Help with new coil springs on the 'burb

[AnotherWs6]

Hi all. My 68 c10 Suburban came with the heavy duty spring option. Are they still in there? I don't know, but the springs certainly look old and stock as that's what the truck basically is. I've put 800lbs of wood pellets in the back and can say that based on my driving impression with it loaded up, there is no way I am going to hook a trailer up to this thing and go camping with my family, which is the main reason why I purchased the truck.

I'm looking for some info and opinions on what springs to run. I do not want to lower the truck, nor do I really want it to be all jacked up looking. Crawling under the truck I can say that it looks like - based on the compression I'm seeing with a 100% empty truck - my springs have seen better days.



Do these look like factory heavy duty springs?

I think that a "heavy duty" spring for a c10 is the same as a standard spring for a c20. Correct? Is that what I should go with?

Will it have a noticeable effect on ride height?

And how much to you think it would effect ride quality? Right now the ride is pretty nice, a little floaty. I don't know if it's supposed to be that way, I have nothing else of the same vintage to compare it to.

Thanks,

Cory

[68c10airstream]

As far as hooking up the trailer, just make sure to use leveling bars with sway control is the best all around set up. When it's set up right with the trailer hooked up the suburban will look like it's not sagged out in the back at all, it will look normal.

I strongly suggest E.C.E. for whatever spring you are going to run. I have a 4" drop spring in the rear of my 68 c10 and have loaded 900 lbs and more and have only touched the cut down rubber snubbers a few times and i can live with that. And i will not "C" notch my frame, just the way i am.

My airstream is about 2500 lbs and between the correct height trailer ball, leveling bars with sway control, pulling my single axle trailer works and looks very normal. Trailer frame is parallel to the ground and the truck looks unloaded. Every camp site i have been at i will see a messed up trailer/truck set up. Even my wife can now point out the mess.

I believe the ECE springs are what is called a variable rate spring. What this does is this; in the unloaded position you will be riding in the softer zone of the spring, and when you load it down it progressively ramps up to a stiffer spring because you have collapsed the softer zone down to the stiffer zone.

A stock fixed rate spring (as an example) maybe would compress 1" for every 100lbs that you add to it.

The variable rate would (as a comparison) compress 1" for the first 80 lbs, the next 1" would take 130lbs more, the next 1" would take 160lbs more, etc, etc,

This was just a hypothetical scenario to show the difference, it's been 25 years since i really looked into the specs on springs but now you know what to buy and from where, good luck.

[PGSigns]

Most of the springs I have seen like that were heated to drop the truck. A stock spring will bring your truck up.
Jimmy