Finding the Right Leaf Pack

Yeah insist on knowing what kind of leafs the donors are, meaning if they are getting their aftermarket donors from Asia, I'm going to say theres about 75%-80% chance they'll be dead in a year, of course driving habits/environment play a big role in longevity, personally I'd insist on Chevy or Ford truck springs from the local wrecking yard, thats what I use in my builds for other members & so far I've had 100% positive feed back & I've been running mine for over 2 years now..

 

Great info
Thx!

 

Sorry for the confusion guys. My idea was to take either a stock pack, or tsb and build from there and arch that using what ever metal they use to build there springs with. Will that be flat in a year?

 

RyanPont,

As long as your top leaf is not completely flat, it is saveable. Do not bother trying to re-arch the lower leaves. They are not worth the money

The lowest cost method involves finding from a salvage yard either Ford or Chevy leaf springs and building from there. Check out 4WDs "leaf spring refurbishing" posts. You will obtain a superior suspension at a bargain price.

If you do not have the time, tools and location and choose to go with a spring shop build, talk with them about your needs. I expect they will recommend adding at least 2-3 new leaves to the saved top leaf. Depending on your needs, you may want to keep the bottom (overload leaf) as well. Make sure they use American steel if you want long life. I say this because of the grade of steel.

Probably the best source of information would be to read "4WD"s posts and comments about rear leaf springs/suspension so you can make an informed decision of what to do.

 

My original plan was to bring it to someone have them pull the springs and bring it to a spring place, then reinstall them. I have ur average set of tools, not many. I could likely pull them myself, but none of my friends are mechanic savy and the one the is, hes too lazy. Plus id take a while to make sure im doing it right. Then i tried to figure in cost. Having a mechanic pull them and bring them then reinstall them.

My second idea was to order ome and see if i could bribe some members to help. Still costly but maybe not as much?

My third idea was to buy another set of stock leafs. Bring them to the spring shop myself and tell them what im looking for then having them installed.

 

I'm not confused, its fine to build off stock leafs, only because you need the main leaf for mounting & factory config in relation to axle/driveshaft

distance, I can't comment on whether or not they'll be flat in a year, I don't know where the donor springs are from...

 

The spring shop I am using is well aware of the problems with Japanese steel.
To build new leafs they take brand new leaf blanks made in Canada
Goes in, a week tomorrow

 

Shit, Canadian steel is even worse !!




j/k Thats great dude, hope they take care of ya ...

 

phew..

 

Would airbags be a bandaid fix?

 

RyanPont,

As long as you are having no other suspension related problems ( understeer, sway, wandering), then air bags may be a good choice for you during towing and moderate loads. Air bags can only help lift the bed off of your bump-stops, not correct handling issues.

As you are towing, consider a rear anti-sway bar.

 

I think i could get away with them, i anticipate i will tow my pop up camper a handfull of times this summer. One my concerns is what type of ride ill get unloaded, loaded. If it will take away the bounce when im loaded and give me a firm more controlled ride unloaded/ loaded. Also where is the.weight being distributed? Kind of all over the place.

 

RyanPont,

Unloaded and the bags deflated, you will have your current ride as you do not inflate the bags unless needed. Loaded and bags inflated, actually should be a fairly smooth and firmer ride. As the bags will be doing the work, not your springs. Certainly a better ride than you have now loaded.

To confuse you a little more, look at "Super Springs". None of your options are cheap, just pick the one that works best for you.

 

2 weeks my truck goes in to have new packs built and installed. Decided to go that route. Also Im going to have the fronts swapped out with my 5100s set at 1.75. I just have to take some measurements and build the leafs from that.

 

Report back to us what they actually do and your driving opinion.

 

I will. I was worried about it being costly. Having the springs pulled, rebuilt and then reinstalled. It wasnt as bad as i thought it be, well what he thought it would cost

 

kind of off the thread topic but the truck goes in tomorrow.
Measured up the hub to fender stuff
It has an inch and a half spacer right now in the front. So before it was raked out!
Front 22 1/4
Rear 22 3/8
Not bad
I threw the canopy on for the shop tomorrow, so they can do the rear leafs with the extra weight
I took a before pic so when it is all done I will get the after pic and post em up

 

You got 22 1/4" up front with a 1 1/2" spacer ?

 

Thats what I measured
The tape doesnt lie

 

Interesting