Leaf swap - anything with rubber?

[yossarian19]

So is there a known swap that will get rubber bushings into these trucks? Just thinking it would be a big help with ride quality. Then, I should probably get mine on the road before I worry about it much...

[mr48chev]

Not that I know of without changing the spring mounts and shackles.

Over the years I have taken my springs apart and cleaned them up by smoothing out the wear spots where the leaf below the one I am working on rubs and beveling the ends of the leaves a bit so that they slide smoothly on the one next to them. A lot of guys with street rods put teflon or some other similar material between the leaves to improve the ride. The Posie springs even come with teflon pads on the leaves in their Super slide springs. You will never make a 2014 Silverado out of one with leaf springs but you can improve the ride of what you have by quite a bit with some effort and a day's work.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Over on the websites like Dieselplace.com they discuss sulastic shackles a lot as dramatically improving their rides. I own an '08 Chevy 3500 Dually crew 4x4 long bed that I tow a 36 ft. Fifth wheel with and have been debating buying these.

It immediately made me wonder if I could adapt them to my '55, and if it would help the ride at all given that it is such a lighter weight truck....but I very much doubt it would hurt!

THIS is very interesting:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=p...%3DS7kx65IbXIY

[mr48chev]

I need a set of those for the rear of my 71 GMC 3/4 ton Dan just to keep my wife quiet.

[Dan in Pasadena]

$380 and I'm only reading good things about them.

I probably don't drive my 3500 enough to make the expense worthwhile. It turns 5 years old on December 1 and I've only got 37,000+ miles on it. I pretty much only drive it for longer trips & vacations. After I retire (4-5 years) we plan on taking a cross country trip. Then they may be worth having.

[G&R's57GMC]

http://www.SpeedwayMotors.com has a 4" lowering spring kit for the rear 910-43355 for the TF and 910-43237 for AD . $ 540

It has rubber bushings.

Kit includes : leaf springs, brackets, shock kit, mounting hardware and instructions.

[1project2many]

A lot of guys with street rods put teflon or some other similar material between the leaves to improve the ride.

My local spring shop sold high density plastic pads to me at $2 each. I used stock replacement parts for a '92 C1500 pickup. They required a 3/8 hole in the spring. Drilling the leaf spring isn't too challenging but you need a drill press with a slow low speed (probably around 800-1100 RPM) and a masonry bit. Use plenty of oil, too.

These were installed in a Toyota pickup which has rubber bushings but also has very stiff ride. After my back surgery in '07 that truck beat me up every time I used it. I built a new spring pack using a Toyota main leaf and Chevrolet 1/2 ton leaves under that. The Chevrolet leaves are thicker and have a greater load carrying ability, but with the sliders installed it's a completely different ride.

Edit: Dorman sells the same parts, two to a pack, as part no 31067.