Is coil rear ride really that much better than leaf?
 

Doing a frame off with current leaf but have the available parts to do a coil swap. Is the ride really that much better?

oh yeh, but can't handle as much weight

Plus there isn't wheelhop like with leaf springs....my coil spring truck with worn out suspension rides at least as good, if not better than my mom's '01 S10.

I noticed better traction in the snow, too. I'm not sure why.

I notice great traction with absolutly no wheel hop, a great ride, and pretty good in the corners.
As for load rating...they are RATED for the same load as a leaf rear.
I would go with the coils myself.

My '70 rides much better than my wifes' '00 extened cab...

Huh, then if they were so good why did chevy stop using them in 73?

My 71 C-10 w/coils rides and handles nicer than my 2001 F-150.

I had a camper on my 71 gmc once with coils, couldn't go over 40 mph, it was all over the road, they might rate coils the same as leafs, but there isn't any comparison as far as I'm concerned

My 69 is a custom camper 10, it has leafs and I like it :D

the inherent design of coils will perform in a smoother action due to the vertical compression of the spring. the leaf gives a rougher ride due to the perpendicular flexing load placed on the spring pack, and the horizontal movement of the individual springs in a pack sliding against each other,and growing in length as a load is placed upon the pack as a whole. the leaf spring set up will carry a load better due to the shear area availible to distribute the load (pack of 5 springs with a nominal length of 35 inches and a width of 2and 1/2 inches is 437 sq in of area) coils of course (with out refreshing my math) is obviously going to have much less area availible to give resistance to the load put upon them. If your towing, leafs all the way. Street driving,racing,quality of ride, stick with the coil set up(also has the built in traction bar or trailing link set up.)

My personal opinion and thats all it is "my opinion".

I bet you couldn't tell the difference by driving them, I know I can't. I have owned both and the 1/2tons ride nice both coil and leaf and the 3/4tons can haul anything, but ride rough without a load.

I wouldn't waste your time changing from one to the other.

Classic truck did an article recently on the differences. I have 1 each design on LWB 350 trucks. I agree with most of the above except that no one picked up on the major difference and that is the placement of your suspension. Coil springs are suspended within the frame while leaf are actually mounted outside of the frame. this inner and outer mounting provides some very interesting ride differences when you do things like---go around a curve!! My leaf spring truck rides a bit firmer--even though the coil has HD springs and factory overloads. Take a look at the nascar racers and they have a very similar setup to our coil springs trucks. If you are looking for car like quality with racing like performance---coil. If you are looking hauling, trailering, truck like performance, stay with leaf as that is what was installed in 95% of the GMC trucks, 3/4 ton and 4x4s. Changing over is a job that I would not do to improve the ride--either way!! :)

My 67 rides like a Cadillac.......Smoooooooth

My GMC has leafs, rides like a truck. :lol:

:eek: Holy Crap! :eek:

I've got coils with overload leafs on the back of the frame; smooth ride plus a little extra capacity if need be.

Yes, both of the LWB's that I've acquired in the last few months have had coils with helper leafs...and both also had towing bumpers and towing harnesses. So it can be the best of both worlds I guess, with the helper leafs. Since the helper leafs are so common, I'd guess that they are a necessity if you'd be hauling or towing heavy loads.

.................And if you ever want to bag your truck a coil truck is easier to bag than a leaf truck.

I continue to be amazed at how well my old coil spring truck rides - much better than the newer vehicles we own or have owned. It also has the half leaf overloaders so it handles big loads pretty well.

The '70 has the HD coils and overloads. It used to have a sway bar too, but my brother bent a mounting bracket for me which pulled the sway bar out of it's mounts on the A arms. It still drives really really nice, but it a leans a bit more than it did with the sway bar. Doesn't feel quite as crisp around the corners as before but I still think it's the nicest driving vehicle I've ever been in. Rides like a caddy too. Hauled a 400-500lb fourwheeler really nicely... I'm personally really happy with the coils for a half ton. In the higher weight ratings I guess it's not too big a deal either because they both have to be so stiff.

The '70 is a lwb fleet 2wd with p/s p/b (all original) with 70k miles on the clock.

What rating coils do you have?

There were light coils, then leafs which are slightly heavier rated,and then the heavy coils which are good for more capacity than the leaves in the half tons.

My 70 is a 3/4 ton with coils on the back. I t has a large coil on the outside and a smaller coil on the inside side by side, overload? I don't if it's original or not. Bottom mounts are welded to the axel. I got the truck in 1980. I have seen these half length over load springs in one of the catalogs but they didn't sell the mounting brackets. Are these the overloads some of the guys are talking about?