Ruckus

Ok,
so my somewhat-new-to-me 92 W250 manual has 175,000 miles and I am using it for interstate heavy towing. Yes, when I bought it the drivers front spring was broken. The break was in the 3rd leaf where the 2nd leaf ends.

I should note that I have driven thousands of miles towing 5k trailer plus 5k load with no problems. Oh sure, under heavy braking the right rear tire locks first which is likely due to the "soft" broken drivers front spring, but otherwise no complaints unless you looked under there and got freaked out...

Well, this weekend I got the bright idea I would change out the broken leaf.
Bad idea!

I had sold a 78 military crew cab dana 60frt (with 15k original miles) to a neighbor who then totaled it within 2 weeks (not his fault). But I got the 6-leaf springs out of the front after the wreck. I thought these 6-leaf heavy duty springs would be just the ticket to replace my broken 5-leaf. I wire wheeled the springs and coated them in gloss black. They looked sweet. I even bought poly spring eye bushings and had them installed by a local shop.

Well, today I went to replace the front springs. First, my heavy duty impact wrench refused to loosen the u-bolts even when cranked to 120psi! So I got out the heavy bar. I thought each turn of the 1/2" drive might break it. Eventually I got the u-bolts off. Inspection showed them to be stretched and stripped.
DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT EVEN THINK of changing springs without fresh u-bolts on hand!!! I called napa and they are a week out.
I am supposed to fetch a 53 4-ton Dodge COE on monday from 2 states away!
So I "borrow" the u-bolts from the wrecked truck. Oh, wait, did I mention the 78 6-leaf springs have 1" less arch than my broken spring? At this point I just want the thing on the road so I continue on...
Then I discover the front eye-bolt is way to large to fit through the bushings I bought and had installed.
It is a January 92 truck. I thought the change in eye size came mid 92. wrong! The front eye is big but the back shackle bolts are both small. argg.

So at the end of the day I ended up bolting back on the broken spring to limp onward.

I would like to hear from those of you that have completed this task and lived to tell about it.. I am thinking I now need to get W350 front springs since they are 6-leaf and the W250 5-leaf springs are complete junk under the diesel!

Recommended sources? I see "SDtrucksprings" has 6-leaf fronts with a 1900lb capacity for $149, anybody try them? I also need to find a poly replacement for the in-frame shackle bushing and a "large" poly front eye bushing.

Please help!

Crossy's son

Skyjacker Makes some good 2.5" leveling leaf springs, that's what my truck has had on it for about 7 years and they haven't sagged 1 bit, I fit 35" tires with no problem

But if you wanna go stock, Rockauto.com has some 6 leaf 1900lb leaf springs listed for your truck, but they are $215 + shipping.

I would just get the ones for $149, as long as they are rated for diesel

Crossy's son

oh and Rockauto is saying they are 5/8 eye bolts

That was looking it up by using a 92 W350

Ruckus

I just checked the sticker under the hood and it lists the front springs as:
2105 lbs at the pad and 2500 lbs at the ground.

1900 lbs is sounding a bit light considering the 2500lb springs didn't hold up.

What did you do at the rear to match the 2.5" front lift? W350 blocks? They are several inches taller than the W250 blocks.

So anybody have a source for a poly front spring eye bushing of the correct size and the frame shackle bushing?

Thanks!

BearKiller

RUCKUS,

Do I understand correctly; it is NOT the main-leaf that is broken, right ??

If that is the case, then why not rebuild the spring-packs, using the main-leaves that you know will fit and the rest of the stack from the military springs, maybe even mixing in a couple of the un-broken original leaves ??


Cannot the hangers be drilled to accept the larger bolts ??

BearKiller

Also, when you have the spring-packs apart, install those high-density plastic spacer-thingies between each leaf.

Those things act as a permanent lubricant against the constant moving of the leaves and thus things are much smoother, quieter, and longer-lasting.