The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts rear springs help

i have been debating how far to take my truck down. im in the process of redoing the rear brakes and while im taking that apart and cleaning and painting i keep looking at my rear springs. they look good no broken leafs etc. just rusty.but i wasnt sure about the bushings i replaced one grease fitting and got some grease to go in but it was kinda hard. any ideas or suggestions would help
thanks

It all depends on how extensive your restoration is going to be. If you just want to drive it, I would try to free up the grease passages to get grease through them. Back in their day hardly anyone replaced spring bushings because nothing really bad happens if you don't. If you are working on a larger truck, it might be difficult finding parts. If you break something while trying to take it apart, you could create a problem. I'm sure your truck will never see hauling loads every day. I would clean up as much rust as possible and paint and drive it.

I can't give you any suggestions as I am right at the same point on my '49. I just finished up the brakes and I keep looking at those big heavy rusty springs and thinking I really should pull it apart and replace those 58 year old shackles and pins.
First of all I need to get a bigger floor jack so I can pick the whole rear end up at once. The 2-1/2 ton jack I have now will only lift one side at a time on the rear. Secondly how to support it so the differntial can be lowered. I certanly don't have any jack stands tall enough to reach the frame. The shop manual says to raise the rear of the truck with a hoist. Which I don't have. Any way I'm sure I will go ahead and tackle it eventually, but I'm not looking forward to it.
Cleon

It's up to you, and what you expect of the truck.
Don't worry about finding spring, bushings, pins, U-bolts, and the other related parts, they are easy to find, and reasonably priced.

I have all new springs and related hardware on my 2 ton truck.

Grigg