilsteins which should get here tomorrow. Hopefully the weatherman is wrong, and i get some dry days here so i can get the front-end done and get it turned around so i can tear into the rear. Just a couple weeks to go before the East Coast Bronco Roundup, so i gotta get this thing done!


Oh yeah, this is cool too. I tossed the X codes into the rear of the DD bronco and brought em to work, because a coworker bought em off me. I had some issues closing the tailgate though. Check this out:

Gotta hurry up and get the red one done, because it looks like the green one needs some sheet metal repaired asap

 

[Levigarrett76]

Think you will have to address caster in the front?

Thanks for sharing

 

[reptillikus]

You know what would have been smart? Measuring caster before and after to see if it changed

Im thinking it'll be close. With the front end going down you'd expect caster to decrease, but I don't know exactly where the rear suspension is going to end up, or what kind of an impact it will have. It's entirely possible the caster might not change at all. The driveway isn't level so I'll have to finish the truck so I can pull it into the garage and check, or just say fuck it and go for a drive

It was last on a rack ~8 years ago; if it drives funny I can always go back to the same shop. He's a good guy and has done a bunch of alignments for me over the years.

 

[holdmypocket]

You know what would have been smart? Measuring caster before and after to see if it changed

Im thinking it'll be close. With the front end going down you'd expect caster to decrease, but I don't know exactly where the rear suspension is going to end up, or what kind of an impact it will have. It's entirely possible the caster might not change at all. The driveway isn't level so I'll have to finish the truck so I can pull it into the garage and check, or just say fuck it and go for a drive

It was last on a rack ~8 years ago; if it drives funny I can always go back to the same shop. He's a good guy and has done a bunch of alignments for me over the years.

This is bubbling up some concerns I had when building the radius arms and setting the caster in my 1-ton swap in my steep driveway. Really hoping I got it close enough that the adjustment on the radius arms is able to resolve any issues

 

[Levigarrett76]

Im hoping you don't like this too much and I wont be tempted to do the same to my 97' C&C

 

[reptillikus]

When I bought this truck (in early 2004) it had 6" skyjacker leafs up front. It rode like a brick

Late '04 I did my first RSK using a 3.5" kit from Sky, with leafs from the front of a stock 96 F350 PSD. It rode night and day better.

2013 I replaced the Sky 3.5" RSK with the PMF 2.25" kit, but I paired it with the X code leafs. It rode about the same as the original Sky kit, with about the same amount of lift. Marginally better ride, even tho the X code springs are a much higher rate than anything that ever came in the OBS trucks.
Now that I'm going down to the V's, it should actually ride pretty smooth. The U's in the front of my wife's bronco are pretty plush; it could actually use a sway bar for cornering, but the ride is really nice. I expect the Vs under a 7.3 will ride pretty similarly. We'll find out soon enough!

This is bubbling up some concerns I had when building the radius arms and setting the caster in my 1-ton swap in my steep driveway. Really hoping I got it close enough that the adjustment on the radius arms is able to resolve any issues

I wouldn't sweat it too much. You should have enough adjustment in the arms you built, and if necessary, you can offset it some more via the upper ball joint bushings.
When I put the 60 under my 88 bronco I set the radius arms up in my parents stone driveway, and still managed to get it right.

 

[reptillikus]

So the F250 has been sitting idle...

...because i made a tragic error. The PMF shackle doesnt fit in Sky's shackle hangar!

It might look like its close, but its not. The upper bushing is too big, and it uses a 3/4" bolt instead of 5/8". Dont know how i missed that, but i did. So i ordered the stubby shackles from Sky since i know they will work, as thats how i did it on the 90 bronco. You can see how much different they are in size in this pic:

Not sure how i goofed on that one, but i did. Hopefully the shackles get here soon.

In the meantime, ive turned my attention to the green bronco, and its cracked striker bolt:

When i removed the striker, the captured nut & plate fell from behind. Seems the cracks started at the spot welds

I ended up cutting a pretty big hole in the sheetmetal to get all of the cracks removed

New patch panel made, with captured nut plate all cleaned up and ready to be reinstalled.

I dont have a pic of it apparently, but rather than spot weld it to the back of the patch panel in two places like ford did, i fully welded it.
It also seems i was in the zone and didnt snap any pics during the process, so heres the finished product:

For now the tire carrier is off the truck. I have some other issues i have to deal with. #1, this shot striker bushing which no one sells:

...which caused some heavy wear on the latch jaws:

...all of which was probably caused by this pin/bushing being shot:

...so ive got a few more things to deal with. Parts on order, so we'll come back to this one at a later date.

 

[Provience]

All those little time consuming things, but totally worth while ,

 

[reptillikus]

Yeah, now i know why it squeaked and creaked in the back

 

[reptillikus]

Back on the diesel, doing parallel tasks while i wait for my shackles.

So for my original setup after doing the aluminum bed, i put a set of large reverse lights right in the back

While they do work, the problem is the light isnt very usable, as you cant see that area from the driver seat. Also, i discovered that if i needed to haul something with the tailgate down, that the gate blocks the lights in the bed frame. While its unlikely ill need to do so (it is a 9' bed afterall), it still seemed like a good idea to do something about it.

So step one, was to replace the reverse lights with a set of combo STT/Reverse lights from etrailer. This should solve my potential taillight issue, but also still cast a little bit of light back there for backing up at night.

So now i need proper reverse lights. So i picked up a set of 4" lights from Nilight while they were on sale:

Mounted here, still need to be aimed. Pretty sure these will cast enough light down & out that ill be able to see better in the dark.

Wires run:

...and terminated with Deutsch connectors so i can still unplug the lights if necessary

I think this will do better

Those should cast plenty of light down & out so i can see, and the two in the middle, while not a lot of light by comparison, should be just enough light shining on the trailer hitch to be useful in the dark. Also, if you noticed, theres now a backup camera mounted on the license plate. More to come on that soon...