bannerd

I'm getting 5/8 in the front and 1/2inch in the back. That's what I was told, see how it plays.

NJTman

NOW here is a set of leaf springs to be proud of....


Had these made up locally for $600, which included my OE Springs, a new "THICKER" main spring, and one slipper or sleeper spring just below it. I sure hope these ride nice.... although I don't have to worry about reverse arching any longer..


Look at the difference in the main spring thickness. God, I hope they ride nice....




I'll let you know...

DJ Turbo.

Sounds good T

james1

Don't mean to hijack the thread -- my apologies in advance.

I was informed by one of the more famous manufacturers of airbag kits that about 2/3 of ride quality is related to rear suspension and only about 1/3 is due to front suspension. This seems counterintuitive to me.

Some of you guys who have replaced front springs while leaving the rears alone -- could you weigh in on this this? Will putting parabolic springs in the front really help or is one better off spending the money on improved rear springs?

TIA.

bannerd

Once my springs arrive I will let you know. Honestly I think there will be a huge improvement with front springs. The cab sits very close to them so the shock will be absorbed. Yet I also think shocks/airbags would have a huge increase in ride.

BILTIT

The rear does make a huge difference. When i have 10lbs or more in the rear airbags i can feel it. Once i lower them down to 5 it rides much nicer.

NJTman

When I initially put my springs in back 6 months ago, the ride difference was un freaking believable. IT rode that much nicer by just doing the front springs. If I put 500 lbs of weight in the back, it rides even nicer

As time progressed, the springs flattened out and the crappy ride came back. My new springs are going in this weekend, and I can't wait to see how they ride.

Started one side, but had to stop due to a bad hanger on the drivers side.





Welding dude is supposed to come by tomorrow. Hope he shows up. I just put the spring in temporarily to see how it fit, as he's going to repair the hanger and maybe tack those hardened thru washers I installed on the new bolts to reinforce the hanger. The inside of the hanger was gouged out by those cheap springs I had in there previously. I torqued them to the FSM, but the drivers side must have moved around due to the "egg shaped" hole in the hanger. these new hardened washers are the fix, as told by the spring shop, otherwise, I just have to find a new hanger.

Mopar1973

dodge makes the hangar i think i paid close to $60 for mine at cost. i will be SO ANGRY if i have to replace them because those crappy springs ovaled the hole out AGAIN

DevilzTower

NJTman - with the pseudo-military wrap and sliders in the middle, those springs should ride nice...

Hopefully things work out better for you this time than with your last set.

NJTman

The only reason that anyone can think of (at the spring shop) that the springs oval-ed out the hanger was that the spring bolt was loose, or the ferrule that the spring bushing was made of was physically rotating because the bushing wouldn't let it sit independent of the assembly. I guess that means that as the springs moved up and down, the bushing spun the ferrule ever so slightly back and forth, whittling out the hanger in the process. I can't imagine that this is how it happened, as I torqued those bolts to FSM spec of 100 ft lbs, and they shouldn't have moved. They said by installing thru hardened washers on either side, you eliminate this problem, as they support the bolt from both sides, eliminating any wobble.


Hopefully I'm not doing this again, anytime soon.

Mopar1973

well everything is new and tight im hoping ill have to replace just the springs this time.

Terraizer

I had Alcan build me some 2.5" lift front springs for my 1993 W250 about a year ago and they made a huge difference in Handling and ride, I have had Alcan build a few sets for different projects over the year and they are a stand up company, they give you want you want and when they say you will see them in 3 weeks you get them in 3 weeks. Also really like the Blistin 5100's i put on it.

NJTman

Well, the springs are in... and they ride nice....


and they're wrong.

I automatically assumed that the springs they made me were correct, as they looked identical to my original spring. Turns out they're slightly longer, and now they hit my frame @ the rear hoop of the spring.

I can't believe that I spent all that time and effort assembling my truck to find out they built me springs that were too long. Now I have to drive 45 minutes to the spring shop, show them the old springs, and how the new springs are too long, and where they're hitting my frame.


This sucks.

BILTIT

You could use a longer shackle and possibly get away from hitting the frame but they should fix it for you for sure. Good luck, businesses now days seem to all be so shoddy. I would have thought after how many years of making leaf springs companies would have them figured out to a tee. I feel your pain, i went through a bunch of crap getting mine straightened out too.

NJTman

I was thinking the same thing, although that will alter my caster on the diff

What amount of caster adjustment is allowable ? The space between the frame and spring is gone on the driver side, and barely daylight on the passenger. Once the springs "settle down" they're going to continue heading towards the rear of the truck.

If I did a 1/2" drop how will it affect my steering ? I really don't want to make things any worse then they already are, as Negative caster requires less steering effort but can cause the car to wander.

so I guess I'll be taking the springs out again unless they have some better idea after I show them what happened.

This is why I don't want to deal (AGAIN) with buying springs from an internet based company, or from out of my local area. This BS becomes such a pain in the apples.