55.2-59 56 Front Shocks Bottoming

[thumper56]

I believe the fix to be pretty easy, but am wondering if anyone else has run into this...

My truck is a 56 C3100, original front suspension. I believe the leaf springs to be original and while they may be "saggier" than when new, seemed to be in good shape when I took them apart to clean and reassemble. The truck seems to sit properly and rubber bumpers on frame are exactly 2" above the springs.

The old girl rides better than most I have been in, but every once in a great while I hit that dip in the road that bottoms something out with a solid BANG that could wake the dead- quite un-nerving and always happens when least expected!

I see no evidence of scraped paint on suspension parts or frame, and no indication rubber frame bumpers are hitting the springs- though I did just put some gobs of grease on top of the springs under the bumpers to leave a witness mark when it happens again.

My shocks are the listed Monro 31000. These have a compressed length of 12". I measure 14" on center when mounted static in the truck. (Leaving 2" of travel before bottoming)

I've looked for shorter shocks by dimension on the Monro charts, but no joy. A couple are 11.75 at compressed but I would spend $140 to gain 1/4". All others were way too short.

Looks like an "easy" fix would be use longer spring u-bolts and sandwich a 3/4" or 1" shim over the shock mount bracket.

Anyone else had this issue and came up with a different approach??? (Unfortunately putting in a new, modern, front suspension is NOT an option!)

Thanks