The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Any ideas on lowering the rear of my truck ( 1971- C-10

I have a 71 Chevy truck and it is leaf springed in the rear and I want to lower it a bit more..

I have lowering blocks installed in it right now and was wanting to lower it just a bit more and then install drop spindles up front for a all around lowering stance.

I know of a couple ideas like C-Notching the frame and also attaching my springs under the axle,, but was wondering if there are another way that I do knot know of..

remove a leaf from the rear springs...

I put brand new leaf springs in 10 years ago ,and that did raise it some from the old worn out ones ,,

What leaf would one take out,,does it matter except for the main one ? is there a guide book on this sort of thing or trial and error? also is there a rule of thumb to how much one can gain in inches to how much more will it lower the truck by removing just one spring leaf.

Careful Idaho, Cletis is gonna be forced to move this to the HiPo Shop forum if you keep talking about modifications!
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I would suggest you take it to a truck spring shop. there is usually one on the local "truck route". they can take out the leaf and put new clamps or holding bars on to keep the leafs together. they will know exactly what to do. here in the northeast a shop would do that job for about $100 if you brought them the springs

This is a good idea and it came to me that once a guy suggested re-arching the springs by heat or cold . any thoughts on this?

if the arch changes, then the mounting points on the frame would no longer match up

This is what I read

After reforming the leaf springs, the final product is well-tempered, arched, and shaped. Then, they can be re-installed in their proper place.

i guess I don't know what that process is supposed to do. if they heat up the springs, bend them, then reshape them back to original dimensions and do nothing else (ie, remove a leaf) then the only thing that could be different is the strength or "springiness" of the metal (i'm sure there is a proper mechanical engineering term for this parameter - i'm an electrical engineer). For this to lower your truck the springs must become weaker, which to me seems easier to accomplish by just removing a leaf.

But we've reached the extent of my knowledge of this subject... If it were my truck i would go see a spring shop.

You could do what the suspension butchers do, and remove all the spring leaves except the main leaf with the frame pivots and the shackles, and control the ride height with air bags. Turning a real truck into a Cowboy Cadillac that will never have anything heavier than a Yeti cooler in the bed sort of makes pickup-type spring rates a moot point. Don't forget to install shorter shocks to avoid bottoming them out.
Jerry