The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Frame

I have a 1953 Chevy truck that I'm restoring and I had the leaf springs rebuilt and I have had it on jack stands for three years and I took it off jacks last week and I noticed it seems to lean lower on the passenger side . Does anyone know what could cause this . Could it be a twisted or bent frame ? Thx

Sal,I'll assume the truck was on stands on a level surface so it's unlikely the chassis will have tweaked unless it was twisted before you jacked it up.
Bear in mind the rebuilt springs have also been decompressed for three years they simply could dry and be binding.

Have you driven it since?

If you are wondering if the frame is bent from sitting on jack stands, the answer is no.

Did your truck come with the driver's side bedside tire mount?
GM added a lowering block on the passenger side rear spring mount to level out the frame from the extra weight of the spare and the bracket on the opposite side.
Carl

No the spare tire mount is under frame

When u say binding what exactly does that mean ?If the frame is bent how do I go about fixing that and does the truck need the be pulled back apart

First you need to find out if it is actually bent. Put jack stands at 4 corners on a very flat surface. If the jacks are exactly the same height, one corner will be off of the jack if the frame is twisted.
Carl

Did you lay one spring on top of the other to see if the arch is the same after rebuilding. Even if the arch is the same the rate could be different on a used spring so one would sag more than the other under the same load. Swap sides to verify that it's the springs and not the frame.

Sal,by binding I was meaning the individual leaves of the springs may be dragging slightly rather than sliding under compression.
If they have been sitting in a fixed position for three years it's entirely possible a small amount of rust has formed between them causing them to 'bind'.