The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Replacing Front Springs on 1949 1/2 ton

Have truck up on stands and was inspecting the springs to see what all I might need and noticed that on the passenger side there are 9 leaf's and only 8 on the driver side? From what I was looking for they should be 8. The truck sat level the way it was but would really lean when making a left turn. What are the best places to get the springs, u bolts, and hangers? Thanks.

Yes, there should be 8 leaves on each spring plus (important) a small caster angle adjustment piece on each one at the bottom. You're probably going to get several suggestions on where to get the springs. Unless you have a spring shop nearby, shipping will be $$$. May even be worth the trip to Pittsburgh to pick them up. U bolts...which are actually square u bolts should be replaced new but some folks will clean and re-use. The spring shop can supply these. The springs may or may not come with spring eye bushings. A lot has been posted/discussed about that here. Hard to find really good ones today. Pins/shackle bars/seals...same thing. The ones out there now may not be as good as the older stuff and some may come from China or S. America. Good luck!

Got all bolts broke loose. Thought it would be harder than it was but so far so good. Gonna get on internet now and see what I can find. Would be nice to get everything from one vender so might have to wait until Monday. What company is in Pittsburgh? I'm not far from there.Thanks for the info. Grady.

I'd check with Allegheny Auto Spring first. The number I have is 412-321-1239. There used to be another outfit there, but I can't recall their name offhand.

I will call them on Monday. Been looking on the web and looks like the Dorman 22-184 is the spring I need. Going to call General Spring also.

Looks like that is Dorman's number. Seems like a lot of people are selling that spring for different prices, doesn't it?

As long as you're into it that far, I would replace pins and bushings too. I replaced my front springs on my 47 3600, and all the pins and bushings too. Like yours my front springs were not right, too many leaves and not the correct springs in the stack. My truck rides very nice, I wonder why people change the front end to independent suspension when my old truck rides better than my 2000 F250 and my convertible summer fun time car. I may add a sway bar this winter to keep the body roll to a minimum. Other than that, I want it to be an old truck, not a modern vehicle.

Yes the prices are all over. One vendor only had 1 in stock at a good price. The bid site has free shipping. One vendor was 87 just for shipping! And it is such a pain that one vendor doesn't carry everything, so there is extra shipping charges. These old trucks are fun tho.

And I will check the pins and othere steering parts.

One thing I will tell you about the Dorman springs. Their spring eye bushings are brass. Not that I think that's a bad thing but I mention it only in the spirit of transparency. The Moog and other high grade bushings of the 50s, 60s and 70s were steel...which should last longer if maintained correctly (and I'm not certain many people really did that). There could be a positive way to look at this, though. If your original pins are not overly worn and can be used again, those spring eye bushings made of brass will wear faster than the pins will and bushings can be replaced easily. My point being new springs and bushings coupled with your original pins might be okay. I replaced everything in mine but the pins I removed could have been re-used just fine. Further point being I wonder how many people will ever put 50,000 miles on one of these trucks today.

From my perspective, I would prefer a brass bushing so that all of the wear is on the cheap/easy to replace part.

I would agree that the greatest majority of these trucks will have minimal miles put on them compared to their design life.

Contact Eaton-Detroit Springs for correct OEM, made in America springs and hardware.

St. Louis Spring (once owned by brothers Hubert Prater (H.P.) Moog and Shulman Alva Moog - founders of Moog suspension parts) will also have the correct OEM, made in USA springs and hardware.
Samantha

Springs are out. There were no shims or tapered peices on the driver side and on the passenger side there was a tapered piece that is part of the spring actually making 10 pieces in that one. I'm gonna try and put the pictures on the thread if I can figure it out. M

It says my pictures are to big?

Got it.

As you can see the difference in the 2 springs.is the tapered piece the shim that is needed? The thicker end was towards the rear of truck. Thanks.

The small tapered piece is your caster adjustment. Interesting you only had one of these (on one side) but this is by far and away not the only time I've run across this. People seem to lose these, remove them or something. Your solid front axle doesn't bend so if somebody was trying to reduce caster on one side (maybe to compensate for road crown), they failed. When you get new springs (and the ones offered by Dorman are made in the USA but as I predicted you now have several opinions on who and where to get them) just be certain to get new caster adjustment shims. Your caster angle should be 1 3/4 degree +/- 1/2 degree. Usually I try for the top end or 2.25 degrees. More caster means you'll drive straighter and your wheels will re-center themselves after a curve or turn. If you exceed 2.5 degrees your truck will become more difficult to steer. Less caster means your truck will be easier to steer...and at a point too little caster will make your truck wander around like a drunk billy goat and become very unsafe. Good luck!

I have ordered the dorman springs. Should be here this week. Is there a tech tip in here on how to figure the caster degrees? I have the service manual for the truck so I can look in there.

You can get pretty close on caster using a magnetic angle gauge. Put the truck on level ground, then place the gauge on top of the knuckle facing front to back and take a reading. An alignment shop would get a better reading using their machines.

There is a shop 3 miles from house. I'll ask them if they understand how to do it. Shop has been there probably pretty close to 50 years so maybe they will be able to do it.

If they've been there that long I bet somebody there will know exactly what to do, but you may not even need their help. Caster angle is simple to measure...adjustment on these is done only by using shims and the spring width on the AD truck was 1.75". That width isn't too common today but on Amazon you can get a pair of 2 degree made in the USA shims for $32: https://www.amazon.com/WFO-Concepts-Steel-Degree-Shims/dp/B09B2P864D?th=1

Those are what you'll need. If you have new springs and a good (not damaged nor bent) axle, those springs and those shims will get you really close to an ideal measurement.

And before I move on to other things, please let me point out something that is really, genuinely and truly important. If you look at those shims I told you about you'll see there's a hole in the center and a recessed area. When you mount these to your new springs, you're going to want them installed so that the spring (center) bolt holds them in place and the pin at the end of that spring bolt is exposed at the bottom. So, what to do? Get two large C clamps and screw them down on your spring. Mount them up close to the middle but allow enough room for your spring shim to fit in between them. Tighten them down well and loosen the nut on the spring bolt. Now place the shim on so the recessed area around the hole faces the bottom (where it will attach to your axle). Then slide the spring bolt through everything and replace the nut. If you don't have enough thread room, you'll need to buy new and longer bolts but generally for only 2 degrees you'll be okay. Now tighten that nut and once that's done, remove the C clamps and do the other spring (for the other side of your truck). The thicker part of that shim goes to the rear of your truck (which makes your axle tilt backwards). That's what gives you the caster angle. Why is it so important to have that pin part of the spring bolt exposed? Because that is what mates with a hole in your axle and keeps everything solid and safe. That pin and that hole center your axle. I've seen guys make their own shims and forget this and in the process make a real mess...no pin means your axle is not only not centered but more importantly it means there is nothing keeping it solid on your leaf springs.

They are ordered. Thank you for the instructions. I understand what you say about the pin being centered in the axle. Have a lot of cleaning things until parts come.

Just an update that got new springs in the front now. Rear spring hanger was tough getting in but I got it. Thanks to you all for the information. Now if weather gets nicer out I can test them out.

That's good news GradyB! Maybe when you take her out for a spin, you can get a pic or two and post them in the Stovebolt Driving Report thread in the GTT forum???