front leaf springs

[JumboAMONGus]

i was shopping for leaf springs and they cost alot for mono leaf 400 bucks ,,when you can buy other gm cars for 250 for a pair ,,anyone ever use anything besides the 55 to 59 leafs they sell and try anything from a car rear ? plus seen a 1957 ford where the front axle was on top the srping and kinda hovered about 1/2 inch and used bolts and some steel sleeve spacers to mount the straight axle seamed to work with a metal plate on bottom of leafs that lowered it almost 5 inchs i will get a pic after christmas

[JumboAMONGus]

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[azsnow]

Not sure what if anything has been done to the springs of my Cameo, but seems to sit a little lower than other trucks out there. How many leafs are in your packs?

[JumboAMONGus]

there is 8 in rear and front is 6 ,,,it was a military still has original O.D. green under fenders on cab ,,so im not sure if they had extra leafs in the rear if i can get the front to drop a few inches i was gonna pull some leafs out but everyone i talked to say it makes the ride alot worse ,,

[FFredo]

Originally Posted by JumboAMONGus

there is 8 in rear and front is 6 ,,,it was a military still has original O.D. green under fenders on cab ,,so im not sure if they had extra leafs in the rear if i can get the front to drop a few inches i was gonna pull some leafs out but everyone i talked to say it makes the ride alot worse ,,

I removed two leafs from my front end last weekend (59 Apache long bed). I do not think it made the ride worse. It definately did not make the ride "A Lot Worse". I did however add new shocks 2 inches shorter then stock. Truck needed new shocks anyway. I say pull the leafs, if you dont like it put them back in.

[azsnow]

For sure. I am willing to bet that the guys that had a worse ride didnt compensate with the shocks like FFredo did. Having the wrong shock will give anything a bad ride, case in point, look at all of the research and development that goes into trophy trucks and desert racers. The suspension isn't anything special other than long travel ect. Its the valving and shocks that make the big difference.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by azsnow

...The suspension isn't anything special other than long travel ect. Its the valving and shocks that make the big difference.

Well, kinda but not quite. Shocks dampen spring oscillation. What they're dampening depends on the springs they're working with. Fewer springs for a given weight MAY mean more work/shorter life for the shocks whether new or old as the springs can be overloaded, hence a lot more oscillation.

Of course new shocks and new gas shocks work much better than old worn shocks.

On the other hand if there is too little spring action left, there will be no oscillation to dampen, just a dead hard ride.

Not poo pooing the idea of removing some leaves, just saying it will effect the ride in some way and the new shocks Fredo put on no doubt is compensating for that to a degree.

[JumboAMONGus]

i was gonna remove about 3 springs in front and 4 in rear ,,i dont plan on hauling anything and the shocks have been on there since probly the 50s or 60s ,,it only had 58,000 miles on it even has original old bfg tires not sure how old they are i switched to front disc and i have a 67 camaro rearend ,was gonna put in it ,,just wanna get it level and lower for the smaller rims and tires anyone ever de-arch the springs the spring shop next to me says about 45 per pack ,depending on how good they are ,and he says not sure how much it will lower .not a daily driver either .once its lowered then ill measure for new shocks need some new shocks ,

[mr48chev]

I've seen a couple of trucks with the axle on top of the spring and the clearance between the axle is somewhere between slim and none. No place for the axle to rebound and it is always hitting the frame.
I have two or three leaves out of each spring on the 48 and the big problem with that is that it weakens the spring pack so that the truck keeps sagging until it bottoms out. It takes some time but It will happen.
I'd say that probably the best approach would be to have the spring shop de-arch the springs and then possibly remove a leaf on each side. If that isn't low enough you could send the axle off and have it dropped.
A lot of the axle dropping shops only do early Ford. This outfit has a good reputation and does Chev pickup axles. http://www.droppedaxles.com/CHEVY_AXLES.html

[azsnow]

Speedway and I am sure tons of other places sell sets of dropped leafs for around $300 a set as well. If the ride is a huge factor, air ride all the way!

[azsnow]

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=609741

Just ran across this on another site

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by azsnow

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=609741

Just ran across this on another site

Wow, these look like just the thing for what I want.
I'm wondering of these "dual flex" springs have the Posie's Teflon puck in them so they are smoother? Definitely will look into these
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[JumboAMONGus]

ill think about saving for them ,,i dont wanna cut my frame and go ifs or subframe i like to keep it as stock as possible but make it lower ,,i know toyota fj40 springs are same lenght and are flat and i have extras ..