The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs Removing leafs to soften ride

Hello,
My dad a few years back purchased a 51 3800 panel truck and has been looking to soften up the ride a little bit, it almost skips over any bump in the road. I have heard of people removing leaf springs in the leaf pack but am unsure if this is a safe, mechanically acceptable thing to do. If it is possible, how may i go about doing so.
To my knowledge they are the original leaf springs.

Hello, Joshua,

You posted this in the correct forum.

If you do not get a reply within two days, post this again in the General Truck Talk forum, or in the Tons of Fun forum.

Hi Joshua. Welcome to the forum. I'd be more inclined to disassemble the springs, clean them, paint them and use plastic inserts on reassembly. Doing that will give your springs less resistance and more ability to move against each other. While you're at that, I'd suggest replacing the shackles. At this point, your leaves are old and very rusted. They're not going to slide back and forth easily.

I've seen people remove leaf springs in various vehicles for years. Theoretically you can remove all except the leaf with the spring eyes, but your outcome may not be very positive. I should tell you I've seen the aftermath of a broken leaf spring following a few months of driving around on springs altered in this fashion. The situation was instantly dire and there was nothing the driver could have done once it happened.

When I was in high school, my first car was a 1936 Ford. The prior owner left a note to get under the car 4 times a year and soak the springs with a mix of crankcase oil and kerosene to keep it driving smoothly. It wasn't much fun, but I did it and it helped.

But, back to your question you can remove a couple of the shortest springs in the leaf spring pack and it will soften the ride a bit.

I did this in a 51 Ford F3. I removed 3 leaves , every other one. I started with the second smallest then 4th , 6th. It lowered it about 1 ". But the ride was a heck of alot better. Still stiff, but tolerable. . New center bolts of course. Better figure on getting NEW shorter U bolts as well.

I've taken every other leaf out of every truck I've owned. They ride much more civilized. I usually maintain fitment and ride height by adding spacers to replace the missing leaves.

With your panel truck Id be careful not to remove but rebuild, there is a great spring shop in Modesto btw. This shop rebuilt worn out springs in my 53 3600 which were shot along with all other mount/hardware needing replaced. Most old truck have never had this work done, suspension was the last thing owners kept in good repair. I pulled couple leaves from front of my 46, ended up flat with no arch was fine and I added sway bar and modern shocks and radial tires. Big top heavy panel needs strong springs etc.

Best of luck
Jim

I built a 51 3105 panel a few years back and powered it with a 455 Buick, T400 trans, Olds rear end, and
ended up removing the stock springs. I used a Chassis Engineering rear spring kit for AD trucks.
But, keep in mind a panel is considerably heavier in the rear and top heavy.
Even with the new springs the truck had more body roll back there than I thought was safe.

The kit came with a shock relocation kit that moved the shocks inboard. Might be good enough for
A pick up, but not a panel.
Solution:
I re attached the Stock shocks (outboard of the frame) by stacking the original spring plates below the kit plates.
Did not need to remove the new shocks since they were well inboard. The addition of additional dampening on the
outboard side of the frame eliminated body roll and gave a nice firm but comfortable ride. A four shock set up!
Also, a rear sway bar might be an additional consideration, but I felt the truck was riding just fine without it......

Those panels are tall and really heavy so your concerns over rear suspension are justified.

.....just my two cent.
My 52 panel had front sway bar but it was MUCH better after I added the rear sway bar. (night and day difference)

I'll second that, Alvin!!

On my 1962 one ton panel I removed all the helper springs and three of the seven main springs partly to lower the back of the truck a bit but it also improved the ride.
I still manage to load about 1500 lbs time to time and although the weight lowers the truck a couple of inches it doesn't affect the handling .

John

Standard or modified rear end?

If standard torque-tube rear-end, what is the vendor and part name/number?

Thanks

Tim, I used the original housing but installed a 59 center section with open drive shaft. (later a ring pinion from Yukon gear)

The sway bar was from CPP part number CP-169 and at that time I paid $186 for it in 2013.

I just bought the CP-169 torsion kit for my 52 GMC burb. I am using the original gas tank. Does anyone have a pic of this kit installed?

Just to add a little more, I have heard that 3600 springs when it comes to dimensions are the same as 3800 as in they bolt right up.
I do not remember where exactly I read that but if it is the case would for instance a set of new 3600 springs from LMC-Truck soften up the ride while maintaining some level of stability.

Thanks,
Joshua