Front leaf springs too high - Page 2 - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

Dunenutt · 08-18-2012, 01:03 PM

The stance is perfect!

Mine sat a little high in the front for a while. Hammering it over the rows of speed bumps at Home depot settled it down a bit

**JPBrecheisen** · 08-19-2012, 01:30 AM

special-k is right. The wheel openings are different....even though not by much, but it can make the truck look taller in the front when it actually sits level. I think your truck looks perfect like it sits. Very nice truck.

You can always park it on level ground and put a bubble level on the rocker panel to see how it really sits. Make sure the wheels are straight ahead also, so the caster will jack up the corner of the wheel that is turned outboard.

Thing looks good to me. I kinda like the 4x4's a touch higher in the front anyway.

GCncsuHD · 08-31-2012, 11:22 AM

Truck looks fantastic!

Something else to check though, is if you tightened the spring hanger and shackle bolts with the axle drooped, or with the weight on the ground? If you tightened them with the axle drooped, it is actually putting the bushings in a bind and essentially preloading the front suspension. Driving around for a while like you have might allow that to settle out, but loosening and tightening those bolts with the weight on the ground could settle it some as well if you did not do it that way before.

And as mentioned, the 2" lift springs may have replaced stock springs that had sagged an inch or two over the last 40 years...I know on my 78 K30 that was used and abused for 30 years as a brush truck, it had sagged some and my 4" Tuff Country springs added about 5" after settling.

ryanmctee · 08-31-2012, 11:44 AM

That makes sense. I did tighten everything up without a load on it. If I get some time over the weekend I'll loosen and re-tighten and see if it will drop some. Funny thing is everyone but me likes the height of the truck. Had I had it to do over again, I would replace the old stock springs with new stock springs. The truck is about 2" higher than I would like. Anyways, here's a couple of pictures I just took this morning. You can see it still sits just a touch proud in the front....

swclassics · 09-01-2012, 04:47 PM

Ryan, You nailed it man. Truck looks great! I'm putting the same Tough Country 2" lift on my 71 GMC K10 Super. I was going with 8" rallys and 32X11.50 tires, but after seeing your truck I'm thinking about the 8" steelies and 33X10.50s. Question for you, did you have to use extended brakes lines with the 2" lift? I'm getting conflicting answers on this. Thanks, Frank

**Stocker** · 09-01-2012, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swclassics

did you have to use extended brakes lines with the 2" lift? I'm getting conflicting answers on this.

I can field that one. I put 2.5" Softrides on my K20 several years ago. Stock hoses were plenty long enough.

However, I did replace them recently, only because they were 40 years old. Got the standard replacement hoses from NAPA and they are slightly longer than the OEM hoses, so no problem. You don't need any mods unless you lift it 4" or more.

mud.man.rj · 09-01-2012, 07:09 PM

I don't know, looks like your eyes may be foolon you, did you measure front to back to see if a difference, when I did mine I used new leaf packs front and back and the back looked lower too then I measured and was hardly any difference at all and a month later is exactly the same, the darn front wheel well being bigger just makes it look like more too. Sure is a beauty though. Thanks for sharing.

08-18-2012, 01:03 PM	#1
Dunenutt Newbee Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Posts: 1,406	Re: Front leaf springs too high The stance is perfect! Mine sat a little high in the front for a while. Hammering it over the rows of speed bumps at Home depot settled it down a bit __________________ My Build, http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...58#post4464158

08-19-2012, 01:30 AM	#2
JPBrecheisen Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Harrisville, New York Posts: 459	Re: Front leaf springs too high special-k is right. The wheel openings are different....even though not by much, but it can make the truck look taller in the front when it actually sits level. I think your truck looks perfect like it sits. Very nice truck. You can always park it on level ground and put a bubble level on the rocker panel to see how it really sits. Make sure the wheels are straight ahead also, so the caster will jack up the corner of the wheel that is turned outboard. Thing looks good to me. I kinda like the 4x4's a touch higher in the front anyway. __________________ 1960 GMC K1500 LB Fleet Side 1962 GMC K1000 LB Step Side 1988 Chevrolet C2500

08-31-2012, 11:22 AM	#3
GCncsuHD Charlie Daniels w/ a Tq Wrench Join Date: May 2009 Location: Statesville, NC Posts: 1,570	Re: Front leaf springs too high Truck looks fantastic! Something else to check though, is if you tightened the spring hanger and shackle bolts with the axle drooped, or with the weight on the ground? If you tightened them with the axle drooped, it is actually putting the bushings in a bind and essentially preloading the front suspension. Driving around for a while like you have might allow that to settle out, but loosening and tightening those bolts with the weight on the ground could settle it some as well if you did not do it that way before. And as mentioned, the 2" lift springs may have replaced stock springs that had sagged an inch or two over the last 40 years...I know on my 78 K30 that was used and abused for 30 years as a brush truck, it had sagged some and my 4" Tuff Country springs added about 5" after settling. __________________ ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ 67 C10 Shortbed "Great Grandpa's Truck" I6 3 on the Tree 71k original miles 5.3 swap in the works 69 K5 Blazer-Family Beach Cruiser Project 78 K30 Dually Semi-Retired Fire Truck 350/SM465 35"s SOLD01 2500HD ECSB 6.0 4x4 5.13's 8" lift 38"s

08-31-2012, 11:44 AM	#4
ryanmctee Registered User Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Gardnerville Nevada Posts: 270	Re: Front leaf springs too high That makes sense. I did tighten everything up without a load on it. If I get some time over the weekend I'll loosen and re-tighten and see if it will drop some. Funny thing is everyone but me likes the height of the truck. Had I had it to do over again, I would replace the old stock springs with new stock springs. The truck is about 2" higher than I would like. Anyways, here's a couple of pictures I just took this morning. You can see it still sits just a touch proud in the front.... Attached Images __________________ Check out my build: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=512620

09-01-2012, 04:47 PM	#5
swclassics Registered User Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Queen Creek, AZ Posts: 39	Re: Front leaf springs too high Ryan, You nailed it man. Truck looks great! I'm putting the same Tough Country 2" lift on my 71 GMC K10 Super. I was going with 8" rallys and 32X11.50 tires, but after seeing your truck I'm thinking about the 8" steelies and 33X10.50s. Question for you, did you have to use extended brakes lines with the 2" lift? I'm getting conflicting answers on this. Thanks, Frank

09-01-2012, 07:09 PM	#7
mud.man.rj Registered User Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Creighton Sask. Canada Posts: 4,121	Re: Front leaf springs too high I don't know, looks like your eyes may be foolon you, did you measure front to back to see if a difference, when I did mine I used new leaf packs front and back and the back looked lower too then I measured and was hardly any difference at all and a month later is exactly the same, the darn front wheel well being bigger just makes it look like more too. Sure is a beauty though. Thanks for sharing.



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