Leaf springs worn out?

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Supercharged111

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You should both have identical spring packs. Those new red body bushings, they wouldn't happen to be poly would they? I had poly mounts on the front of the cab and the ride quality went so far south it was unreal. A crack in the pavement would knock some out of a drink in the cupholder. Terrible was an understatement. I found some clean mounts in the junkyard, swapped them out, and what a difference that made.
 

Jerryred94silvy

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You should both have identical spring packs. Those new red body bushings, they wouldn't happen to be poly would they? I had poly mounts on the front of the cab and the ride quality went so far south it was unreal. A crack in the pavement would knock some out of a drink in the cupholder. Terrible was an understatement. I found some clean mounts in the junkyard, swapped them out, and what a difference that made.

I couldn’t imagine the spring packs being different, that’s why I figure mine were just toasted. And yes, they are the poly bushings lol. I’ve heard tales of detrimental ride quality told of these bushings before. I suppose they aren’t doing me any favors lol as the ride is rather harsh when the roads are unruly. Hasn’t bothered me too much as of yet, I might trade em out in the future though.
 

Supercharged111

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I couldn’t imagine the spring packs being different, that’s why I figure mine were just toasted. And yes, they are the poly bushings lol. I’ve heard tales of detrimental ride quality told of these bushings before. I suppose they aren’t doing me any favors lol as the ride is rather harsh when the roads are unruly. Hasn’t bothered me too much as of yet, I might trade em out in the future though.

My thought with the leaf packs is I wonder if someone didn't remove a leaf or 2 from yours? Can you post a pic?
 

LVJJJ

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yup, springs do wear out and sag. When I installed a 292 6 cyl in my 1965 Chevy Van in 1988, this much heavier engine than the stock 230 bottom outed the original springs. Had Benz Spring in Portland Oregon (I think) make custom new ones. Much better. Even though the 94 k1500 only had 130,000 when I bought it, it kind of sagged in the rear. Installed Monroe overload shocks with springs now it sits a little high in the back which I want cause I tow a trailer with it, of course I use an Equal-i-zer weight distributing hitch.
 

RustyRigs

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Springz absolutely sag, my K1500 had been overloaded so much in the past 5 years we've had it it looked like a lowered truck. When I took the stock springs out to replace them with NBS 2500 springs, I could easily move the leaf packs seperatly. New, heavier springs greatly increased ride height and quality, not to mention drivability. New springs or some bags or shocks certainly couldn't hurt to try.
 

94K3500PROJECT

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As part of my “ride tuning” on my K3500, I pulled apart a set of clean leaf springs out of a SRW K3500, cleaned them up, tapered the edges and installed new front and rear bushings as well as new friction pads and friction isolators in the clamps.

I removed the overload leaf and brackets (basically -these packs didn’t have them and I didn’t add them from the dually pack)

I’m putting in a set of Timbren SES bump stops to maintain load carrying capacity.

They do sag over time but in my experience get “softer” so old high mileage spring will generally ride better.
 

Erik the Awful

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I had air shocks on my '81 Camaro. Once a week I had to re-air them up. Pain in the butt. I'd only do it with an on-board compressor and a switch and gauge within reach of the driver.
 
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