Broken rear leaf spring

[Chadwick717]

Well I broke a rear leaf.   I'm going to order two new springs and plan on replacing them myself.  Any tips for this newbie?  It's a 1979 K10 stock ride height. Thanks for the help.

[Irish_Alley]

the bushings will be the hardest part. most times the bolt if rusted to the bushing sleeve. what we normally do is cut the bolt where ever you can usually through the bushing and try and remove it. then we burn the bushing out

[Chadwick717]

Yeah I was worried about that, fortunately it doesn't look too rusty. We shall see.  Springs are on order. 

[Chadwick717]

Another question. Another reason I'm replacing the rear springs is that one of the PO replaced the stock setup with 3 leaf springs and a block.

Why would one do this?  I have the 5 spring stock setup on order, but I like the current ride height, I'm assuming I won't need a block on the back because of the arch in the new springs.

[Irish_Alley]

idk maybe he wanted a higher ride but a soft ride. its hard to tell from this side but it looks to be close to stock high due to the spacing on the bump stop

[Chadwick717]

Thanks for the help Irish. 

[Chadwick717]

The springs should arrive today. I'll let you guys know how it goes!

[Engineer]

Ummm, that is quite the interesting set up you have.

I hope you are going back to the GM design.

[Irish_Alley]

Ummm, that is quite the interesting set up you have.

I hope you are going back to the GM design.

are you talking about the block being in between the springs?

[Engineer]

Irish, it looks to me somebody took out some leafs to get a better ride then put the block in it to make up for the lost ride height. I've never seen anything like that before. I've for sure have never seen a 3 leaf rear stack on a square body.

[Irish_Alley]

lol when i first saw the picture i didnt realize the spring was broken i first thought someone took the spring pack apart and stuck a block in between the springs i was shocked at what i thought i saw

[Chadwick717]

Yep, I went back to stock springs. A po put that 3 spring setup on, and I didn't know any better until the spring broke!  I'm learning everyday with this truck. It did ride nice though! 

I finished putting the springs on today. Here is a picture from last night, I was waiting for the new U-bolts to be delivered.

Irish, I'm so glad that you forewarned me about the bolts.  I ended up having to cut out both of the front bolts. They were pretty much one with the bushing.  But, because I was aware of this possibility, it saved me a lot of time.

[Irish_Alley]

no problem, glad you fixed it the right way