That's not factory equipment...
 

I've been slowly working at dis-assembly of my 1960 GMC project. It was a slow day today, so I was out there giving the underside a good looking over when I found myself doing a double-take. What the heck...? Check out these kinda scary "helper springs" attached to the rear leaf units.

Definitely didn't come from the factory with those. The welds are all boogered up, and the coil springs were obviously meant to sit in an angled perch. Anybody ever see anything like that before?

On the one hand, it's kind of clever. On the other hand... seriously???

Re: That's not factory equipment...
 

They aren't that scary. Besides, they look like they have made it for a LONG time like that. Remember there was a time when you couldn't find anything you wanted on the internet, or even in a catalog. And if you did find it you may have had to order it and wait a week or two to get it. If you were on the farm, and you needed that truck to carry an extra 600 pounds, you had to find a way to get it done.

Re: That's not factory equipment...
 

That outta make for stiffer ride...

Re: That's not factory equipment...
 

and it's still like that to this day
.
Let me show you a picture of my set up
.
Two tons of fun ...talk about a stiff ride
.
http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps589dc5cb.jpg

Re: That's not factory equipment...
 

Funny thing is the factory and dealer had auxiliary springs available for both coils/leaf springs. I have them on both of my trucks.

Re: That's not factory equipment...
 

Softpatch... Holy Crap! That's a lot of spring!

Truth be told I have some personal history with the truck I'm working on now. It belonged to a relative of mine and we used to use it to haul horses up into the Montana mountains when I was a kid.

Anyway those helper springs have served their purpose well. I've seen near on 3000 lbs of horse loaded into that truck and driven up the side of a mountain with no trouble :smoke:

I just hadn't ever gotten a good look at the underside of the truck until now. Knowing what we did with that truck, and seeing what we did it with, gives me a little shiver now that I'm a little older and my sense of self-preservation has had a chance to develop.

Re: That's not factory equipment...
 

Now, that's a bump stop! Could you imagine the banging sounds if you were ever loaded heavy enough that it bottomed out?