The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Rear leaf spring question

Can I take some leafs from the rear springs to lower the rear a bit.I don't intend to carry any weight in the back.If so how many.It's a 1956 3100.
Thanky ou.

I took a few leaves out of front and back. After I started to test drive it, she floated all over the place. Keeping all the leaves in has stiffened her up a lot. I am also putting in sway bar so I can go above 50 mph without cleaning my drawers out. I didn’t have good luck with this, but others may have gotten away with it.

Chris

It will depend on how many leaves you have and how heavy they are. I removed 4 out of a pack of 9 on the rear of my truck and 3 out of 7 on the front. I had no handling issues when I did this. I added teflon type material between each leaf and ground out any rust and sharp edges. The springs need to slide easy once assembled. I added a spacer back to the pack to keep the spring pack thickness the same so the u-bolts still fit like they should. Mine truck did not set much lower, may be 3/4 to 1 inch at most in the rear, the front lowered 1" to 1 1/2" due to the weight of the engine and the number of springs.
If you decide to go this way, leave the two top longest springs, then remove every other one below them. Clean each leaf and round over the edges, if there are steps worn into the spring from the ones below them, smooth out the wear and replace if more then 1/4 of the thickness is gone. You will know what I mean when you get them apart and start looking at them. Speedway Motors has the spring liner material for a decent price. The liner is more for ride and sound, it will quite down the whole truck. Grease and paint will not stay between each leaf if you drive a lot, there is just to much friction. The whole length liner will.