'57 rear helper springs?
 

Could these have been installed at the factory? Or, were they added later?
How much weight would it take in the bed before they would be of any use?

I have these springs out of the truck right now and am trying to decide whether to keep or discard the helpers. I might put 600 lbs in the back but that would be pretty seldom.

http://www.hotrodders.com/gallery/da.../rear_axle.jpg

Re: '57 rear helper springs?
 

For the springs they look stock, my '46 had 15 per side if I remember right (1/2 ton) now the U bolts don't look stock to me. They may have been changed when the rear end was changed,. And no you don't need the helpers for for 600#.
Rob

Re: '57 rear helper springs?
 

Roger,

They look just like the stock ones on my '56. If you're going to keep it as a daily driver and use it as a truck, then keep them/if not, then you can shed some weight off the back of your truck.

Re: '57 rear helper springs?
 

Thanks for the feedback guys.

The truck is for my wife. Once in a while she buys bags of mulch which are about 40lb bags. So if she bought say 20 bags, that would be 800 lbs. So let's say 800 instead of the 600 I said earlier.

I wish I had put some weight in the back of the truck before I disassembled it so I could have seen how much weight it would take before the helpers start to work.

Re: '57 rear helper springs?
 

the brackets and u-bolts look like add ons, might be period correct or dealer option.
i've often hauled a ton of gravel or piled bark mulch piled way over the bed sides in these old trucks with stock springs.
the weight is not the problem, steering the truck is. too much weight in back makes the front end light.
i remember having way too much weight and having to take my foot of the go pedal to turn :D
rough ride either way, i'd discard them.

since you have them out, rebuild your springs. replace the center bolt, clean up and paint the leaves.

Re: '57 rear helper springs?
 

Your wife will not have a problem if you take them out. I drove all over the west for 15 years with a 600# camper on the back of my stock 1/2 ton. I also rolled across the dump scales with 1200+ pounds of concrete, rocks and other debris (made steering interesting!). I'd get shorter u bolts.

Re: '57 rear helper springs?
 

Thanks for the info guys! I'll leave them off.

Less work too!

And yes Ogre, I've got the springs apart and have blasted them. I'm going to spray the leafs with black SPI epoxy primer.

Any recommendations where to get new u-bolts and center-bolts? I'm going to need them for the front springs too.

Re: '57 rear helper springs?
 

center bolts at brothers or lmc
u-bolts... depends: flipping or stock configuration
stock brothers or lmc truck, flipped axle any spring shop

Re: '57 rear helper springs?
 

Check locally at spring shop or jobber. When I converted to 4wd PO kept the ubolts, I got mine cheaper locally than resto places....

Re: '57 rear helper springs?
 

I ended up getting the U-bolts and center bolts from Classic Parts.
Way cheaper on both than the other suppliers or spring shops.

Front U-bolts are $4.99, rear $9.99 and center bolts $1.99.

Re: '57 rear helper springs?
 

If you are not going to flip the axle I'd save the overloads in case she does load it down on an all too regular basis. Most of the time she probably wouldn't load it down to the overloads but if she hauls serious loads of stuff for the yard often they might help the handling a bit.

Re: '57 rear helper springs?
 

Yes, I will hang on to them (and no, I'm not flipping the axle. I want to keep it close to stock height).

Like I said though, 800 lbs would be the maximum she would ever load this truck and that wouldn't be very often. It would only be from Home Depot to home too.

I did notice that some PO of the truck added a leaf to front leaf pack. It has 7 instead of the stock 6. It's easy to see which leaf was added too and I can also tell it wasn't always there (the 3rd one down in the photos). I think I'll remove that leaf and go back to stock.

However, I haven't ruled out the idea of buying new front springs. The ones I've got have some wear in the eyes.

Take a look:

http://www.hotrodders.com/gallery/da...1/IMG_3208.JPG

http://www.hotrodders.com/gallery/da...1/IMG_3195.JPG

I posted these photos a while back and a few of the guys said to use them. But, I'm still not 100% sure yet. I will need to decide soon though.

Re: '57 rear helper springs?
 

My '59 Apache 32 Fleetside has the same overload springs. It is totally stock on mine. My great grandfather, who bought the truck, always referred to them as "1 ton overload springs". Seems like a good thing to have on a half ton but it does ride rough as heck.

Re: '57 rear helper springs?
 

roger55; unless you have money to burn on new springs, those will work fine.
re-bush those springs and don't look back.

Re: '57 rear helper springs?
 

Thanks. You advised me before on these too. I can afford new springs but certain don't want to waste money either. Sounds like you think it would be a waste. You aren't the only one who advised me this way.

I guess I'll go ahead and use them. I've already got the new bushings and centerbolts. I'll blast and paint them with the SPI epoxy primer as well and remove that extra leaf someone put in.

Btw, I'm still looking for new frame brackets for the front springs. I've got a line on a set but am still waiting to hear back. I believe you saw that issue and posted in that other thread:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=588692

I got a perfect set of rear brackets from Kabwe and am installing those now.