Custom AAL

So last week I went to a local spring shop to have some U bolts made and while there I inquired about adding a leaf to my saggy spring pack. Long story short I now have the set of AAL but they are made to 38" long, measuring along the circumference.

The spring pack on my stock truck has clamps fore and aft of the center bolt that wrap completely around the pack like in the following pics. The space between the clamps is about 36.5". So would I be better to remove these clamps and install the somewhat long AAL or cut my AAL down to about 32", which is what the longer ones from Wheelers Offroad are dimensioned.

Also If I cut, should they be equal length on both ends of the center bolt?

Rearward clamp



Front clamp

 

What did that run you? I just stopped by a local place, and the quoted $400-$450 for parts/labor. Definitely a lot pricier than I would have thought.

 

The leafs were about $60 a piece. Everything together with 2 new centerbolts and slider pads was $130 with tax. No install though.

 

the shop i went to cuts bends and tempers their own steel. I thought that was cool.

 

That's what I was leaning towards the more I thought about it. So do you know if the leaf should be symmetrical?

I suppose I could measure the distance from the center bolt to the front and rear edge of the shortest (non overload) spring and just apply those measurements to the new leaf, minus maybe 2.5" - 3" per end.

 

That sounds good. I'll probably leave about a 1/2" gap between the new leaf I'm adding and the clamp.

 

So I ended up cutting the spring to about 33". The clamps fore and aft of the center bolt were symmetrical so I cut my spring to 16.5" on either side of the center bolt.

I tried to drill for the slider pads but was just ruining drill bits. Even after resharpening they would only go so far and start squeaking. Hopefully leaving them out won't bite me later...