Product Reviews

Tuff Country 4" HD-EZ ride front springs

With the original Rancho 4" front springs closing in on ten years of service and a bent main leaf for the better part of two years now our project "UAV" Blazer was in desperate need of new front springs. When we went shopping for springs we were looking for a quality spring that could handle the abuse we were used to dishing out yet we didn't want to step up to an expensive custom spring just yet because the project may see coilovers in the future.

We had always heard great things about Tuff Country springs and we liked that their HD EZ ride springs offer the softest advertised spring rates which translate into a nice ride with good articulation. All their springs are teflon padded and have tapered tips and also come with urethane bushings so going with the EZ ride springs was an easy decision.

Features

• Teflon pads used to eliminate noise and squeaking
• Limited lifetime warranty on leaf springs
• Includes poly bushings
• Springs are tapered, snub rolled & pre-set

Another thing that we like about the Heavy Duty Tuff Country springs was that the bottom spring could be removed if we wanted an even softer spring, in effect making it a true EZ ride spring. With our old springs the bottom spring was tied into the spring clamps and couldn't be easily removed so we liked that we have that option with the Tuff Countries, although doing that would void the warranty.

New Tuff Country 4" HD EZ ride springs	Old springs with bent main leaf	Tuff Country (top) Rancho (bottom)

We went with the Heavy Duty Springs because they are a little stiffer and have a slightly higher load capacity for vehicles with winches and heavy bumpers like our application and we wanted to keep our ride height the same.

OffRoad Design greasable bushings	Installing new bushings with a vice

Even though the new springs come with new poly bushings we decided to call OffRoad Design and order a new set of their hardened bushings with grade 8 greasable bolts. The tight tolerance between the spring eye bolt and the bushing makes removing them kind of fun to say the least, a "large" pair of pliers did the trick nicely. Our trusty table vice and gobs of grease were used to install the new ORD bushings.

Ready for removal	Remove U-bolts	Tighten spring bolts

Installation:
Installation was pretty straight forward especially since we were replacing a 4" spring with another 4" spring, if your installing these on a stock truck you would want to take a look at driveshaft and brake line lengths as well. An easy way we found to remove and install the front springs is to use two jack stands, one under the frame just behind the shackle, and the other one securely under the bumper. At this point we used a floor jack under the axle and simply lowered it after the u-bolts were removed.

New frame bushings	Spring installed	Don't forget to grease

With the axle unbolted from the spring the shackle bolts and main spring eye bolt were removed and the spring pack removed. At this point we installed our ORD frame bushings and shackle. We found it easier to bolt up the main spring eye bolt first (front) which allowed positioning on the shackle end. The axle was still resting on our floor jack so it was raised up to the bottom of the spring and aligned with the center pin, then the u-bolts were installed. Before the tires were installed we added some fresh grease to the greasable bolts, and because we were already quite dirty and the grease gun was out we took this time to grease everything with a zerk. 

Drivers side spring installed	Field testing new springs

Driving impressions:
Overall we really like our new Tuff Country springs, the ride is much improved over our old heavy duty springs and they flex great. One thing to note here is that the 4" HD Tuff Country springs are a four leaf pack as compared to our old five leaf pack yet the ride height stayed exactly the same, 13 inches as measured from the bottom of the bump stop mount to the top of the axle tube. This allowed us to greatly improve the ride and articulation while keeping the same ride height, not to mention we no longer have bent springs, can't ask for much more.

Tuff Country springs are probably the best value for the money we have seen, there are more expensive custom springs and there are less expensive discount springs, but if you want one of the best quality springs with a great ride for a great price, Tuff Country will be hard to beat. - Steve Fox