Henry is back on the road with his new SBC.....now it is time to freshen up that suspension. My old leaf springs are sacked out and shot. What is the best (Cheapest??) source for replacement springs, shackles, etc?
Well... Since you said *cheapest*, I can't answer that. The ones I went with are from Eaton and they were a bit pricey. However, they are 2" lowered which I new would cost more, but hey~ They are l-o-w-e-r-e-d.
Any issues with what our host offers? I need just the left rear, and I'm thinking Classic Parts' spring will be a good match with the other side...
I bought the front springs (both) from the host. They seem alright, except the fit to the rear hanger. The springs/bushing was about 1mm too wide, but maybe my hanger was the issue?? Simple fix, I ground a bit off and made it fit. Can not attest to the ride quality, but then again, I never drove it with the old spring either so I would have nothing to compare to.
Leaf Springs Eaton or Diamond ~ $aving one Dollar on springs will bite you in the butt worse than you can possibly imagine because it'll make your truck unpleasant to drive or ride in .
There is just about no wear out to leaf springs. Some disclaimers are they have been heated, the ends have worn WAY into the leaf above or below, or they have been distorted by excessive bending or kinking. Other than that just de-arching is a normal thing and can be corrected. Re-arching to original will give the same ride height and the same spring rate unless the spring leaves are thinner or narrower. The metallurgy does not change with age unless acted upon by outside forces.
We do our own but I wouldn't think it would run over a hundred for the pair. We always laid a spring that was working real good on a race car on it's side on a piece of plywood and drew the arc of each leaf on the wood with a Marks-a-Lot. Later if the car didn't handle or carried the left front wheel we popped the spring apart and re-arched back to it's original shape. A junk small block Chevy block and a 4# shop hammer did the trick. Hit firm but not like you're trying to kill it and after MANY hits it will curve to the arc you want. How high you want it to ride at is a learning experience but make both sides the same to start with and if one sags more just increase the arch.
Wow ~ It finally happened , I disagree with one of Evan's Tech Ideas ~ Even and I are 180 apart on this . Re arching of springs is a dead waste of time as they go flat again quickly . I've had literally hundreds of leaf springs re arched in my years in a Heavy Duty Truck Shop and all of them , every single one , went flat after 12 months or less , no matter who we had re arching them .
