Well after other projects taking my time, my front end is completely back together with king pins, bushings, shackle kits, brakes, bearings and tie rod ends cleaning and paint. One knuckle had a crack developed at the axle joint and a shoutout to Jim Carter for a used one!! My issue is after going through the front springs and seeing they were slightly mismatched in appearance, now installed I noticed the drivers side is about 1 1/4” higher from frame to axle than passenger. That multiplies further out… I completely took the packs apart, cleaned and painted so I know there isn’t a broken one. Same number and lengths (I left the 4 mini end springs off) it’s just the end curls that was the mismatch. So one is weaker than the other. Can I cheat and pull a leaf out of the high side or just give in to purchasing a new matched set. If so which of the 8 comes out?
Larry Old man᠁Old truck᠁neither one goes very fast. All you need in life is TIME, PATIENCE and MONEY. If you are missing one component, you'll need an abundance of the others two.
Larry, please don't remove spring parts from only one spring. One side will run "softer" than the other and your steering and ride will be very wonky. One way to remedy this is to make (or have made) spring shackle pieces that are shorter/longer until you get things level. I had to do this with my truck. Before I got it, something had happened that caused one side of the rear to sit about 1.5 inches higher. I used the shackle pieces from an old set of front end shackles I had (the front is shorter...different from the rear) and that took care of it. Good luck!
Edit...sorry, Larry...I forgot to mention the problem with mine was visible with old or all new springs and while I couldn't see a bend anywhere in the frame, I could measure it in height from the floor.
Last edited by Jon G; 07/24/20252:19 PM.
~ Jon 1952 1/2 ton with 1959 235 | T5 with 3.07 rear end
Thanks Jon, there certainly could be a twisted frame. I can see a bow out eyeing down one side around the front of the bed area. There was a home made wrecker wench setup welded to the frame when I purchased. Poor old girl was severely abused. If the frame has a twist, even new leaf springs won’t cure the issue. I bought new rear shackles so that may be the solution I’m looking for. With this Truck, I’m not looking for speed and performance mainly just appearances. I’m still looking for a reasonable distance from me frame alignment place. Seems like there were Bear alignment locations everywhere in the old days.
Larry Old man᠁Old truck᠁neither one goes very fast. All you need in life is TIME, PATIENCE and MONEY. If you are missing one component, you'll need an abundance of the others two.
My ‘46 went through a similar adventure. It was discovered the poor thing had been in front and rear end collisions over its working life. A body shop with a frame machine reset everything to the correct dimensions. The shop manual shows the various measurement points needed to help get the frame aligned correctly.
John, in the old days dad or grandad probably could've found a shop that re-arched springs. Shops around here would probably give me a glassy eyed "huh?" if they can't order a part, bolt it in and charge their overestimated rate out of a shop fee book online, they don't have a clue and I can order a part and bolt it in myself. LOL
Larry Old man᠁Old truck᠁neither one goes very fast. All you need in life is TIME, PATIENCE and MONEY. If you are missing one component, you'll need an abundance of the others two.
