I tried both ways on my 1/2 ton. With grease and paint, it rode pretty well till the grease was pushed out and the paint wore off, then it was back to a rougher ride. I went with the Poly-liner between each leaf which helped a bunch and is hold in there. A spring shop can punch holes in each leaf for Teflon plugs or pads. Some of the older cars had burlap wrapped around the leafs with a sheet metal cover so you could fill the cover with grease. The burlap let it soak in to the springs. As long as you smooth out any rough patch and knock down any step worn in to them, a light coating of paint and grease will work for a while. I was working on the front spring in my truck which has a 250ci. engine which is a 100lbs or so lighter then then the 216, so my truck was pretty sensitive to springs. Joe
