I have a 98 F150 w/ the STX package. Recently we got a little snow here, and I added around 300 lbs. of sandbags to my bed to get some traction in the snow. After I did this I realized the truck was leaning, favoring the left side. I crawled under and took a look, and noticed the bottom leaf spring on the left side wasn’t completely underneath the other two. It had shifted so it was skewed a little. I didn’t looked cracked, and hopefully I’ll get someone who has the right tools to undo the U clamp bolts and realign it. Has this happened to anyone else? Seems to me they shouldn’t be able to shift like that. If it is cracked, and I do have to replace them, what would be the best brand to use? Is there anyone that carries a little heavier duty leaf spring I could use on this truck to increase the amount of weight I can haul. This is my first post, and I love this site. Looks real helpful to the sometimes “automotive challenged” folks like myself.

 

How far out of alignment is the overload leaf? Mine is out 1/4 of an inch. I know there was a recall a while back with regard to the drivers side leaf spring and a clip that needed to be added. If it isn't out that far, I wouldn't worry about it. I would think you could take the weight off of the truck, letting the axle hang loose, and hit it with a large hammer.

 

It's probably out a little more than 1/4" probably around 1/2" to 3/4". I measured from the garage floor to the top of the wheel well on both sides with the weight in the truck. The difference in the two heights was about 1 to 1 1/2" inches. It doesn't drive any differently, and with the weight out of the truck it doesn't lean at all.

Was there suppose to be any clips that attach the overload leaves to the two leafs that are bolted into the frame? On mine there isn't any clamps on either side of the overload leafs the only connection is the U bolts that go around the axle.

 

hey nate I have the exact same problem. Yup, driver side overload leaf spring is skewed about 3/4". I regularly haul like 1000 lbs. as a contract driver. Does anyone know if this is dangerous with the leaf springs skewed so much? Also, I noticed that the big rubber washer that goes between the springs is missing on the driver's side. What a pain.

 

My '98 did the same thing. After 3 years, I noticed that the driver's side rear was lower and the smallest leaf was rotated.

I recently had a suspension shop add a leaf between the 1st and 2nd leafs to support a 1300lb slide-in camper. The shop also straightened the twisted bottom leaf, but they told that the bottom leaf doesn't do much. The ride is very nice and firm now.

If you want to increase the load capacity, have a leaf added like I described above. Don't do overloads! I had them on my previous F150; the truck rode rough and the overloads rattled sometimes.

I now need to remove the 2" lift blocks to get the rear-end back down to stock height. It's a little too high, even with the camper in.

Has anyone removed their lift blocks (4wd)? Any advice will be appreciated.

 

nate11,
I forgot to mention, like triton said, you can just hit the twisted leaf with a hammer. You can buy the clips from a suspension shop for a few bucks (or just leave it).