Springs

[chvyboy]

First time around to doing this, but so far I've manage to paint my frame from the cab back. I also decided to get rid of the awful springs that the previous owner heated and compressed. I got the driver side off and the bottom bolt for the one on the passenger side. The top bolt is unfortunately striped. I have a few ideas for getting it out, like using an air chisel to bust the nut of the top of the spring. Does anyone have any ideas to help me out???
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[Xeen]

Since you arent going to be using the old springs again just cut the spring off with a cutoff wheel then you can get to the bolt holding the retainer plate from the bottom side and that should simplify matters tremendously.
Also those springs probably werent heated.
Granted they appear to be sagging but Chevrolet used a progressive spring design and the middle 3 coils are usually compressed together when the truck is sitting on the ground.
If more coils then that are compressed under the normal weight of the truck then yeah he probably heated them.
Its more likely that they are just worn out and really are sagging naturally.

[smallblockchev]

I second the cut off wheel.

[Xeen]

Do you plan on lowering the truck at all or are you wanting to keep it stock height?
If he really did heat the springs or even cut off some rungs on the back you might want to check the front springs also to see if those were cut or heated.
That way you can figure out if the truck is actually at stock height or lowered incorrectly.
The maximum drop you can do on the front with just a drop spring is 2" on the stock spindle.
If you want to go lower then that you will need to buy some drop spindles.
If you decide to drop the truck and need any help figuring out what parts you need you can send me a Private message and I will help you out.