The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Leaf spring shim?

My dad and I are in the middle of replacing rear leaf springs and shocks on our 1954 1/2 ton pickup. We have the passenger side complete, but when we went to do the other driver side, we found out that there was no shim. I don't know if the shim is supposed to be there or not, and I'm confused as to why I only have one (on the passenger side).

By shim, I mean a rectangular plate that fits over the top of the leaf spring, between the rear axle and spring. The shim has a hole on one side and a pin on the other side so it lines up with the pin on the top of the leaf spring and the hole attached to the axle. it is about 1/4 inch thick.

None of the vendors seem to sell this "shim", so I'm guessing it doesn't belong there. I'm hoping someone will tell me that the shim is not needed and was not there when the truck was built. I'm hoping it was something put on during rear suspension service, perhaps, to level the truck or to stiffen a spring that was wearing out.

Any experience or thoughts on this would be greatly helpful! Thanks.

Nope, the spring mounts directly to the pad on the axle. I'd guess it was a leveling attempt.

I wouldn't through that shim to far as my '54 1/2T has the same thing. I couldn't figure out Why it was there but it sure looked factory to me. I was going to post this very same question but decided it's obviously a factory design.

Good luck

Did a little more research and found the answer in a shop manual diagram:

Check out figure 86 at the bottom

There is no shim there, so I'll assume this was put in at some point during a service procedure. Looks like I have a little work to do...

Um, Figure 86 depicts the drivers side. The shim on my truck is on the Passenger side.
I wish I could help more, but as of this writing there is a '69 Camaro 10 bolt posi installed on my truck and I'm eager for its return home.

Well now wait a minute.... I replaced my rear springs 6 months ago, the drivers rear, if memory serves, had a plate just like that described inbetween the spring and axle. I asked about it on here and got a few suggestions. One was that this plate is to distribute the load from the additional weight of the spare tire. Right now I don't have that plate installed, cause my spring guy never gave it back, and the truck seems to lean to the drivers side abit. So there might be a reason for it, don't throw it away just yet.

Another question is, do you have a spare tire carrier? And what side is it on?

I thought the shims where to adjust the geometry of the suspension or for alignments. My '52 had one in each front spring. Did yours look like a wedge?
Kinda Like This

Apache: I do have the spare tire carrier and it is on the driver's side. I guess I'd be surprised if the weight of a spare tire would be enough to warrant a suspension modification to compensate. But your idea makes sense, and now I'm wondering about it...

As for the shim itself, it is definitely not wedge shaped as in your picture. It is clearly a spacer meant to add space between the axle mounting plate and the spring. I think the shim effectively lowers that side of the truck, forcing that spring to arch more.

Any other thoughts on this topic? At this point I'm planning on taking off the spacer this weekend, but would like to hear other opinions. Thanks.

The wedge shaped ones on the front set the angle of the front axle. All trucks have them.

I think the spare tire theory has some merit. You also have a driver on that side. Putting the tire there with a driver could have caused a lean. A lot of trucks without side spares lean to the driver side.

My 54 3100 has the spare mounted on the driver side.

OHHHHH! You have the spare tire mounted on the driver's side instead of underneath!! O.K. that is RPO 341 and the Assembly Manual shows the "spacer" in question on the pass. side only, part no. 2308561.

Sorry for the misleading post.

I am also still curious about this. I wouldn't think a spare would make a truck lean that much. Is this spacer really need? If so, which side should it be on? Side with the spare or opposite? And where can I get another one?

Waldo- Can you tell me on what page or sheet number in the assembly manual this part is shown? I have the manual but didn't see it on the rear suspension page.

Apache- I'm thinking the side of the truck with the spring spacer will effectively be lowered. This is because the shim puts the body of the truck lower to the ground with respect to the axle. So if the spacer is for compensation of the spare tire carrier and/or driver, then it makes sense to be on the passenger side only.

But I'd still like to see the part in the assembly manual! Hopefully Waldo53 can point me in the right direction!! Thanks everyone.

It's shown in the R.P.O. sections, Section 10, Sheet 3.02

The spacer is shown for R.H. side only.

The spacer lowering the body to the ground would not be true for my Task Force truck, as the axle is below the springs. It seems it would raise the side it is on, so for me that may be correct to have it on the driver's side.