The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 41-46 1/2 ton PU front leaf spring profile

My '42 1/2t rides extremely hard in the front end. I have the original leaf springs and lever action shocks up front. The front spring profile appears to be almost parallel/flat with very little arc.. Do I need new front springs?

I believe they are suppose to be flat, thats part of the design. If you have not done so all ready, pull them apart and really clean each leaf and grind down any sharp edge. You can remove two or three of the lower leafs at this point but don't go less then 4 leafs, it started with 7 didn't it? Install some Teflon strips between each leaf (available from most vender's, look for spring liner), replace the spring bushings and grease them up. Make sure the shocks are working and not to stiff. Once you get that done, its as good as it gets! Joe

Steve, The two best things I did to my truck was to add radial tires and change over to tube shocks in the front. I think you will find a world of difference with tube shocks in front.

If you want I can email you a couple of pictures of my setup. Shoot me an email directly and I'll get them to you.

George
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As George suggests tires will make a big difference. It is the tire that absorbs most if not all of the energy from the smaller bumps and holes. The springs on the front of your truck are designed to carry vary little of the pay load beyond all of that sheet metal and engine so taking leaves out may not be a good idea. However for these leaf springs to work properly each leaf has to slide a small amount on the adjacent life. Inserts between each leaf will help a little. The major factor in the function of the springs is the shackle. It must operate freely. If one is froze your truck “will ride like a truck”. The shocks do not carry any weight. And have very little effect on the harshness of the ride. They will, however, control bouncing and rebound of the springs. One of the shocks could be frozen, but this would most likely bend or break the linkage. My votes; the tires and spring shackles are the likely causes.

Thanks guys...I already have radial tires on the truck. I will checkout the shocks and spring shackles. I am a little confused since the front springs are carrying the majority of non-load related weight i.e. motor et al weigh almost 800 lbs. without the other residual weight...shouldn't there be some arc?

The arc starts out before the weight is applied. This is from my 1937 Engineering Features book,

"The front springs on the HALF TON trucks are revised to make them of the "flat spring under design load" type, thus eliminating the camber and contributing the improved steering geometry by reducing to a minimum the "walk" (fore & aft motion) of attached parts. "

Does that help? Joe

As stated above, flat front springs have worked best for me. Plus I have a great local spring shop that knows their stuff. Had a couple broken leaves that were replaced plus new bushings etc. Also have swapped the levers out for tube shocks, used 52 pickup upper and lower brackets and I have a '46 front swaybar. Rear bar is waiting in the wings.