Leaf Spring issue

[Slash]

I'll get pics up in a minute but the other day I was poking around underneath the pickup and I noticed the rear passengers leaf springs were kinda funny.

Basically what it looks like is the leaf spring somehow managed to slip off the rear hanger. But the odd thing is nothing is broken and I have no idea how this could have happened. Mostly just surface rust.

It wasn't overloaded because before this wouldn't happen as it would either break an axle or bottom out. An it hasn't carried a real load in years.

So now, the end of the longest spring is rubbing against the bottom of the bed. From what I can see there is a bit of pressure on it but not a whole lot. Would this friction be causing the squeaking I hear when it moves?

My main question is what could have caused this? It's a pretty simple fix but I'd like to know how to prevent it from ever happening again. I've never seen this happen on any vehicle and finding any info on the net is a nightmare because its an odd case. Usually something is broken but from what I saw everything is intact. Besides this the only damage it caused was a slight bend in the outer rear fender stability bar.

Here is the drivers side, what its supposed to look like.

This is the passengers side. See the difference?

 

[Punknoodle]

The only thing I can think of is if you had hit a bad pot hole or kerb or something

 

[Slash]

The only thing I can think of is if you had hit a bad pot hole or kerb or something

Going forward, wouldn't it push the spring into the hanger more while reverse would pull it out? Like I said it hasn't really gone anywhere in years, around 6-7 of them actually. I'm so baffled its not funny.

 

[Dennisch]

It looks broken to me? Or is the spring that is still intact also not connected to the rest of the car?

Edit.

Isn't this how the eyes on the ends of the springs should look like :

 

[playnthru]

Appears broken.


"Surface rust", plus massive small block Ford torque= Oh snap!

 

[Dennisch]

I googled 80's Ford leaf springs and all I get is springs like the ones in the picture I posted.


I might have discovered a hole in Slash's Ford knowledge.

 

[Slash]

The ones I have are not original leafs, they were replaced years ago and don't have the roll over ends like you posted. I'm not sure what brand they are though, but they are definitely not OEM.

That said, if it is broken, what could have caused it? It hasn't seen much use in years besides the odd moving it in the driveway. Could not using it be the issue?

 

[Beeblebrox237]

It could have just rusted away. It is getting on to 30 years old, and if it's been sitting around it wouldn't help any corrosion problems.

 

[Dennisch]

It's old rusted metal. It can always just snap under sudden heavy load.

But OEM or not, leafs (as far as I know) always have the eyes on the end*, otherwise they could possible slide out..

Just check the one that is still intact. I am pretty certain that that one is still attached to the eye.

*on cars and trucks, springs on trailers can have sliding ends..

 

[Slash]

It actually surprised me a bit considering there is no spring sag either. The drivers side does have the eye intact still, I just went and checked. Interestingly enough, those leafs aren't that old (still has stock ones but 2 more were added). The break actually looks pretty clean...almost like it's been that way for a while but I'm under there quite a bit and only just noticed.

Add that on the the list of things that need replacing...that's alright though, rebuilding it frame up again.

 

[Nicksfix]

Ford F series trucks (150-350) use a dual eye spring, not a slipper style. Looking at the pic you provided, the spring is definitely broken. You can still see the eye of the spring still encased in the spring shackle.

Your looking at a set of springs, shackles, spring hangers as well. Everything is pretty rotted away, the pictures depict this.

 

[Slash]

Ford F series trucks (150-350) use a dual eye spring, not a slipper style. Looking at the pic you provided, the spring is definitely broken. You can still see the eye of the spring still encased in the spring shackle.

Your looking at a set of springs, shackles, spring hangers as well. Everything is pretty rotted away, the pictures depict this.

I see. Well that's alright because it's getting rebuilt anyways. The rust isn't too bad though actually, I've seen far worse.

 

[Slash]

So I was informed today that those springs have been broken since the truck was bought in 1987/1988 and that is why he has special shackles on it.

 

[Dennisch]

So either you haven't spent much time underneath it, or your eye for detail needs adjustment.

 

[Slash]

So either you haven't spent much time underneath it, or your eye for detail needs adjustment.

I've been under there quite a bit, apparently I just never noticed this

Or I might have and forgotten. Something