Leaf spring fanning

[i82much]

I have a 72 K10 longbed, with a recently installed skyjacker 2.5 lift. The top four leaves are spreading apart from the bottom leaf. I bought some alignment clamps but they are too short to clamp over all five leafs, and from looking on the internet I can't find anything that looks like it will cover all five leafs.

Any ideas here? Problem is only happening on the driver's side. Will post pics to follow. Thanks all.
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[i82much]

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['63GENIII]

That bottom leaf looks a lot like an add a leaf. I had a pair with my stock springs. They seemed to try to walk out of the pack like that too. Not sure why they did. I used to have to pound them back into place occasionally.

[i82much]

Originally Posted by '63GENIII

That bottom leaf looks a lot like an add a leaf. I had a pair with my stock springs. They seemed to try to walk out of the pack like that too. Not sure why they did. I used to have to pound them back into place occasionally.

Thanks. That's what I did, it was easier than I thought. I just jacked under the frame until the tire was off the ground, loosened the u bolt, banged them back straight, tightened the u bolt and set it back down. We will see how long it lasts!
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[Stocker]

Originally Posted by '63GENIII

That bottom leaf looks a lot like an add a leaf..... I had a pair with my stock springs. They seemed to try to walk out of the pack like that too. Not sure why they did.

My AALs did that because they are slightly narrower than the main spring pack. As a result, they are not held firmly in place by the u-bolts.

[kwmech]

What did you torque your u-bolts to?

[i82much]

120. There were no torque specs in the instructions, which I thought was odd. I guess I will see whether they stay straight this time.

I have a weird popping noise on rough terrain or turning left that I hoped would be alleviated by fixing the springs, but no such luck. Did some reading and now I wonder if it might be a frame rivet somewhere. Feels like it is on the driver's side and maybe just behind me a little bit. Freaking annoying.

[kwmech]

Originally Posted by i82much

120. There were no torque specs in the instructions, which I thought was odd. I guess I will see whether they stay straight this time.

I have a weird popping noise on rough terrain or turning left that I hoped would be alleviated by fixing the springs, but no such luck. Did some reading and now I wonder if it might be a frame rivet somewhere. Feels like it is on the driver's side and maybe just behind me a little bit. Freaking annoying.

Right away, make sure your steering box is tight on the frame. 5/8 ubolts can be torqued to 150. The really long ones on my dually were torqued down to 180. If the bolts were new you will have to retorq a couple of times until they are done stretching. Ideally they should be replaced everytime you remove them. Reason being is that the quality U-bolts have a rolled thread and the nuts distort the threads some as they are torqued down

[i82much]

Originally Posted by kwmech

Right away, make sure your steering box is tight on the frame. 5/8 ubolts can be torqued to 150. The really long ones on my dually were torqued down to 180. If the bolts were new you will have to retorq a couple of times until they are done stretching. Ideally they should be replaced everytime you remove them. Reason being is that the quality U-bolts have a rolled thread and the nuts distort the threads some as they are torqued down

Will do on the steering box check, thanks for the suggestion. I did look over my frame rivets pretty good and didn't see any indication of a loose rivet. Not sure what to do next, thinking about putting a little video camera under the truck and seeing if recording the undercarriage when the noise happens reveals anything.