Second generation springs

[alta-aj]

Guys, my Jimmy has heavy duty springs and rides quite rough. I ran across a second gen. (78 I think) 2wd Blazer with standard springs. The question is: Will they fit my Jimmy. If so, is it just a straight swap?

[Richard]

The 73+ springs are longer which is part of the reason they ride better and will not fit without modification. Take a look at the 88+ and then the 2000+ trucks and you will find the leaf packs have been getting quite long. The longer leafs have more material to absorb the suspension movement. The shocks just control the spring movement, never understood why the term shock absorber is used. Dampener is more appropriate. Spring design has a bit to do with the characteristics also. If you do not want to modify the hanger locations look into having a nice leaf pack made with mutiple thinner leafs using sliders at the end of each leaf. National can help.
The shocks account for at least 50% of the ride. Leaf packs have a lot of friction built into them by their basic design. Thick individual leafs with no sliders do not need much dampening so stay away from stiff gas shocks. Just use a straight hydrolic shock with light dampening like the Rancho RS5000. The formula is pretty basic, stiff springs = light shocks. Light springs = stiff shocks. So the combo of stiff springs and stiff shocks will equal a very harsh ride. Hope my ramblings have given you some insight to your dilemma.