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Has anyone recently replaced their rear leaf springs? If so any recommendations? Planning on lifting the truck but first want to replace my leaf springs in hopes to correct the sagging on the drivers side. Thanks in advance
It's pretty straight forward, I'd recommend putting a hitch in then stacking cinder blocks under the hitch and jacking it up. Here's how I did it.
I did 1 side at a time jacking it up by the far corner of the hitch. I can't say it was all that safe but it worked. I think a better way to do it would be to jack it up from the center of the hitch and put jack stands in the corners (where I have my jack). I think the biggest thing is even if you think you're high enough, go higher. Height is your friend. You can see how high I had the rear of my truck (keep in mind the front has a 5" lift and those are 35" tires).
Past that, just undo the shocks on the bottom and you're good to go. I would recommend that when you put the new ones in, put the back bolt in first (loosely of course), then have someone push on the overload bar to the front so you can align the hole. It's a HUGE PITA to do it yourself. On the drivers side, make sure you know where your E-brake cable is so you don't have to take the spring out again like I did lol.
If I remember right you'll need a 15/16, 7/8, and 13/16 socket / wrench for the springs, I'm not sure what the U-bolts are (I want to say 7/8), or what the shock bolts are.
I had mine done a few years ago. If you live in an area that salts the road you can bank on having to cut rusted bolts off which can be a real time waster. I went to local shop (that builds them) told them what I wanted and had them install. I ended up with HD Springs that would add 2 to 3 inches of lift (that I didn't want) so they arced them down so my truck sits close to level.
Depending on your budget you can get "assist" springs (available at any auto parts store) that bolt on over the existing leaf springs or a set of "helper" coil springs that mount between the axle and frame.
Either will correct the sag while increasing load capacity upwards of 1500 pounds. The drawback is either will also create a stiffer ride.
In many ways it's less expensive to purchase from and have a suspension shop install them. Not an off road shop, unless they are also doing the lift kit too then you might get a better deal on a package. From either you'll get all new hardware, some type of warranty on the work/materials and no headache pulling the old springs out.
02-27-2017, 01:53 AM
Rear leaf springs
