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I snapped one of my leaf springs this weekend so I'm in the market for a new set. My truck is used mostly for off-roading and if I carry a load then it isn't more 500 lbs. Part of my problem is that I'm not exactly certain what I've got. I've had more than one shop modify the rear over the last 20 years. It's the stock spring but I think it's had the arch increased and a leaf added. I want to say it added about 1.5" to the ride height. I'm using a Fabtech shackle that adds 2" of height and I've also got a 2" body lift. I was thinking that I'd calculate the increase needed from the leaf by comparing the gap between the axle and the bump stop on my truck and a stock truck then subtract 2" for the shackle.
I'm planning on buying an aftermarket spring and using it with the 4th spring currently installed.
Do the 3 leafs in the picture appear to be stock config?
Do they look like they've got more arch?
Does anybody know the stock distance between the axle and bump stop?
If you are using this thing in the dirt and working the springs hard enough to snap them, look into the chevy 64'' spring swap or pony up the money and do a set of deaver f55 or f67s depending on what you have done to the front.
A swap sounds like the best long term solution but the problem is that I'm not in a position to do any fabrication. My truck is broke down 100 miles from the city. My friend is letting me use his shop to fix it so it needs to be relatively straight forward. It needs to come off the rack the same day it goes on and there isn't anywhere nearby to purchase supplies if anything is needed. Is there a kit?
After researching this all day, I think you're right. It starts with the fact that my springs aren't even close to stock. Mine have the load spring removed, two springs added and they've been re-arched. This isn't a dependency that I want.
My concerns are ride height and travel. I called Low Range Off-Road today and they couldn't give me an answer on either. Right now, I've got 12" of travel and I'm not sure how much shock I've got left.
Thinking out loud here but what about just looking for some used stock 2wd leafs for now so you can get it home from your friends shop? Widely available, especially in SD county where there are old Toyota pickups EVERYWHERE.
I think you only have the amount of rear travel now because of the longer shackles and modifications with additional leaf, but I think for long-term solution I'd either look into stock leafs with a spring over axle swap (like the 4wd trucks have) - this should give you almost 4" right off the bat and you might be able to ditch the long shackles and additional leafs, but will require some welding fabrication to install perches on the top side of axle tube.
Chevy 63 swap will also work, but also requires welding to install new mounts. The benefit of these though is they're a longer leaf spring and depending on the donor truck they can be flexy soft - which may be good for your prerunner use.
Triangulating shocks will get you a tad more travel at expense of shock dampening. Kinda why prerunner guys end up chopping the bed to fit suspension parts for max travel setup
I went to the shop that made the last set of springs and they lagged. As it turns out, he was looking for a used set of springs to start with which isn't what I wanted. I went to a real spring shop and they fabricated a new set for $700. 5 leaves instead of 4 and not based on an oem leaf.
They aren't as springy which is good. They don't pop the back end up as much when they become fully compressed.
They're a lot softer on landing. They don't bottom out hard.
Last edited by lphillippi; 04-18-2016 at 03:50 PM.
02-28-2016, 09:05 PM
