Remove a leaf to lower Tuff Country EZ Ride Springs

[CJM72]

I have a 1972 K5 that I'm installing 2" EZ Ride Tuff country front springs. The existing springs were the stock 2 leafs with an add-a-leaf in there for a little lift. I realize the original springs and bushings were shot, but with the add-a-leaf I was hoping the new springs would only add about an 1" of height. Stock front fender arch height was 39 5/8".

Well, after the first spring went on, I'm at about 41 7/8". Almost 2.25" taller! I'm sure these will settle 1/2 over time, but that will still probably be too high for my liking. The options are to get different springs, pull these and have them re-arched, or to try removing a leaf or two. Has anyone removed a leaf or two from the 2" EZ-Ride springs? Will this soften the ride too much? They are a progressive 5 leaf pack. I'm considering pulling the shortest one out, but not sure how much height I'll lose. The nice weather is rolling in and I'd like to get this on the road! Thanks

[hemi43]

Originally Posted by CJM72

I have a 1972 K5 that I'm installing 2" EZ Ride Tuff country front springs. The existing springs were the stock 2 leafs with an add-a-leaf in there for a little lift. I realize the original springs and bushings were shot, but with the add-a-leaf I was hoping the new springs would only add about an 1" of height. Stock front fender arch height was 39 5/8".

Well, after the first spring went on, I'm at about 41 7/8". Almost 2.25" taller! I'm sure these will settle 1/2 over time, but that will still probably be too high for my liking. The options are to get different springs, pull these and have them re-arched, or to try removing a leaf or two. Has anyone removed a leaf or two from the 2" EZ-Ride springs? Will this soften the ride too much? They are a progressive 5 leaf pack. I'm considering pulling the shortest one out, but not sure how much height I'll lose. The nice weather is rolling in and I'd like to get this on the road! Thanks

I had the exact same problem with the same springs. I did a thread on this a couple years ago, and I ended up getting the new front springs re arched. I left the rear springs alone and leveled the truck using spacer blocks. Removing the short leaf won’t lower it enough.
FWIW, those springs really improved the ride.

[special-K]

I don't know why 1 1/8" more than expected is any big deal. I'd stay with the springs as designed

[hemi43]

Originally Posted by special-K

I don't know why 1 1/8" more than expected is any big deal. I'd stay with the springs as designed

1 1/8" too high is a huge deal.

CJM72, here's the thread I made on that spring install, I hope it helps.----> http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=754525

[CJM72]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Personally, I love the height of my truck before the springs (39 5/8" at the front wheel arch). Due to my LS Swap, I really could use a little more clearance from the front cross member, but I really didn't want to go more than an 1" more to keep the look and gaps reasonable.

Frankly, I personally think it looks a little goofy with what 'seems' like a 3" lift with 33" tires. It also makes getting in slightly tougher and I'm going to have to do something about the rear suspension to level it up. Just not ideal.

Hemi, your build is a bit of a role model for mine. Mine won't ever be as nice, but I like the look and stance of your rig. De-Arching is the 'right' answer, but I'm worried about them coming back 'too low' or uneven. It will also add a bunch of time I don't have at the moment. That's why I was considering pulling a leaf or two if people had done it in the past with good results.

I did reach out to Tuff Country, but I don't expect them to offer much for solutions. I'm sure removing a leaf will change the engineered rate and possibly cause the leafs to sag or fail faster.

[hemi43]

I can't get over that it's already been 5 years since I installed those springs! Wow.

I snapped this picture this morning, and you can see that those springs have not sagged 1/16'.

I know exactly what you are saying about the front diff clearance. Mine use to hit before the new springs.
Removing a leaf will decrease the spring rate, and with the clearance issue, it's the last you want.

[CJM72]

Well, I feel a little dumb at the moment. I have a cousin that works at a spring shop and he offered to take the springs down for me if I pulled them out. Before I yanked the spring I had installed, I decide to double check my measurements. It suddenly occurred to me that I should jack up the side I hadn't put the spring in to see if it changes at all. Low and behold, When I even out the frame heights and fender heights, I'm right at 41 1/8".

My goal was to be around 40 - 40.5" after to give my differential a little more clearance. I should be at the higher end of that after the springs settle for a year. Not sure it'll be worth de-arching for a 1/2" drop or less. I'll put the passenger side spring in and run it for the summer and see how it goes. I can always pull them out this winter if I don't like where I'm at.

[hemi43]

That sounds about right CJM.
After re-arching mine it dropped it down about 1 1/2", to around 39 1/2".
For me, 41" was just a tad too high.
Amazing what even just a 1/2" makes.

If you plan on levelling the rear, you may want to consider what I did;
I put the locator pin on the blocks 1/2" further rearward to locate the center of the rear axle in the wheel arch a bit better. For some reason, GM put the axle a bit too far forward IMHO. It's only a slight change, but it's little things like this that add up to make a huge difference. Using rear spacers on the rear wheels also helped the way the truck looked going down the road.
These trucks look like they "crab walk" from behind because the front track is about 4" wider than the rear. Spacers got rid of this. In fact, one block has a pin 1/2" further back and the other 5/8". My truck was a bit out of square from the factory and this lined everything up.

[CJM72]

Originally Posted by hemi43

That sounds about right CJM.
After re-arching mine it dropped it down about 1 1/2", to around 39 1/2".
For me, 41" was just a tad too high.
Amazing what even just a 1/2" makes.

If you plan on levelling the rear, you may want to consider what I did;
I put the locator pin on the blocks 1/2" further rearward to locate the center of the rear axle in the wheel arch a bit better. For some reason, GM put the axle a bit too far forward IMHO. It's only a slight change, but it's little things like this that add up to make a huge difference. Using rear spacers on the rear wheels also helped the way the truck looked going down the road.
These trucks look like they "crab walk" from behind because the front track is about 4" wider than the rear. Spacers got rid of this. In fact, one block has a pin 1/2" further back and the other 5/8". My truck was a bit out of square from the factory and this lined everything up.

Mixed results from todays work. Passenger side spring is in and the height on that side is 41 3/4". Driver's side is right at 41 1/4" as expected. I'm not sure why there's a difference. There is a chance the frame isn't quite straight base on my experience fitting the front end and doors. Nothing obvious there. Not exactly sure where I'm going to go from here. The wheel arches were even with the old springs.

However, the test drive was great. My steering slop seems all but gone. The ride wasn't harsh. It tracked better than it ever has. I need to check my alignment and straighten out the steering wheel.

[CJM72]

Late Update here, but incase any one reads this in the future. The springs settled in at about 41 1/8" to the arch after driving for a year, but I have an interesting twist.

After some investigation on the Tuff Country website, I realized that I actually had received the 'Heavy Duty' version of the Tuff Country springs that include an extra leaf to accommodate plows, big blocks, etc. My springs have 4 leaves total, while the standard EZ Ride springs have 3. After a quick email exchange with TC, they confirmed that the only difference between the EZ Rides and the HD springs is that single small leaf. I removed that leaf and my ride height dropped about 1/2" to a heigh t of 40 5/8"!

This height is about an 1" higher than my original ride height (clapped out original springs with an old add-a-leaf) and I suspect it might settle just a litte bit more with some driving time. The rodes are still salty here, so it'll be a bit before I can test drive and see if the feel has changed at all.

[hemi43]

Hmmmm... I'll need to go check how many leaves I have. I had no idea they had an HD version. Thanks for the update.

[LONGHAIR]

The springs are mounted above the axle, so any thickness you remove from the stack, will drop the truck at least that much. If it is actually providing some spring pressure, you might see some more drop, but it is unpredictable.