Leaf springs worn out?

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1989GMCSIERRA

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Are leaf springs a wear item? I’ve noticed my truck sags rather badly with any sort of load in it. My buddy has a ‘96 Sierra that I can stand on the bumper and it hardly moves, while mine sags like yo mama just stood on the bumper. Is this just how our trucks are sprung? Or is it time for new springs?

Side note: what are yalls opinions on air shocks? Been bouncing that idea around to help smooth the ride out and help with the few times I load her down.

if your buddy has a 3/4-1 ton and you’re comparing to a 1/2 ton yeah it’s gonna seem weak and bouncy.
Springs do wear out especially if you carry weight in the truck.
Air shocks are ok. I guess they are “tunable” if you play with shock pressure. I would use nitrogen instead of air.
I would install a supplemental weight carrying spring that only comes into play when the truck is loaded. My Ford trucks have this overload short spring on top of the main spring pack separated by a spacer that eventually hits/rests on these frame tabs when it gets really loaded down. Not all Superduty trucks have that option. You can try to install something like that. Hit the junkyard and grab the tabs, overloads and the spring spacers
 

Rico387

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Are leaf springs a wear item? I’ve noticed my truck sags rather badly with any sort of load in it. My buddy has a ‘96 Sierra that I can stand on the bumper and it hardly moves, while mine sags like yo mama just stood on the bumper. Is this just how our trucks are sprung? Or is it time for new springs?

Side note: what are yalls opinions on air shocks? Been bouncing that idea around to help smooth the ride out and help with the few times I load her down.
A fresh set of leaf springs and a set of Bilstein 4600 shocks will have you thinking you accidentally bought a new truck. Normally, when we talk about springs, it’s mods or lift kits. But they are a wear item and new, factory springs will give your old horse new life.
 

stutaeng

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Um, I didn't think the leaf springs on these trucks sag over time. I've put plenty of weight on my 1500 NBS. Like once, a bucket operator loaded me 1 yard of wet sand. I was in the cab, and didn't notice the sag, until I got home, LOL. I spent the rest of the day shoveling sand! 1 yard of sand is like 2,600 lbs for reference. Those NBS have a 3 leaf pack BTW, which I hate. Yes, a bit of softer ride, but I'll take a 4 leaf pack any day of the week...that's why I bought my GMT400 K3500. A yard of sand is not a problem on that truck.

The only rear sagging vehicles I see on the road are Lincolns and 80s Taco/4-Runners. Maybe some GMC Envoys?

Any stock Chebby truck I see from the square bodies, OBS, NBS, NxxxBS, whatever they call them now...I've never seen them rear sagging, and probably guaranteed they had some load on them at some point on the older ones. Are you guys sure the leafs sag?

Now, them rear slammed trucks, that's a lot more common, LOL. I see plenty of them around here.
 

Hipster

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Not a big fan of air shocks or the coil over helper shocks. It puts the weight on the shock hardware and mounts instead of the leaf spring mounts and hardware. There are also bolt on helper leaves but a lot of these solutions can be a bit of a band aid approach for whooped springs.
 

gearheadE30

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Air shocks won't change the ride quality just because they have an air bag, they change the ride quality because of the damping characteristic of the shock. In general, with few exceptions, you're much better off buying a good set of shocks and then replacing the leaf springs with new or uprated ones if you are doing a lot of hauling. The combo/load leveling shocks with coil springs or air bags on them are generally pretty chintzy since they are a bit of a corner cutting option to begin with. Don't go with air assist if you don't think you will routinely check pressure.

Leaf springs (and coil springs) definitely do sag over time, even if they aren't constantly overloaded. Generally vehicles that spend their lives on rough roads are going to sack out/sag earlier than vehicles that lived lives cruising the interstate. There only so much you can do about high cycle fatigue.

I have some leaves from SDtrucksprings in my Tahoe. Reasonable price with a few different stiffness options. I assume they have similar options for the trucks.
 

Hipster

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Um, I didn't think the leaf springs on these trucks sag over time. I've put plenty of weight on my 1500 NBS. Like once, a bucket operator loaded me 1 yard of wet sand. I was in the cab, and didn't notice the sag, until I got home, LOL. I spent the rest of the day shoveling sand! 1 yard of sand is like 2,600 lbs for reference. Those NBS have a 3 leaf pack BTW, which I hate. Yes, a bit of softer ride, but I'll take a 4 leaf pack any day of the week...that's why I bought my GMT400 K3500. A yard of sand is not a problem on that truck.

The only rear sagging vehicles I see on the road are Lincolns and 80s Taco/4-Runners. Maybe some GMC Envoys?

Any stock Chebby truck I see from the square bodies, OBS, NBS, NxxxBS, whatever they call them now...I've never seen them rear sagging, and probably guaranteed they had some load on them at some point on the older ones. Are you guys sure the leafs sag?

Now, them rear slammed trucks, that's a lot more common, LOL. I see plenty of them around here.

Whether coil, torsion bar or leaf, spring steel will lose it's tension if cycled enough and why you don't replace one side at a time. They're done in pairs so you don't end up with different spring rates side to side.
 

94K3500PROJECT

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Air shocks won't change the ride quality just because they have an air bag, they change the ride quality because of the damping characteristic of the shock. In general, with few exceptions, you're much better off buying a good set of shocks and then replacing the leaf springs with new or uprated ones if you are doing a lot of hauling. The combo/load leveling shocks with coil springs or air bags on them are generally pretty chintzy since they are a bit of a corner cutting option to begin with. Don't go with air assist if you don't think you will routinely check pressure.

Leaf springs (and coil springs) definitely do sag over time, even if they aren't constantly overloaded. Generally vehicles that spend their lives on rough roads are going to sack out/sag earlier than vehicles that lived lives cruising the interstate. There only so much you can do about high cycle fatigue.

I have some leaves from SDtrucksprings in my Tahoe. Reasonable price with a few different stiffness options. I assume they have similar options for the trucks.


Like I mentioned I’m installing Timbrens during my rebuild this winter.
We’ll see how it goes but I’ve heard some pretty solid feedback

I’ll be teaming them up with Bilstein 5160’s or 7100’s
I want the reservoir so I can dial in the valving I want.
 

ShaneM

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In my 2-door the previous owner lifted it (just the front, I think) using the torsion bars. I want to lower it back down because the ride is pretty terrible, but while I'm at it, as far as I can tell the suspension is stock on this 190K mile truck. When do I know it's time to replace shocks, etc?
 

HotWheelsBurban

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If tires are wearing on the edge, ball joints are going bad. On my 2wd trucks, I'd have changed the ball joints before now, and put shocks on them too. New shocks alone will do wonders for the ride and handling.
 
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