budget slammin!

[LONGHAIR]

Heating the coils is a bad deal. Cutting, in small amounts, is fine.
You have to be careful when messing with leaf springs too. Heating and/or bending the leaf springs is worse than doing it to coils. Coil springs do not "locate" the wheel in the truck, they just hold the frame up. The control arms/spindle hold the wheel in place. With leaf springs, there is nothing else stabilizing the axle. Weakening this connection is not safe. Then comes the next factor: If you heat/bend the springs on only one end, you have to be effecting the pinion angle, this may be a problem.
Taking leaves away (other than maybe the big flat over-load) causes problems too. Mainly, you will get axle wrap (wheel hop) from the overly soft springs. They still hold the axle in place, but they cannot control the rotational force, so the pinion "climbs" the ring, until it can't go any more, then it snaps back.....parts breakage=$$$ not cheap.

The cheapest way is to cut the fronts and flip the rear. It is mostly labor, which is you.....

I have no problem with n00bs bringing up old stuff.....it's funny to see how long it takes for someone to notice, but.... asking a guy to scan an article that he referenced more than 5 years ago......is absolutely pricele$$. Especially since bill_ont_canada has not posted since May of 03