leaf springs

[Greybeard]

I would pay, and have my popcorn ready to see this truck slam on it's brakes really hard from say 70 mph.  I only see 1 support bar, but that can not be all that truck has on it, 1 on each side ?

Probably look like something out of a movie, sliding down the road on the frame. 

I don't see that control arm(s) doing any good with axle housing rotation.  Look at the position it's attached to on the axle. Right square on the front. Look the spring pack, it's a W shape already. Somebody has driven that truck and not just on and off a trailer. On the other hand, if there are two going to the bottom of the diff housing then it's basically just a stupid four link. 

[Irish_Alley]

i think someone turned an old tires truck into a redneck show truck. for one the painted flames on the frame, the spring perch is welded on to something, small leaf pack. this is the rear axle and the pack is that big? i wouldnt think nothing more than a s10 or some small suv. maybe a jeep with some filler plate in the wheel wells?

[Als87]

Ok no more blocks on the front, jus the 2 on the rear. I didn't kno, they were on there when I bought it. Thanks for the info guys. I guess I will look into replacing the leaf springs all the way around since they're old & the ride quality is pretty rough sometimes.

[Greybeard]

Those don't look like lift blocks. They look like spacers. Those are much different than lift blocks. I may be alone here but to me a lift block is four inches or more in height.

They sell that style zero rate spring as a leveling device these days. That does not put too much leverage on anything. They might even be part of a heavy suspension spring pack someone swapped in. They used to use the thickest shortest leaf for that kind of spacer before the zero lift part was manufactured by some enterprising person willing to do the dirty parts. Otherwise it was easy to just get a thick spring leaf, take a torch and cut it about two total inches longer than the mounting pad grind the ends smooth and add it under the spring. Instant spacer, (well, not so instant actually), LOL. It was a cheap fix for sagging springs. 

[Irish_Alley]

I see only springs. Think its a after pick. Someone on here a couple weeks ago posted some lift blocks for the front they were only a inch or two but bolted to the spring almost like a leaf would but it offered no support so it didn't stiffen the ride

[Als87]

yea sorry for the dark picture, not sure why my flash didnt flash, but yes that is an after pic. those are the spacers that the blocks were set on. they were 2'' blocks on the front & there is still blocks on the rear. so what in the world kind of lift does my truck have!? srry for the stupid questions

[dvdswan]

honestly, the only stupid question is the one not asked.

most lifts will have the model number painted on the top spring...  at least my ranchos are. 

before you go out and buy new springs you should decide what you are going to use the truck for.  is it just for show, light offroading, or strickly offroad.  that way you can decide if you want ride comfort or performance.

research and questions will do wonders to increase your knowledge in your newly found hobby.

[Greybeard]

Just an FYI, retorque those ubolts after about a few miles and then after about a few more miles until there is no more moving them during a retorque. How do I know this? LOL.

New 6" lift put on in Carbondale, Colorado, drove the 100 plus miles home (back to Edwards), didn't know any better and the shop never mentioned needing the re-torquing done, went trail riding and I was most of the way up the side of Red and White mountain on a  steep area, couldn't get enough traction with the 39x15-15 Mickey-T Tall Bajas to get over the cornice at that angle, the turn-around on that steep of angle was stupid to even try but I didn't want to back down the half mile to a less steep area, as I turned I turned to the passenger side after kicking the passenger out keeping the drivers side up hill in case it rolled, the front left tire came off the ground a couple of times but it never went over and during the entire time it move 3" try and stop slide a foot keep door open be ready to bail if it went over, looked out under the door and saw my front axle moving wildly, asked the passenger to verify, said it was moving and rocking all over. Got it pointing downhill finally after much sweating and puckering. When I made it to a level spot I jumped out and looked....note to self at that point, never wheel in the mountains without a good tool box in tow. All I had was a 12" crescent to tighten them back up after turning all eight with my fingers to snug them up on the mountain trail. Not gooood! Live and learn. That was in about '87 or so.

[Als87]

Thanks I will definitely take that advice.
My truck ain't a show truck, although I did just paint it last summer & have continued to upgrade little things here & there. Some for looks,  some for performance. Its jus a pretty good lookn regular driver. Offroad & highway driving so I want the daily comfort while bein able to go throw mud  & get back in the field to wrk.
So what do u suggest?

[Greybeard]

I believe that is up to you.

Lift it, don't lift, stay with stock springs, use after market springs?

For me it's always a matter of money. I can't see spending 600 or 800 dollars on any lift kit. That's just getting out of hand.

As for riding rough, what are you comparing it to? It's not a new century vehicle. Tires have a lot to say about ride quality also. A 10 ply rated tire sometimes rides rougher than a passenger car tire. 

Again, as for riding rough, if the front springs have sagged into a negative arch it will ride like a truck! The stock front springs always were relatively flat but had some positive arch to them. The rear shackle on the front spring needs to be nearly vertical at rest for the best ride on road. This allows both compression and rebound of the spring to act neutrally on the frame of the truck. If it leans too far either fore or aft it has to push the frame up farther as soon as it starts to move. Especially if the spring started life as say a two inch lift but is now flat. That puts the shackle at it's rearmost travel and the only thing it can do is lift the frame as it tries to move into a vertical position as the spring flexes up (effectively making the spring shorter thereby pulling the shackle forward) it could also be bottoming on the frame at this point anyway because the shackles are almost too short for the springs flat length.

After writing all this I actually went back a looked your picture and saw a couple reasons why they are riding rough. One, they are flat, two, they are bent. The front of the right spring is bent right at the end of the second leaf. It's not supposed to be. This together with the fact they are worn out and flat will cause it ride like a truck. The fronts are problems. Just get front springs of your choice and add blocks or whatever to the rear to get it level, unless money is no issue and then go for whatever over-priced setup you choose. If you decide to go over about 6" be prepared to throw a lot more money at it to make it all work right. I had a no longer produced Trailmaster lift with a trail master anti-rotation axle limiter thingy that don't recall the name off on mine and rode nice. Four round trips from St.Louis to Vail with it and one hauling a U-haul double axle trailer...no issues. They still sell the traction device but it's substantially different than the one I had however, it still works the same way.

Of course that is an 87 and they had a screwy perspective on suspensions at that time. All my suggestions are based off 70's vintage despite the 73-87 monicker. Even still I think it's what I said it looked like. But I'm not there.

[Als87]

Thanks I really appreciate the info. Makes sense. I'm not trying to spend a ton or lift it any higher, I like the way it sits. Looks like just some new springs are in order tho.