I have a '69 F-350 Crew cab long bed. The truck came stock with rear leaf springs only. I've seen suspension schematics that show shock towers and hardware but my truck doesn't have those.
Has anyone come across this? I'd like to install shocks to help the overall ride and am hoping someone has some experience with this so I don't have to start fabricating from scratch.
Adding rear shocks to Leaf Springs only.
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HerbieSnerd
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- Joined: Thu May 12, 2005 4:10 am
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Adding rear shocks to Leaf Springs only.
1969 F-350, Crew Cab, Camper Special, 390, C6
(Dad bought it in 1972)
1990 Jeep YJ, 4.2l stock
Myers Manx replica, '69 pan, 1500, lowered street
(Dad bought it in 1972)
1990 Jeep YJ, 4.2l stock
Myers Manx replica, '69 pan, 1500, lowered street
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brownac1983
- New Member
- Posts: 141
- Joined: Sat Mar 24, 2007 5:19 pm
- Location: North Carolina, Mount Holly
Re: Adding rear shocks to Leaf Springs only.
As stiff as F-350 rear springs are, I wouldn't expect shocks to help the ride a great deal. That said, if you do want to install them I would try to find a set of shock towers that will work in a junkyard. They'll probably be riveted to the frame so be prepared to grind or burn them off, then clean them up and bolt them to your frame. I would say to try and find a truck like yours to get them from, but finding a crew cab long bed in a junkyard is unlikely, much less one with shocks. You'll probably have to look at other F-250s and F-350s and see what looks like it'll work. As long as they clear everything underneath your truck and put the top of the shock in roughly the right place I would think pretty much any tower could be made to work, it really doesn't have to be precise.
Prefabricated lower mounts are widely available but most of them have to be welded to your axle tube, which I assume you want to avoid since you said you don't want to fabricate. Your other option is to find a clamp-on mount that will fit your axle tube. The problem you will probably run into with clamp-ons, if you find them to fit, is twist. It will most likely be hard to keep them from rotating on the axle tube. Weld-on mounts are the more durable option.
My advice, if you're going to go to the trouble of doing it, would be to install whatever towers you want to use, install the shocks in the towers (it would be handy to get a set of bad shocks from the junkyard when you get the towers so you can use them for mockup without them trying to extend), mark the proper location of the weld-on lower shock brackets on the axle tube using the bad shocks to mock up the installation, remove the rear end, gut it and clean the inside of the tubes, and take it to a pro to get the lower mounts welded to the axle. Then reassemble with new shocks.
Prefabricated lower mounts are widely available but most of them have to be welded to your axle tube, which I assume you want to avoid since you said you don't want to fabricate. Your other option is to find a clamp-on mount that will fit your axle tube. The problem you will probably run into with clamp-ons, if you find them to fit, is twist. It will most likely be hard to keep them from rotating on the axle tube. Weld-on mounts are the more durable option.
My advice, if you're going to go to the trouble of doing it, would be to install whatever towers you want to use, install the shocks in the towers (it would be handy to get a set of bad shocks from the junkyard when you get the towers so you can use them for mockup without them trying to extend), mark the proper location of the weld-on lower shock brackets on the axle tube using the bad shocks to mock up the installation, remove the rear end, gut it and clean the inside of the tubes, and take it to a pro to get the lower mounts welded to the axle. Then reassemble with new shocks.