Leaf Spring Discussion Again

[Larry Leibhart]

Before I start assembling the cab and box on the frame of the B2B I would like to remove some of the leaf springs to improve the ride. I know this has been discussed before but I don't have a definitive opinion as to how many springs I should run. Originally the truck had 7 on the front and 8 on the back. In different threads people have removed every other one, 2 springs from the rear and second one from the bottom all four corners. I know this depends on personal preference and what the pickup will be used for. Mine will never haul anything heavier than a couple hundred pounds. I need suggestions.

[rkldesign]

Have you considered removing springs and then adding adjustable coil over shocks from ridetech?  You could remove the leafs and then adjust height with the shocks.  Just a thought.

 

Richard

[MBF]

While that is possible it involves quite a bit of fabrication.  The original shock mounts on these trucks are not designed to support the weight of the vehicle.  A structural suspension system would have to be made.   There are several folks here that have lowered their vehicles by removing leaves from the springs. Pflaming comes to mind.  You may want to try contacting him.

[Larry Leibhart]

I want to stay stock. Not concerned about the height, in fact would consider spacers to keep the height the same. I am accustomed to tall pickups. The 2014 Dodge 2500 almost need a ladder to climb in. Just can see know reason not to try and improve the ride some while the springs are easy to reach but do not know where to start and stop with number of springs to remove.

[GORDON WRIGHT]

I left six of the longest leaves in the rear on mine, front as stock.

Originally it had eleven leaves and sat quite high at the back.

Its now OK , even with the caravan attatched .

I would suggest leaving it alone until project is complete, its not hard to remove springs later.

Gordon W

[pflaming]

You live in "sand hill" country. I grew up in the North Platte area. To the east of us was all pasture. My point is that driving in the sand hills requires a steady rear axle, if it jumps around i.e., no shocks, your chances of digging a hole very fast are high. 

 

I removed the 2nd from the bottom leaves on all four. I got a lower vehicle thus a lower center of gravity and it takes corners MUCH better, and i got a softer ride. Dad used to weld up a 10" square heavy steel box, fill it full of iron shavings from the black smith shop and bolt it under the bed where the spare tire would be. That made for a much better ride, better traction in snow and sand and was never in the way. I think that would work very well for you. 

 

I still plan to do that to my truck. 

[Dan Babb]

I did the same thing as pflaming and it worked out well.

 

The ride is better and the drop in height isn't very noticeable at all.  The softer springs combined with making sure the shackles were all greased and moving freely and getting the toe setting done on an alignment rack made a real nice difference.

 

Probably not a great picture to compare, but here's a before & after.

 

Before

 

After

 

 

Couple notes...on the before picture, the driver side rear shackle was seized, so it looks a bit higher in the before picture.  I think the total change was less than an inch, so you don't really change the stock appearance by removing one leaf.  

 

Also, in the after picture, I do have a larger motor in the truck and the modified springs handled it fine.

Edited December 29, 2013 by Dan Babb

[Larry Leibhart]

Thank you for the responses. I see in the Mopar parts lists for Job-rated trucks that this was the lightest set up listed, (front 7 leaves-capacity 900 lbs., rear 8 leaves with no auxiliary- capacity 750 lbs.). I think I will remove the second spring from the bottom on all four corners.

Larry

[pflaming]

Dan Babb. The top of my running boards are: 15 1/2 rear fender and 15 front fender. What are yours? I'm running 15" radial tires. 

[jonblack021]

Has anyone replaced the rear leaf springs with something from a later model vehicle? I planned to replace the rear axle on my B-2-B with something more modern to create a daily driver. After reading that on here that the Jeep Cherokee axle was often used, I bought one with springs still attached. The bushings on my original springs were shot, so I let them go when I sold the original axle because I didn't think I would need them. I have new brackets to mount the wider Jeep springs, but I can't position them anywhere without losing a good bit of suspension travel. I'm hoping there is something out there with a length and arc close to the originals.

Edited October 17, 2015 by jonblack021

[Plymouthy Adams]

you can go online and check with a spring replacement company..(just one attached, there are others) most will have a guide published that shows you just how to measure you springs for ordering your replacements.  This will allow you to then go to a wrecking yard and see about finding a set.  It is a shame you let your old ones go, not only is the silent block in the front spring eye replaceable and an easy fix, but if using stock mount  in any mannor be it for locating a new one in place or modifying the exisiting...your original spring is needed for measuring.  It would be nice to find a modern set with the front eye to perch, perch to rear bush measurement and then just open and modify your existing forward mount.

 

https://www.eatondetroitspring.com/how-to-measure-leaf-springs/

[pflaming]

I just don't understand all the talk about these costly spring replacements in order to get a nice ride. As mentioned earlier, I removed, dismantled, dDA sanded each leaf, removed the 2nd from the bottom leaf on all four springs and made certain all hangers and bushings were clean, free and greased. Then I found 15 " rims and purchased radial tires, Bridgestones. The result is a 2" lowered stance and a GREAT ride.

BTF I drove it daily, up to the high Sierras and a 360 mile round trip to the Spring BBQ. On that BBQ trip I drove with the semis on the freeway and never got tired. Even with an empty bed I always have a nice comfortable ride. I will not change one thing on the suspension beyond what I did. It's a great riding and driving vehicle.

[Jerry Roberts]

Perhaps you can get your original springs back . 

[48Dodger]

The Jeep replacement was because of cost, disc brakes, weight and reparability vs. the original axle.

I don't recall anyone using the jeep springs in this swap.

If you can rebuild the original set-up, there are good options to improve that ride. 

Re arcing the original springs is an option so finding used springs isn't a problem either.

If you've removed the spring pockets, those are available from forum members who have

gone to lengths to save those kinds of hard parts to buy from venders.

How far are you into the modification frame wise?

 

48D

[jonblack021]

I have removed the original mounts, so there is currently nothing on the outside of the frame rails. I have some bolt-on mounts that are the Ford Ranger design that accomodate the wider later model springs. Thanks for the info and the link.

[finmad]

This thread and the other one on springs has been helpful. The back end on my 47 WD-15 bounces and wiggles all over the place. I was wondering why I had such a rake to the truck. I just went and counted the springs. I have 9!! rear and 7 front. This truck will not haul more weight than 500lbs (another stripped 230ci). How many and which springs do you all think I can reasonably remove from the rear to level it out and improve the ride?

 

 

Edited October 19, 2015 by finmad

[pflaming]

Notr, this is not a studied statement, just my opinion. I would put 500#'s of weight in that bed and find me a rough road. Then I'd drive that road at about 30 mph and force those springs to flex. Then I would take out leaf numbers 2&3 from the bottom. Of the rear springs and then drive tat same road. After that I would remove the weight for the final test drive.

Front springs nothing til I knew what stance I have.

That is a great looking truck, leveled or a slight rake and you will be amazed IMHO.

[Dan Babb]

If anyone needs new springs, I found the guys at St Louis Spring to be very helpful and fairly priced.  They were way less expensive than Eaton.

 

I told them which leaf to leave out and they made them just how I wanted them.  

[wayfarer]

If you have the time then take the springs apart and pull a couple out and give it a test drive, repeat as needed.

My guess would be to remove #4, 6, 8 (from the top).

[ggdad1951]

If anyone needs new springs, I found the guys at St Louis Spring to be very helpful and fairly priced.  They were way less expensive than Eaton.

 

I told them which leaf to leave out and they made them just how I wanted them.  

 

Eaton, makes NICE springs...but yes, spendy!

[Dan Babb]

If you have the time then take the springs apart and pull a couple out and give it a test drive, repeat as needed.

My guess would be to remove #4, 6, 8 (from the top).

 

It's actually the shorter springs that add the stiffness to them.  

 

Think about how you can more easily bend a 2ft long piece of flat steel...but you can't easily bend a 6" piece of the same size steel as far.

 

On my truck, I removed the 2nd shortest spring from all 4 corners and it made a nice difference in the ride.

[wayfarer]

Dan, I'm well aware of the concept.......but my experience says that springs can and will break if the length becomes too long with the only support at the axle and the leaves are allowed to do too much flexing.  Hence my solution is to have a reasonable 'step' from one leaf to the next.