The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Front end opinions: damaged goods or salvageable?

I tore the front end out of the AD 1/2 ton frame tonight. Things are better than I expected. However, I want opinions on these springs and the axle. Should I refurbish the springs or replace them? I could disassemble them, lightly grind out the wear, radius, etc and reinstall with new bushing, etc. It would be nice to save the near $500.

Also, is this straight axle bent? It sure looks like it to me.


What do the Bolters think?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3BmYStHNvJGR4Y7i8

Axle surly has a forward bow in it. May be possible to press it back straight or may be easier to find another.
Depending on how worn the king pin bores are in the spindles you may be (likely) looking for better spindles anyhow, and they often come on a good axle beam.

Springs are worn, I don’t know about grinding them if that’s advisable or not.

Why take the springs apart? Just clean/grind them as a whole. And axle straightening is practiced, You just need a rather large press to do it with. I haven't done either.

My original springs were wore more then yours, I pulled them apart and radiuses each worn step and the matting spring that dug the step. I then added some leaf spring liner material to help them slide on each other. Springs are very hard, it took some work to radius the grooves and to clean the rust off. As a side note, I greased each wear point before installing the next leaf, a year later (1100 miles ) I had them back out due to squeaks. The grease was gone from where I put it with rust in its place, that when I went to the liner material.

I drove with them this way for many years without any problem. In the last couple years I changed all four out for a softer ride, sold the OEM springs to a rat rodder and suspect they are still on the road.

With as many people out there who insist on replacing a good front axle with some sort of Mickey Mouse independent suspension system, there should be a truckload of axles free for the taking. Put an ad in the "parts Wanted" forum and I'll bet you can find one in better condition to use as a starting point for a rebuild.
Jerry

I was poking around kijiji today and saw an identical setup, but for a '57, for $200 CAD in the Calgary area. So they are definitely out there for a decent price...

Thanks guys. I actually have a parts truck that I think has a good axle. I should be able to make one setup out of these two. I think I’ll clean up he springs, swap axles and put in new kingpins, etc. The frame is 53 and the parts truck is a 51 so I should be good to go.