Joe (and other who are prepared to be bored and confused),
Sorry about the following long-winded post that refers to:
1. JC's illustrations from the Factory Assembly Manual for the 1955-2nd Series RPO-341 Side-Mounted Wheel Carrier Instruction.
2. The 1954 Chevrolet Truck specifications for the rear suspension.
3. The 47-55 Factory Assembly Manual for RPO-341 Side Mounted Wheel Carrier Instruction.
I know you (Joe) have seen the factory specs for the springs on a 1954-55 truck that was factory-equipped with the bed side spare tire carrier.
1954 Spring Specifications - 1/2 front spring load at opening height. The note at the bottom of that page (page dated 11-28-53, revised 5-1-54) states that the RPO-341 Side Mounted Spare Tire Carrier came with a stiffer spring (at least on the 1/2 ton).
Did all sizes of pickup with RPO-341 come with both a stiffer spring leaf and a spacer block?
The note at the bottom of the page ONLY refers to the 1/2 ton 3100 (3104 : this is for 1954/55-1st).
I'll note (for comparison later, below) that there was no 3204 longbed 1/2 ton pickup available in A-D trucks.
The 47-55 Factory Assembly Manual pages for RPO 341 (Section 10. Sheets 3.00, 3.01, and 3.02, dated 6-30-53) does not make mention of the stiffer leaf spring (no big deal, just an observation).
If you look at the RPO sheets (from a FAM that included 1955-2nd series trucks) in JC's Tech Article (6-17-55 - 2nd series 1955):
RPO 341, Sheet 2.0: 3104 (only 3104): No spring spacer is shown.
RPO 341, Sheet 3.0 3204 (1955 1/2 ton 3204 (longbed 1/2 ton), 3604, and 3804 (not the 3104 long bed): the spring spacer is shown only for the 3204 (longbed 1/2 ton pickup).
Questions:
First, do we assume that this 1955-2nd series drawing applies to 1954/55-1st series truck?
Second, from those two drawings, does it look like a spacer was used on the 1/2 ton 1955-2nd short-bed pickup truck (maybe the stiffer spring, if it was used in 55-2nd, was enough)?
I do not know the answers. Also, I might be incorrectly interpreting those two illustrations.
Final observations:
There were two lengths vertical side-rail assemblies for 3104, 3604, and 3804 54/55-1st trucks, depending on the size of tires used on the truck.
In the earlier 54/55-1st FAM, the spring spacer is shown on the R.H. side and it must mean for all models? This will lower that side of the body (the springs are under the axle)?
However, in JC's 55-2nd FAM the spacer seems to be shown for only the 3204 and is on the Left Hand side. This will raise the Left Hand side because in 55-2nd the springs are above the axle?
At this point, I think I will wait until my truck is assembled with the spare tire in place. At that time, I will decide if I need a spacer.
Also, before I paint my bed/spare-carrier-assembly, I am going to make sure my spare tire clears the dimple in that fender. If it touches, I'll be modifying the rails and/or brace rods.
Now, I'll look for my meds and chill out for a while.
Nothing's simple - I should have expected this.
