Leaf Spring lengths????

[Mustard72]

I bought a C20 leaf spring frame from a local junk yard. The springs are both different (8 and 9 leafs, plus two helpers, plus the left one is just messed up, plus the clamps have all been cut apart, etc. etc.) Both of these leaf springs appear to be 24" from the front eye to the center bolt, and 28" from the center bolt to the rear eye. I assume that lenght is correct, although the truck the frame came from in the yard didn't have a bed left on it, so maybe the springs were swapped at some point and they changed the wheelbase (flatbed???). I've shopped around on line for springs and they appear to come in both 24" and 26" lengths for the front eye to center bolt measurements. I don't see how changing this length can't change the wheelbase. So which is correct???

[chewychevy67]

My 1/2 ton swb is 24" in front center to center and 28" center to center in the rear just like yours just with not so many leaves.

[Hawssie]

What do you want stock springs? Or something that will work. The longer the spring the better the ride and the more practical wheel travel. In theory at least. Thats why a lot of guys swap in longer springs. This is esp. true for front springs in 4wds. Thats also why springs have gotten longer and longer with newer style trucks. It gives a better ride.

[Mustard72]

Ride is secondary. This truck will be used quite a bit for towing a horse trailer with a gooseneck hitch, so a firm ride would be acceptable. It'll be worked more than cruised. I can see how a longer spring would give a better ride, but doesn't the length of the spring between the center bolt and the front eye (the one without the shackle) affect the wheelbase of the truck? I'd hate to order a longer spring and then not have the wheels centered in the wheelwells.

[Mustard72]

The ONLY springs I can find as new replacements that have the 24" length from the front eye to the center bolt are on the lighter side. Does anybody know of any aftermarket suppliers that sells a heavier duty leaf spring for these trucks with that 24" length? I can find plenty of options when going up to 26" between the front eye and the center bolt. Has anybody used these on a 127" wheelbase 67-72 truck? Anybody moved the front spring mount forward two inches? That seems impractical due to the frame being sloped down towards the front at that location, plus what appear to be positioning "dimples" in the frame. I'm sure I'm not the first to have done this.

[GASoline71]

Have you tried to contact a spring/suspension shop near you? There is a spring/suspension shop in Tacoma, WA called Right Way Spring Co, and they will custom make any leaf setup you desire. Prices are reasonable too.

I'm probably going to use them for a set of rear drop leaves on my 1972 GMS 1500.

Gary

[SS Tim]

Here are the relevant pages from the parts manual. The easiest thing to do would be to pick up some used springs and add HD air bags. That is a great set up for horses and it woun't beat you up empty. If you decide to use replacements see how they compare to the stock springs. Now a couple of questions come to mind. Why another frame? Why that frame with screwy springs? What is your truck like now for towing? How big of a goosenck are we talking about and how heavy is it gross and hitch?

[Mustard72]

Thanks for the responses, guys.

Gary, I haven't tried the suspension shops yet. I live in town, but its a small town in the sticks, so I don't have anything close, but I should be able to find something within a few hours, anyway. Thanks for the idea, it might be the best bet.

Tim, thanks for posting that service manual information. The frame thing is a long story. I originally had a coil spring frame, but it was rotten around the rear axle hump where it is double walled. Being located in NW Wisconsin, most of the other coil spring frames I could find were at least as bad as my original (plus, the trailing arms rot out, too), and the leaf spring frames that don't have the double walled section seem to have held up better (although this one still took a little work). I guess I was looking more at the condition of the rest of the frame rather than the springs, which I figured I could replace if they were questionable anyway. The gooseneck trailer we are getting won't be that outrageous. It should be around 6000# loaded, resulting in around 1500# on the hitch. As far as how the truck towed before (its in a billion pieces now); the only thing I ever towed with it was my little boat trailer (16' aluminum job) on the bumper hitch. You couldn't even tell it was there. But that's a totally different scenario and a different frame. I picked up an 87 3/4 ton 4x4 to get us started due to Mustard not being ready to go and horse season starting next week, so now I have more time to possibly go the route of the air bags on Mustard. We'll see.