Rear springs compressed, advice?

[Kidd-7]

This was obviously somebody's attempt to lower the rear end. Should I remove these? If so any tricks? Thanks.

[ETsC10]

Kidd, movin' ya to suspension to the gurus.

[LEEVON]

I would just take a cut-off wheel to that contraption. Protect your eyes and hands and you should be fine, the spring itself is restrained and not fully compressed.

[lolife99]

Definitely remove them.
If you still want the lowered ride height,... add a quality set of drop springs.
While your at it,... trim those u-bolts.

[Kidd-7]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Definitely remove them.
If you still want the lowered ride height,... add a quality set of drop springs.
While your at it,... trim those u-bolts.

Trim the U-bolts??? I always wondered why they were sooo long, but just figured thats the way it is... Think those u-bolts were replaced at some point?

[lolife99]

Yes.
Trim off any part of the u-bolt that extends past the nut.

[Longhorn Man]

actually, someone was trying to LIFT the rear. Those 3 center coils are supposed to be almost on top of heach other, like they are on the oposite side of the coil.
Remove the spreaders, leave them there, you'll never notice them untill you look under again. In theory they stress the spring where they are spread apart, but theory isn't reality.

[Kidd-7]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

actually, someone was trying to LIFT the rear. Those 3 center coils are supposed to be almost on top of heach other, like they are on the oposite side of the coil.
Remove the spreaders, leave them there, you'll never notice them untill you look under again. In theory they stress the spring where they are spread apart, but theory isn't reality.

So you're saying it dosen't matter if they stay or they go...
Why are the coils supposed to be on top of each other? I would think having space between them would allow for better smoother compression when bouncing on bumpy roads. Its physics and I'm no major, but any insight?

[daved]

those look like spring clamps to me.....clamping together lowers the truck.....to lift it they made the spring spacer that u turned inbetween the coils with a 1/2 breaker bar...anyways remove the clamps (i would unbolt them) and buy some lowering blocks if u want it to be a little lower......goes in between the axle pad and trailing arm....it will use up the rest of the threads on the bolts and u will still have a decent ride..

[Wild83C10]

Originally Posted by lolife99

Yes.
Trim off any part of the u-bolt that extends past the nut.

You should leave some threads after the nut, don't trim them flush.

If you plan on getting some lowering blocks those U-bolts would work well.

[Kidd-7]

Originally Posted by Wild83C10

You should leave some threads after the nut, don't trim them flush.

If you plan on getting some lowering blocks those U-bolts would work well.

Any recomndations on good lowering blocks? I may just add some...

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by Kidd-7

Any recomndations on good lowering blocks? I may just add some...

You can purchase new u-bolts and lowering blocks here:
http://www.stockcarproducts.com/trkarm1.htm

Many suspension vendors also sell them.
CPP, Performance Online, etc.

[cdowns]

tryin to wack those things off with a cutoff wheel could cause you bodily harm and bloodshed
two of the proper sized wrenches and some pbblaster wood b my choice

better safe than sorry

back in the 60's-70's those type of thing were sold to lower coil springs//sold at pepboys jcwhitney strauss stores i thing they even had them in the sears catalogue

[Kidd-7]

Originally Posted by cdowns

tryin to wack those things off with a cutoff wheel could cause you bodily harm and bloodshed
two of the proper sized wrenches and some pbblaster wood b my choice

better safe than sorry

back in the 60's-70's those type of thing were sold to lower coil springs//sold at pepboys jcwhitney strauss stores i thing they even had them in the sears catalogue

The PB and wrenches sounds like a better option to me, not keen on grinding stuff that potentialls under tension. I've seen things similar to these that are used to compress the springs on struts, I'd never trust them though.

[Kidd-7]

Well I finally removed them; nuts came off easy for the most part. Pneumatic impact did its job. 2 of the threaded rods were bent and had to resort to my sawzall; that made quick work of it. thanks for the input.