1999 F150 5.4L V8 Triton with 120,000 miles

Coming back from dinner out and BAM, thought a chunk of asphalt hit my truck.... take a look underneath and see my left rear leaf spring bracket has totally rusted through and gave way, rear end of leaf spring is now resting on the bottom of my bed.

Went direct to AutoZone but they don't carry any. Checked RockAuto but they don't carry em either... looks like a call/trip to a dealership is in order. I just hope I can break through the rust on the old bracket bolts.

Anybody have a similar experience? Advice? I'm thinking it is probably as good a time as ever to replace the rear shocks too.

 

If by bracket you mean the shackle that holds the leaf spring to the perch on the frame rail, then yes. It is very common on older Fords for them to rot out. On my 97 F150 the passenger side shackle rotted out and broke in half and the drivers side doesn't look too far behind. My advice is spray it with tons of PB Blaster or some other penetrating oil and let it sit over night. If you mean the perch on the frame this applies too. Air tools will make it much easier, otherwise you'll possibly need a breaker bar and a big hammer to get the bolts out. I seem to remember the shackles costing about $30.00 a piece from the dealer and the bolts being kinda expensive from the dealer too. The perches are I think around $55.00 or so.

 

a set of cutting torches will be your best friend on a job like this..

 

True... now that I think about it, we had to use the torch to get one of the bolts out.

 

Ya it's the shackel and I hope it doesn't come down to having to cut it off as I don't own any sort of cutting torches. Hopefully the PB will be enough.

 

4X4 4X2? I got an oem pair I just took off my 97 scab 4x2. I like the way the truck sits now so I don't think I will using the them. They are 2 1/2" spring width. Not sure about length but they are stock. email me if you want them I would just want shipping and handling.

 

get some new hardware to put it back together with from your local dealership

I also have some factory shackles that i have listed in my thread in the classifieds

 

Just a quick update/conclusion to this thread.

Got the new shackle from dealership, cost about $32, thought I might be able to reuse the 2 mounting nuts/bolts...

After a long fought battle with the bottom bolt I got it unscrewed far enough to remove the nut but I then had to cut the bolt because it was nearly fused to the bushing in the shackle. Top bolt came off with no problems.

Ran back to the dealership for new hardware and the nut/bolt cost $15 each! Had to do a little prying of the leaf spring to get the holes lined up with the bracket. Popped the new bolts in, torqued em down, took her on a test ride and back in business.

 

Glad to hear everything worked out... sounds like it was a pain to do, which mine was also. The bolts are expensive but at least you know they are OEM and will last.