Man-a-Fre Springs have lost their arch- WHAT TO DO? (1 Viewer)

[gwalt584]

First this is the red Time Machine build that I started back in 2011. You can review it from the link down below.
Now the front springs have leveled out to the point that there is only about 4" of travel left on the down side. Actually, the left side is the worst. the left has a noticeable droop.
So yes it has been almost 7 years since I put them on. Of course, we all think that they should last longer than that.
I have looked and see that most say that re-arching the spring is a waste of money, as well as add a leaf spring additions.
So does anyone have any other solution?

Options:

1. buy a new set of front springs from Man-a-Fre $179 per spring plus the shipping.
2. buy another brand spring. I did some measuring and the current spring (part number 450433) is approximately 46" from center of eye to center of eye across the top of the spring. I called Cruiser Outfitters and the OME spring is shorter than the shorter spring would give it a bad angle for the rear shackle.
3. Anyone got any other options for me to consider?
4. This pricture is when I had finished and before the springs settled.
   

 

[thebigredrocker]

I’ve seen @White Stripe mention that Alcan springs are good.

 

[cruiserkev]

Leaf spring arch should last longer than that. I bought HFS 4 inch Springs in 2004 and they have only settled 1 inch in all that time. Still flex great too. I had add a leafs on stock spring before that and the ride was awful so I'd advise against that.

 

[White Stripe]

I think superlift has good reviews on their springs and are pretty inexpensive.

 

[1969FJ]

A rearch will flatten even faster. Old Man Emu / Dakar are the ones to get.

 

[69LC]

Nice hinges on that truck!

 

[brian]

skyjacker

 

[jim land]

can you post a pic of how it look now

 

[Downey]

1. See if Pro Comp has a spring that will work, I know their springs are made by NHK (none better), most non-Toyota springs are not manufactured with the features that give a spring longer (normal) life expectancy.
2. Sure looks to me like you mounted your rear fender flares about 1" to 1.5" too far rearward. Front end of flare should be right up at the body seam.

 

[gwalt584]

can you post a pic of how it look now

I will get a picture and post it a little later today.

1. See if Pro Comp has a spring that will work, I know their springs are made by NHK (none better), most non-Toyota springs are not manufactured with the features that give a spring longer (normal) life expectancy.
2. Sure looks to me like you mounted your rear fender flares about 1" to 1.5" too far rearward. Front end of flare should be right up at the body seam.

Jim, you may be right on the mounting of the fender flares. That is an Aqualu tub, and the cut line that I used followed the inner fender well for the forward part of the flare.

 

[gwalt584]

Jim, Here is a picture of the body after cutting for the flares. see how far the cross bar extends into the fender well. I could have gone around it but I would have to have been careful to insure that the flare covered it.

 

[gwalt584]

Nice hinges on that truck!

yes they are and they have held up well.

 

[gwalt584]

After talking to Cruiser Outfitters, they could not find an OME spring that was the correct length and suggested calling Man-a-Fre to see if they could find an OME spring that would work. I did call and talk with the tech at Man-a-Fre and he could not find an OME spring that would be long enough to give the proper shackle angle.
So, I bit the bullet and bought the Safari spring with the same part number as what I have.

 

[Blackcat37]

What time frame did they give you to get your springs. I have been waiting about two months for them. You could also talk to LCwizard on this he used to make custom springs for this application.

 

[gwalt584]

 

[gwalt584]

you can see from the shock there is very little travel left for the shock to compress. the driver side is much worse than the passenger side.
Whole new meaning to cruiser lean!
Gary

 

[gwalt584]

What time frame did they give you to get your springs. I have been waiting about two months for them. You could also talk to LCwizard on this he used to make custom springs for this application.

They said the springs were on the shelf and would ship today.
I've talked to LCwizard in the past and he designed the setup, IIRC.
Gary

 

[thebigredrocker]

Here’s a slick shock extention idea

Here's a couple of pics of the install on my 45View attachment 1409321View attachment 1409322

[I figured I would post this up in tech, since I believe the discussion is generic to different options for installing longer-travel shocks.]



Credit for this idea goes 100% to @Downey. It has been a very long time now, but IIRC Jim originally designed this product in about 2001, concurrent with his version of the cantilever shackle. Like so many other of his products developed in that time frame, my 68FJ40 was the guinea pig for the prototype.



The principle was simple: get more shock, and more shock travel, and retain the original shock geometry, without having to remove the stock tower. The Ford shock tower option was already well known in the off road forums, but it had and still has two major drawbacks. First, the extension principle was and is limited by the fact that the top of the tower is stuck underneath the fender. The second is that the shock is significantly outboarded, which is a non-starter for anyone who is using factory-type steering which incorporates a drag link that runs along the framerail.



Jim's design [and mine] uses two plates. The first is the extension plate, which is welded to the rib in the stock shock tower, providing an extra five inches of height to the upper mounting pin. The second is the stabilizer plate, which utilizes the stock tower pin hole to help anchor and support the tower extension.



It was probably good that the prototype was developed on my F engine, as the air cleaner clearance issue does not exist on the 2F. After he delivered my installed prototype (complete with newly dimpled air cleaner) I thoroughly tested out the truck at a nearby OHV area. Considering how basically stock my truck otherwise is, it was impressive that I could now put one tire up on a 30” rock with the other tire on the ground, courtesy of the cantilever shackles and shock towers.



I took a second set from Jim in about 2004 and tweaked the specs on them before installing my version of a prototype on my 64FJ45. My version took away the adjustability feature that Jim had originally put into the brackets, but made sure the tower would not interfere with the drag link and also gave a better margin for clearing the F engine air cleaner. I had a production run made in 2005 and then...nothing. I got waylaid by the tragedy of a friend's death, and just kind of mothballed the project, saying 'One day I'm going to do a write-up on these and give them a proper roll out. So here we are, 12 years later! The warehouse fire has been a personal catalyst on many fronts, and this is one of them.

 

[gwalt584]

Well now, I should have seen this before I ordered the new springs. awesome idea!

 

[srgould41]

OME's sag as much as some other brands. My back springs are already drooping.