The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk sagging rear end?

My truck has slowly been developing a new problem. The drivers side sits lower than the passenger side. It seems to be getting worse. I think it has to do with worn out springs. Maybe someone here can shed some light on my situation.

Once I ride in it and get out the drivers side is 2-3 inches lower. I can pull it up on the drivers side at the rear fender and it will go up an inch, then go to the passender side and step on the running board. After that it is still about 1/2-1 inch lower on drivers side.

I have lowered the rear end about 3 or 4 inches by removing 3 of the smallest leafs and putting 1 inch lowering blocks. I rebuilt the shackles too.

I swapped the driver leafs with the passenger leafs and it still sags on the drivers side. Do I need new shocks.

Do springs lose their life? My guess is they do...

I'm sure that since you removed the leafs you have damaged the springs.If you had not removed the leafs the springs could have been re-arched to level out the truck

'' Do springs lose their life? ''

yes

''I swapped the driver leafs with the passenger leafs and it still sags on the drivers side.

or one (plus) is broken
or is a frame attachment cracked or broken?

''Do I need new shocks''
does the truck bounce up and down too much after you push it down
then yes

Sounds like they were weak to begin with. Removing the leaves just furthe stressed them. Re-arching may help temporarily, I'v seen re-arched springs sag the same or worse only a few months after they were redone. I'd suggest replacing the springs, you'll save money in the long run. Patrick's and No Limit Engineering both
have mono-leaf setups that may get the ride hight you are looking for.

I paid about $400 to get my main leafs replaced and the rest rearched- The replacement springs are about $400.

If you've got to replace them anyhow... think about going with wider springs. I think Carter's has a kit for the conversion. The wider spring kits cost about the same and include the shackels, bushings, bolts and frame mount points. That is what I'll do next time around if I don't go to coil springs and a 4-link set up, which I guess would cost about $500 to buy and put in myself.

Wider springs stand up better to more torque and heavy loads- Here's an article on it:

http://www.oldchevytrucks.com/cgi/htmlos.exe/002026.4.2678320566400011432

Someone might chime in with what factory wider springs you could get locally and bolt in with the new mount points. I'm guessing Blazer maybe? There might even be a thread on it here somewhere.

Your local spring and suspension shop can definately make you springs that'll do what you want in terms of lowering and handle what your truck's got to dish out, and maybe at the same cost as ordering springs from Patrick's or No Limit.

The front springs could also be weak on the drivers side. Since swapping the springs did nothing, your frame may be tweaked. Try reinstalling the longest spring that was removed from the drivers side or always have a passenger fatter than yourself(not that there's anything wrong with that).

All four main springs on my truck had to be replaced, and my frame was slightly tweaked- Frame straightening shouldn't be too expensive, I think frame rack time is about $60/hour, which is like mechanic time. Finding a place that'll straighten your frame for 'straight time' instead of 'book time' is tougher.

Thanks for the quick responses!

I think I'll look into the mono leafs. I just need the money...

Does anybody have any experience with monoleafs? I've been debating whether I want them or not for the past two years.

Thanks again.

Burell,

I had my springs re-worked in January at a local spring shop. All 4 were about $400. The shop made and installed new mains in the front and checked out the rest. In know it is a little spendy, but it was worth it. Do a search on Mono leafs.

I know some folks on here are running them, but a national spring shop has a pretty good read on what they view as a safety issue...if you break that mono leaf, you are in pretty big trouble...not a shot at mono springs or anyone running them...just food for thought.