Spring Shop Rear Leaf Springs?

yup, airbags are a good option

 

captclueless,

Certainly the airbags are a good choice for you. If you choose to go with having custom springs, I would suggest as 4WD did, using Ford springs and building your own or going to a local spring shop and having them built to your needs and wants. A spring shop can build anything you want within reason. They know springs.

I am like you, my concern is lifting heavy things into the truck bed from the ground up, not lifting the bed itself.

 

Aren't Ford leaves a bit wider than than the Toyotas?
Toyota leaves are 2 3/8" wide, and most other 4x4's are 2.5" .
Not much wider, but noticeable when re-assembling the packs.
This may require new u-bolts, since the stock u-bolts may not
accommodate the new, wider leaves. I had trouble with this
years ago when I added Jeep Wagoneer leaves to the stock
leaf packs of my Toyota pickup.

 

Funny you mention that, I did run into that on mine (1st gen) the difference in width was very slight (maybe an 1/8" overall)

by the time I took my angle grinder & basically cleaned up the edges ever so slightly, they fell right into place on the mount/clamp/shock perch

I've done 3- 2nd gens so far & havent had the issue with them

For the record I've no problem shaving a spring down slightly if U bolts make contact . Whats more important is making sure they (bolts) sit close to flush against spring (no bowing ) for alignment purposes & no "false torqueing"..

 

Ok seems like a good place to start, just got back from... ya know what, I'll start a thread with build steps, thanks to the OP for starting this one gives me another chance to show the non-believers that you dont have to be a master mechanic or to empty your wallets on "name brand" springs, dont get me wrong... Deaver, Alcan,AllPro, etc; are excellent springs , I just couldn't justify the price they get for springs for doing something that we did back when there were no offroad specialty shops or products....

 

Thanks 4WD for your information. I created my own "Add-A-Leaf" years ago on a 57 Ford Fairlane using Mercury springs. I did not need traction bars after adding them.

 

No worries bro' , good on you for thinking outside the box with the Ford/Merc springs....