Are the right & left springs identical?

[dbcooper292]

Okay, I really thought the front wheels would be back on today! Thanks to you guys I put everything back together in the right order I think, and things were going wonderfully, until the very last step. The holes in the front axle crossmember where the spring should bolt on are one inch farther outboard than the U bolts hanging over the spring when the axle is bolted onto the other spring (i.e. the springs are basically 1 in too close together at this point). The shackle alignment matches the manual, at least pretty much. The front spring eyes are in the middle of the front spring mounts. Some possibilities that came to mind - 1) the new shackles are somehow wrong, such as being bent more than into a U and so the springs are 'toed in' at the bottom 2) the right & left springs are different somehow and I reversed them (I painted their side & direction on them but the machine shop that redid the bushings sandblasted and painted them to my surprise). The part that's odd, and makes me think about the springs or something being different and reversed is that everything went together really nicely up to this point, I never felt like I was torquing anything against bad alignment. Any thoughts? The shackles go on the outside of the frame, right? All this stuff was on the truck when I got it and none of it went SPROING when I took it off and I haven't had to work on the front of the frame at all, so it SHOULD go back together okay.

Thanks, sorry for all the ????s on this one small project!

db

[MBF]

I'm pretty sure the springs are the same. The way I did mine while I had the axle out to replace the kingpins- was to mount the front of the springs first, then the rear shackles mounted loosely. I then put the axle under the frame and lined up the u bolts. Once I had all the bolts in and nuts on them, I started tightening things up. Now you've got me wondering if there is a front and rear to the spring? Is the center bolt right in the center? Mike

[dbcooper292]

Okay I think I'm getting there - and I might not be as stupid as it seems! I think it's possible the machine shop pressed the new threaded bushings into the wrong end of the spring. The axle seems to be offset front to rear - is the proper setup with the axle further to the front or further to the rear? Mine is lining up with the pins further to the front end and it looks wrong b/c the axle looks like it would contact the oil pan sump a little now. This would put it in a place where the springs are closer together than they would be further back, and cause my problem?

[48Dodger]

From my own measurements on my front springs they appear to be identical in length and arrangement. The only difference of course is the pressed in bushing for the front. I would guess that if the shackle end of your front spring is smooth, the machine shop turned it around. The shackle end should have rounded threads. The V shape of the axle at the center should be pointed to the rear.

48D