hailing here from central ks, my 97 ford turd. not a daily driver, i got this for the purpose you see in the pic, getting stuff i cant in my altima.... its my little work horse. mostly a farm truck life. getting gravel/dirt, loads of hay, drywall/lumber runs..... i also do junk/scrap metal for people

i plan on upgrading the leaf springs and shocks. still cant get passed the 500lb weight limit. i ditched the stock 14's and got a set of stock 16s from a salvage yard that came from a 98 Explorer and slapped some 235/65 on there

 

A 97 single cab short bed has a 1250 lbs payload, and if that's rock in the bed of your truck, I'd guess you're over that by several hundred pounds.

The springs aren't your problem, it's the bearings and axle shafts.

 

before i upgraded the rims and tires, i had done a scrap metal load at my job. the bed had squatted pretty hard. after the drop off the scale said i had 480lbs

i think the 1250 is the towing limit??

gotta understand though, my particular truck has been rode hard n put away wet. i bought it off a crack head from the sticks for 600 bucks.....

every thing that can be broke, is broke 😂😂😂