Technical Ford F1 helper springs?

My 1949 f1 has a set of what appear to be helper springs. I have looked at a few pictures of other trucks and replacement springs and I do not see them. Mainly curious if they are stock and what the effect would be if I removed them. There are brackets that mount to the frame that contact the springs under compression that aren't in the picture, I had already removed them. Thanks for any info.

 

Way back when pickup trucks used to haul stuff. They were added by dealers or the previous owner. Very common to find....
You can remove them. The stock springs will work fine without them.

 

Thanks.
That's what I suspected, the brackets were stamped ford so I assumed it was a dealer add or something.

 

I posted your question on FTE and 2 responded with: We have those on our F1's and are planing on removing them.

 

Just overload springs. You can remove them, only issue may be need to get new shorter U-bolts.

 

...actually the way they are w/o the frame brackets, they are just going along for the ride, not doing anything.

 

You might need them if your girlfriend plans to ride in the back!!!

 

This is correct, without the springs the u bolt threads come up a couple of inches too short. You either need new bolts or build a spacer of some sort to compensate. I have removed the springs and it works fine. ( Posting for future searchers.)