softer ride c20 -72 leaf springs

[Arctic c20 -72]

Would it give me a softer ride if I remove the bottom leaf?

[demian5]

Put a small block with a 400 bolted to it in the bed.

[Arctic c20 -72]

... or a VW Beetle?

[sick472]

If you are talking about the thick one that barely touches the others...don't do that!

Let's talk hypothetically, I am not qualified to advise anyone on modifying there suspension components. I can just talk theory at this point.

That lower thick leaf looks to be a back up for heavily loaded situations or big potholes. Removing it would not be noticeable wrt the ride until you needed it and it would not be there. That lower thick one also keeps your other springs from bending backwards (or downwards).

That leaves the next leaf up, it's a shorter one compared to the other 4 leaves above it which tells me that it contributes to a bit less than 20% of the support (maybe as little as 10%). I believe your ride would get softer if you removed that one from both sides. You would also loose some ride height (IDK how much, certainly the thickness of the spring and then some more for the loss of support). The scary part is that removing any of the springs also reduces the support that the springs above would have which sounds dangerous to me, maybe life threatening.

I would leave the spring designs/mods to the spring engineers!

[Red71gmc]

I believe the correct way would be to leave the base spring and remove every other spring after it till what you want. One or two would make a lot of difference on ride but of course at the cost of payload capacity. If never used as a 3/4 ton for payload it would not make a lot of difference for you.

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by Red71gmc

I believe the correct way would be to leave the base spring and remove every other spring after it till what you want. One or two would make a lot of difference on ride but of course at the cost of payload capacity. If never used as a 3/4 ton for payload it would not make a lot of difference for you.

Another suggestion following that line of thinking would be to look closely at leaf springs for half-ton trucks and copy them as closely as possible. Or just try to source a pair of half-ton leafs and swap them in.

[Mike C]

If you don't run the truck loaded, tailor the ride with air pressure. If you have load range D tires that specify 65 psi, try running them at 45. Even on my Duramax with it's load range E tires that spec 80 psi, I only run them at that level if I am loaded or pulling HEAVY.

[Steeveedee]

If you want a little more softness in the ride, raise the truck up by the frame and spray a dry Teflon(R) lube in between the leaves. Interleaf friction is a real thing. If you look at really big truck, you won't even see shocks, because interleaf spring friction reduces the bounce that much.

[Arctic c20 -72]

Yes! I've thought about that too. Will figure out if I can compare them - perhaps at LMC-truck webpage

[Arctic c20 -72]

Might try that! I never put anything really heavy on the bed1