If your Gen 1 or Gen 2 Raptor hops, skips sideways, or blows through rear travel in whoops, the leaf packs are the right place to spend — before bypasses, before anything else back there. A Deaver pack (the U402 is the standard answer) runs around $1,600, takes a day to install, and changes the rear of the truck more than any shock upgrade at twice the price. The honest caveat: it's a desert-performance part. A truck that tows and does mild trails doesn't need it.
The factory leaf packs are the known compromise of the Gen 1/Gen 2 rear end. Ford had to spring the truck for payload, towing, and ride quality with a handful of leaves — and packs built for that duty fade when cycled hard and fast. The leaf spring fade guide covers the symptoms and diagnosis in detail; this guide is the fix.
Deaver's Raptor packs replace the factory few-thick-leaves design with many thin leaves — the U402 runs 11+ leaves per side. More, thinner leaves slide against each other progressively, which does three things the stock pack can't:
The usual spec adds roughly 1–2" of rear height (build-dependent) and works with stock or aftermarket shocks. Pairing the pack with rear shocks that are actually alive matters — a fresh pack with blown shocks will still misbehave, and the Fox rebuild schedule guide is worth reading before you blame new springs for old shock problems.
What you give up: a small amount of unladen ride smoothness (more leaves means more interleaf friction) and some payload margin versus a heavy-duty pack — Deaver springs the truck for performance, not for carrying a slide-in camper. Decide what the truck is for first.
This is u-bolt-and-shackle work — none of it is exotic, all of it is heavy.
1. Truck on stands under the frame, rear axle supported on a jack you can raise and lower. Wheels off.
2. Disconnect the lower shock mounts so the axle can droop freely.
3. Spray every u-bolt and shackle bolt with penetrating oil before you start — a decade of desert trucks says at least one will fight you.
4. Remove u-bolts (cut them if they argue; you're not reusing them — **new u-bolts are mandatory**, they're torque-to-yield by practice and stretched ones back off).
5. Unbolt the front hanger and rear shackle, drop the old pack. They're heavier than they look; control the swing.
6. New pack up — center pin into the axle perch locating hole, hanger bolt and shackle bolt started loose, new u-bolts snugged in a cross pattern.
7. Torque u-bolts to spec in stages and in a cross pattern, then **torque hanger and shackle bolts at ride height** — torquing them at droop preloads the bushings and they'll tear in months.
8. Re-torque the u-bolts after 100–500 miles. New packs settle; this re-torque is not optional.
Budget a full day for the first time, half that with help.
The brake line and ABS sensor wire routing along the axle needs slack checked at full droop with the new pack's geometry — full droop with a disconnected shock is the test, done deliberately with the axle on the jack. If you've added height, check driveline angles; 1–2" rarely causes vibration on these trucks but a quick test drive paying attention beats discovering it on the highway. And weigh whether bump stops need addressing while you're under there — packs that allow more travel can let the axle find the frame harder than stock.
Deaver pack $1,500–$1,700 shipped, new u-bolts $60–$100, an alignment isn't needed (solid rear axle) but a shock refresh often is — budget honestly for the whole rear end. Install at a desert-literate shop runs $400–$600 if the u-bolts cooperate. Against a $3,000+ rear bypass shock setup, the leaf pack is the better first dollar every time on a leaf-sprung truck.
| Part | Vendor | Est. price |
|---|---|---|
| Deaver U402 Stage 8 leaf pack (pair, Gen 1/Gen 2) | Deaver Suspension | ~$1600 |
| New OEM-spec u-bolts (required, do not reuse) | various | ~$80 |
Written and maintained by an AZ wheeler and driveway wrencher. Always cross-reference your factory service manual — modifications affect vehicle safety and warranty. Work at your own risk.