The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Steering/spring update -YES-

After receiving some good advice here on the Stovebolt about my steering problems, I swapped out the leaf spings on my '51 burb for new this past weekend.

Wow. What a difference in overall handling and braking. I really can't express the improvement. After nearly 40 years of slug steering, I feel liberated. I can take my hands off the wheel.

The new springs raised the front at the spring bumper about 1.75 inches, and raised the rear frame at the end of the spring about 5 inches.

Get ye new springs!

Here are a few pictures:

Here is a shot of the pit I built in my garage:

ready at the pit

Jack setup. I added safety blocks before working under the truck:

jacking

Here is the old right front spring:

Old right front spring

Here is a new front spring:

New front spring

Here is a before and after shot of a rear shackle:

Rear Shackle before and after. Note the angle of the spring and the shackle:]


I have more pics if anyone is interested.

I took the truck to my favorite alignment shop today, and after tweaking the toe-in, the alignment guy said "That drives pretty good for an old truck."

It really does.

Kurt

Congratulations! What a great follow up. Now you can truly enjoy your truck the way it was meant to be!

That's dramatic! Thanks for posting the pictures. Also, nice Albert bumpersticker.

you did a good job there. you know them new springs make the truck look old huh? lol just kidding the truck truly looks nice under there

Thanks for all the nice comments guys. Everything went real smooth. Fortunately I had changed out the shackles. pins and bushings a few years ago and those parts were all still good. The springs also came with bushings already installed.

I got the Albert bumper sticker at the Los Alamos Lab bookstore, which seemed appropriate.

Kurt

Where did you get the new springs from? Were you happy with the service?

I bought the springs from Sdtrucksprings.com. I was very pleased with the service, price and fast delivery. Price for all 4 springs was $549.80. Shipping by UPS was another $121.62. They were marked "made in USA"

Here is a link:

sdtrucksprings.com

Kurt

thanks! I'll check them out.

You said it made a difference in braking? How so? I have a 49 3800 series truck and I am curious as to just what the improvements will be if I installed new springs. I'm all for any improvements.

My truck tended to pull to the right when braking, and was generally unstable if I had to make a hard stop. In other words I had to really stay on the wheel. Now it just stops in a straight line.

Cornering is another whole world of difference.

Over the years I have put in new kingpins, kits for the tie rod ends and pitman arm, new shocks, new shackles and bushings, adjusted the steering box, alignment, new wheel bearings, drums, shoes, cylinders etc. in an attempt to correct steering and stopping.

All of this helped, but I gotta say that the steering and stopping never felt right until I put in these new springs.

It was very interesting to me that putting in the springs raised the front enough to change the position of the steering wheel by more than 90 degrees.

So the bottom line is the steering geometry now seems correct, and the truck no longer dips and dives when cornering and braking.

I have to conclude from all of this that if your springs are flat, and you are having steering difficulties, new springs may be just what you need.


Kurt

Good job. I found that '80s toyota corolla wagon rear springs are the same form and curve as my truck, so I just cut down the longer leaves to length, and replaced a couple of broken leaves.
I'd say one of your springs was slacker than the other, tipping it out of balance under pressure. The leaf springs have a lot of work to do on the front. Note that the centreline of brake torque and leverage, the spindles, passes directly through the spring centres to minimize twist. And I think that the springs normally sit fairly flat, to deliver the brake forces cleanly through the spring to the rear shackles and avoid more bending and twisting.
So the new ones probaly have a far easier go of it.