K-10 front spring situ & info

[original condor]

Howdy All. My rig is a 70 longbed 350 manual trans., 308 gears & power steering / brakes. My front leaf springs are 44" long. This matches the length of the new ones sold by LMC, so I'm betting on that being stock. Existing shackles look stock too. My issue is that the springs are so long?...flattened? etc.? This has the shackles at a radical angle towards the rear with the truck at rest & level. It is so bad that the springeye at the rear end of the spring is rubbing on the frame
& also rather than the shackles pivoting when the spring flexes, it just puts a stretching force on the shackles and all the bushings, etc connecting it to frame on it.
My question is this, on my limited budget, should I get the stock replacements mentioned above( about $340 plus tx), hoping this doesn't occur again. Or should I find, or have made, or whatevers needed, to get some springs with similar curvature, leafs, etc, that are 2" minimum, and up to 3" shorter eye to eye. This should put the schackles in a near vertical position, preventing the spring from touching the frame again, keeping the ride nicer.

By the way, I'm also doing a ORD rear shackle flip to get rid of some 4" blocks. I know they don't make a exact kit for our 67 to 72. but that you can adapt the square body one to work. If someone has actually done it, please tell me how long it would take a novice, & his buddies, with reasonable tools tp pull it off? Also any pitfalls to be ready for? Thankyou...........Steve

[BrianG]

Doesn't make sense that you would have stock front springs and a 4" lift in the back. Post up some pics of the front springs. you certainly wouldn't want to order stock front springs if someone put new 4" lift front springs in there at some point

[Mike C]

Worn out bushings can contribute to this as well, and if they are original they are probably whooped. But as noted above, a picture is worth 1000 words.

[57taskforce]

I agree ord shackle flip in the rear and stock front springs makes no sense. A good way to tell factory front springs vs lift springs is a factory spring will arch tward the frame slightly and lift springs will arch away from the frame.

[andrewmp6]

You know you can get a shackle flip from http://diy4x.com/product.php?product...cat=250&page=3

[special-K]

I can't tell if you have stock front springs or not. I was thinking you put the LMC ones on and they are 4". II am doing a 4" lift right now on my '72. I just took this picture for another post where a guy couldn't lay frame because his headers hang 5" below his frame? Anyway, here is how my original shackles look

[original condor]

Howdy, thanks for the feedback. I can now say that these must be aftermarket higher arch springs, but they must be too long when compressed. It has the red atermarket bushings at both ends, so those don't seem shot. So it seems that I maybe have a few choices to pick from. Have these springs shortened ( which I doubt they do ), buy new shorter springs,move the shackle pivot points back, all of which have the advantace of not changing differential location, so no steering drive shaft issues, etc. ... or if I was crazy I'd consider moving the front mounts forward, which would bring in all the issues, but improve my approach angle. I'm on a limited budget is a strong factor all through this,. I also understand that that 2 days hard labor under the truck to end up with old springs, compared to bolting in new ones in a day, holds a lot of value too. Go any ideas, etc? By the way I'm a techno-neanderthal, so no photos of the rustbucket at this point.
...Many thanks...Steve

[BrianG]

The top bushings on the shackles could be shot and binding. Try raising it to just take the weight off the front axle and remove the back spring bolt (follow all safety precautions). Then see if the shackle moves freely. It'll probably be a bit stiff though. Also at the same time measure the springs eye to eye. That will hopefully tell you if you have the correct front springs and if you need new shackle bushings. I believe that I have read on here where some guys are putting longer front springs in as a cheap way to get a front lift. Could be what was done to your truck maybe.