1 ton leaf spring help

[mrhino]

I must say my knowledge of leaf springs is very limited, but below are some pics of my one ton leaf springs. This truck has always had a rear hydraulic lift gate on the back since new. I'm assuming the rear suspension was beefed up to compensate for the extra weight. I have removed the gate and Im looking to soften the ride a bit. Is this a stock set up or is there a leaf added on top and on the bottom? There is a total of 10 leaves. How many does a 3/4 ton, and 1/2 ton have? Im wanting to remove unnecessary leaves, If possible or recommended. Any help in this area would be very appropriated.

[speedmachine]

my 1 ton came with 10 and a cab and chassis i had once 3500 had 12. if i recall my old half had 5 but i dont know if thats stock.

[Wrecked1982]

its looks exactly how mine was stock

[V30 mongo]

Looks like the standard 7500 lb. with the helper spring, but the main spring was replaced with the G52 10,000 lb set. The G52 option with the 10,000 lb spring set did not normally come with the helper set. A lot of owners added the helper set to the G52 setup. Your helper brackets look like they are rivited on and therfore factory. By the way, It looks like your rear axle had a disk brake conversion. i noticed that you do not have any emergency brake cables. Here in Pa. we are required to have an operational E brake system for vehicle inspection.

[mrhino]

yes I did the disc conversion. Here in Indiana its not a requirement. (if it is, no one enforces it.) Here they rust up and cause more problems than there worth.

It looks as if I removed the helper spring I wont really gain any ride comfort. is there a way to gain ride comfort by removing a leaf or 2

[V30 mongo]

You should be able to take out two or three spring leafs from the middle of the stack. The broblem is removing the spring assembly from the vehicle. After years the spring hanger bolts really get rusted in place. Also the U bolts should be replaced as they are noted to "apple core" at the bottom.

[dieseldawg142]

Originally Posted by mrhino

It looks as if I removed the helper spring I wont really gain any ride comfort. is there a way to gain ride comfort by removing a leaf or 2

thats an oxymoron, a comfortable ride & a 1-ton suspension! try lighter cap. springs, & if you need to haul you can always throw some airbags in it( get onboard air, your wife will love playing with it)ATS spring has 2600lb leaf packs for $159 each, bushings included. best way for a smooth ride with these trucks- load a ton & a half in the bed, instant caddy ride

[mrhino]

I know 1 ton and ride comfort dont really go together, but every little bit will help. the truck rode fairly decent with the heavy lift gate hanging off the back, as soon as we took it off instant log truck ride. the wife insisted on not having that lift gate on the back of her truck. I did considered new springs. what about ride height? would that be affected by removing springs or even buying new ones with less leaves

[dieseldawg142]

new packs wont make a huge diff. in height, taking out some leafs might, i would throw some inch or two blocks in to level it out. nice thing with air, take most of the weight off the springs, and they ride really decent then. or you could lift her crew 6-8" so you have to put the power gate back on so she can load stuff in the bed, instant caddy ride is back!

[mrhino]

ill run that by her. ill let you know what she says

[jimbonice]

That's a stock spring pack. If you want a smooth ride, yank out about 7 leaves and stick bags on the back.

[johnnyrvan]

get springs from a heavy duty 3/4 ton they will fit perfect and will give you a better ride

[V30 mongo]

Just playing around. Found a good website ( SDTRUCKSPRINGS.com) . You can check on what you have now to make your changes. My truck has ten leaf rear springs without the helpers. It is the G52 option, and I know it's original because I bought the truck new 25 years ago. If I recall,the standard springs were 7 leaf with the helper pack. But if you ordered the G52 suspension it came with 10 leaf springs and no helper. It looks like to me that the main spring was replaced with the G52 springs and the helpers stayed. If so, thats one hell of a rear suspension. No wonder it rides hard...

[mrhino]

I went to my local "Power brake and spring" shop today to get some insight on what to do. according to the book, what i have is the top dog of springs. One guy called it a "wrecker package suspension" idk im just going by what he said. The other problem Iv run into, aside from a hard ride is the rear end is sagging. It sits lower than the front. Im assuming the extra weight of the liftgate all those years have taken there toll. My thought is If I replace these springs, Im going to have a rougher ride than I already do. Im going to try and place a spacer in there to bring the truck back to level and see how it goes. I still may need to replace the springs. when all is said and done.