How to identify front drop springs?

[Arne]

Here's the deal. I bought the truck as a stalled project, and it was already lowered. I have no idea how much it was dropped. Both front and rear drops were all coils.

I'm thinking I might want to bring the front up an inch, but don't know what springs are in it now. I have between ¾ to 1" of travel before it hits the bump stops. Tires are 275/60-15 at around 27" tall, and I have about 27½" fender height.

The springs are black, but I haven't found any markings on them. The front sway bar and panhard rod are labeled POL, but the shocks look like CPP. So the springs could be either brand.

Can anyone help me figure out what I have in there now?

[sambrutay]

most spring only drops are 3" front and 5" rear.

[theastronaut]

Best bet for raising it exactly 1" is to use a spring spacer; 1/2" thick will gain 1" at the spindle/wheel. You could order a new drop spring and it not be the exact amount of drop it's advertised to be, every truck is different.

Or if you like the height and just want more travel before bottoming out, cut the bump stop brackets off the lower control arms. The ball joints have plenty of travel left, more travel than the crossmember has ground clearance.

[Arne]

While I don't need exactly 1", the spring spacers sound like a good option. I just feel that more travel would be good, and it has a bit more rake than I'd prefer.

Got any favorite sources for spacers?

[LVPhotos]

Remove stock bump stops.

[forestb]

Here is mine wit a 4.5 in drop up front and 5 in the rear with the same size tires. Hopefully it will give you some kind of reference.

[Arne]

Originally Posted by forestb

Here is mine wit a 4.5 in drop up front and 5 in the rear with the same size tires. Hopefully it will give you some kind of reference.

That is helpful, thanks. Looks like mine might be 3" drop on both front and rear.

[AcampoDave]

Looks like a 3 inch. Here's a 2 front with a 4 in back.

[Arne]

Originally Posted by AcampoDave

Looks like a 3 inch. Here's a 2 front with a 4 in back.

I think you are right. Now all I need is to find someone who wants to trade a pair of 2" springs for a pair of 3".

[Arne]

Update - I haven't found any spacers that will both fit, and raise it more than ¼". So I'm back to looking at the springs. I'm fairly sure mine are from CPP, and probably a 3" drop. CPP support says they should have a part number on them if they are theirs. I can't see a number anywhere while they are in the truck, so later this weekend I'm going to drop one out for inspection. If I can ID them as 3", I'll buy a pair of 2" drop to install instead. I guess I'll have a surplus pair of 3" drop springs at that point.

[Arne]

And of course, no numbers are visible on the springs I removed. So I started looking up specs.

You can determine the drop by the free length of the spring. Here's a summary of drops to free length, assuming that the springs in question have a spring rate close to stock (1000-1100 lbs/in) and the wire is 0.75-0.82 thick. (All the spring makers that I found specs for met all these criteria.)

Stock height ---- 12.5"
1" drop --------- 12.0"
2" drop --------- 11.5"
3" drop --------- 11.0"
4" drop --------- 10.5"

Mine are 11.0", so the thoughts from above that they looked to be 3" were correct. I've got a pair of 2" on the way, and have posted the 3" in the classifieds.