Leaning 79 K10

[grumpy6379]

 I have a 79 Chevy K10 shortbox fleetside that leans about 1 1/2" on the drivers side. I am wanting to know where can I buy new springs the cheapest, including shipping. Another option would be to buy good used springs, I am in central Iowa. It has 7 leaves per side right now and I believe that is the stock setup and would like to stay with that.

Thanks for any help.

[bake74]

I have a 79 Chevy K10 shortbox fleetside that leans about 1 1/2" on the drivers side. I am wanting to know where can I buy new springs the cheapest, including shipping. Another option would be to buy good used springs, I am in central Iowa. It has 7 leaves per side right now and I believe that is the stock setup and would like to stay with that.

Thanks for any help.

     Are you sure it is your leaf springs ?  There are several questions that need to be answered first.
     1:  pics would say a thousand words.
     2:  Is your cab and bed both leaning the same ?
     3:  Have you checked your cab and body mounts yet ?
     4:  Have you checked your suspension parts especially the spring perches and mounts ?
     As you can see where this is going, more info is needed, if you are looking to just buy new springs and slap them on to see if that takes care of the problem and if not go onto the next problem.  Then That is your choice, but you need to find out whyyour truck is leaning first.
     Hope this helps, just trying to save you some money.

[grumpy6379]

The cab and body are both leaning the same way, just more in the rear. The cab/body mounts do need to be replaced but not to the extent of making it lean as far as it is. The spring perches and mounts look to be in very good shape for their age. I have taken quite a bit of time inspecting the underside and doing a lot of measuring at different places. The guy I bought this from had replaced the cab mounts at the very back of the cab at some point and said he put a different spring pack on the passenger side rear. He also gave me a pair of used springs that he was going to put on, after looking at them I saw a few cracks in some of the leaves and don't really want to go to the time to put them on if the won't help any. The last thing I want to do is start throwing money at this to try to fix something.

Thanks

[bake74]

     Is it stock height now or has a lift ?  Are you wanting to keep it the same ?  Spring packs do settle, but not 1 1/2" difference between sides, I am just thinking it has to be more involved than new spring packs on 1 side only, but I could be wrong.

[grumpy6379]

 It is stock height now and I would like to keep it that way. It appears that there was a fifth wheel hitch in it at some point and that is why I think it is the springs. The springs on the passenger side that were replaced don't appear that they were new when put on. My thought was that it couldn't be just the springs either, that is why I took a look at everything underneath, even possibly suspecting that the frame was bent. After all of that I came to realize that it must be the springs on the drivers side.

Thanks

[Captkaos]

Cheapest is to get a some from a donor, but that won't guarantee it fixes the problem.  All springs settle differently, so if you are trying to find one that is level all the way around, it isn't going to happen.
What do you shock mounts at the frame look like?  Have the been welded or plated?

[grumpy6379]

 The shock mounts all look to be in real good shape and not modified in any way. In fact, the whole frame is in good shape as well as all of the spring mounts. I am looking for good used springs if I can find them, if not I will by new ones if I have to.

Thanks

[werewolfx13]

Call around to various junkyards. See if any of them sell individual pulled springs...I built my own rear leaf packs and painted everything with graphite based paint, added one more leaf over stock, and tailored the pack to suit my 53" 3/4 ton rear spring hangers. Most 3/4 ton trucks came with 56" springs, so I was SOL on finding a replacement pack that would just slide right in without moving hangers or sacrificing load capacity. I went from 7+1 to 8+1 packs, and ended up with a net increase in rear height of about 2", but I feel like it will settle in with a few heavy loads.

Admittedly this isn't perfect, as was said, springs settle at different rates, and you never know how much sag each spring you buy had before it was broken apart....