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Front leaf springs

omega7979

omega7979

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chicopee Massachusetts
I need some advice here.......

I have a 51 chevy 3100 and I was wondering about the front leaf springs. I am rebuilding the truck as a RESTO-ROD....

Is it better to replace front leaf springs or inspect and rebuild the old ones?? My truck was sitting fine with the originals and they look physically ok.....and is it ok to remove a leaf or 2 to take some arch out of them?? I am installing a S.B. Chevy with aluminum heads and intake so it will be considerably lighter than the original 235 and would like to drop the front end a inch or 2 to get a nice stance. I have the knowledge, know how and resources to do just about any kind of fabrication....but however I don't want to make a wrong decision.

And one more thing......im curious on how to put a picture up on here.....any help with that will be appreciated too

Thanks,

Leon
 
I don't think that it would hurt to take out a few leafs. It will probably take out a little bit of your stiffness though. I don't know if that will hurt anything. I don't do leafs I subframe. I like IFS. As far as lowering it you can use lowering blocks. I know that ZIG is going this route. Maybe he can be more help with this than me. Just a thought. As far as the pictures what I do is have the pictures saved to my hard drive and click on "manage attachments" below where you post a reply. Then click on the browse button on the left upper section of the screen. This will let you download to this site. After the URL is displayed in the box where you clicked browse then click on the download button on the upper right hand part of the page. Hope this helps.
 
posting pics

as far as leafs go, i'm an idiot. sorry. but i can help with posting pics!!:D what i do, is i go to http://www.photobucket.com, where i have an account set up (it's free) and then i can upload pictures to that site, where they host them. (make sure the picture is the right size- you may have to go into your image editor program and make it "view actual pixels" or "100%" something like that. just so you don't have a ginormous picture to upload) in your little profile there on photobucket, it should show previews of the pics you uploaded. above the pic, it'll have the url for you. i just select it, copy it, then open up a thread here on classic parts, and click the little pic icon (it looks like a landscape painting. then you can paste the url in there, and make sure you arrow over to the end of the stuff you just pasted before hitting enter and moving on to typing, or posting another pic. hope this wasn't too confusing!!:)


jon
 
Hold Everything!

I have decided to SKIP the blocks idea! :eek: (See "Spring info..." by slugbug) !!!!!!!!:cool:
This is a GREAT site~ thou it comes from a spring manufacturing company, the info doesn't sound like they are trying to sell you anything, just tellin' like it is...(?) But after reading about options, I am going with NEW springs that will lower my ride a couple of inches or so. NO BLOCKS. I'm skipping the idea of leaf removal because these really were engineered to be used as is. Lots of people do lots of things, and I guess it works alright, but I don't want my truck coming undone and messing me or someone else up. (or worse) Especially after I've put all that work into it. If it's a satey item, it gets the best that I can give it! Especially if my young'un is gonna' ride with me! Read this stuff from Eaton Springs. It's a good read!;) Yes, I'm still being wishy-washy with my plans, but now it's just with safety in mind.
 
Hey Zig it's not always bad to be wishy washy sometimes. Like you told me before it option 1 doesn't work then go with option 2, no big deal right?. I agree when it comes to safety, then do all you can to make it a very safe ride.
 
Amen!

That's the great thing about this site and the people on it. Especially if you're an id like I am. You guys have saved me who knows how much $$$ and really help me come up with a ride no one will ever pry me out of! I'll see if the school will mind if I just roll around to a window outside my classroom and teach from my truck!:rolleyes: It's about a sixty mile round trip, I bet I'll be able to make it an 80 mile or so.:D
 
I just bought new leaf springs for the front axle on my '57 GMC pickup from Eaton Detroit Springs. They make the springs themselves from original GM/Ford/Chrysler specs and claim to be able to reproduce anything Detroit made a long way back. Their documentation was good enough to know that there were 3 different springs available for the front of my GMC. They told me the springs would be delivered in two weeks. Springs arrived in 9 days.

I installed the springs last Saturday. Ride height is on the money.
 
here is a pic of my truck when I picked it up at my aunts farm in upstate new york.........
thanks for the help figuring out the pic upload...

of151.jpg
 
Nice truck !

Remember to use only GAS charged shocks and the stiffest ones you can get at that so you'll not be bottoming out al the time ~ these trucks are _HEAVY_
compared to to-day's and the gas shocks will make a noticable differance in ride improvement .

Keep up the good work , Diamond Springs are good too .
 
Omega:
Just noticed the 5 lug wheels fore and aft. You MAY still have a stock front end as 5 jug Chevy car hubs from around 53/54 are interchangable with our 6 lug hubs or someone may have made more extensive modifications to the front.

I'll bet the stock rear end has been replaced with something newer.
 
Yes the truck has 5 lug wheels.......i'm thinkin you are correct about the chevy car hubs because its original looking drum brakes with the ball bearings and all.........as far as the rear end goes.....someone hacked out the old one and welded in a entire assembly out of a late 70's nova.......they did a butcher job but atleast they didnt go chopping up the frame......I can remove the junk they put on just by grinding it off.....I have in my posession now a rear end out of a 72 camaro....the 8 1/2 ring gear one which will hold up well.

catch ya later

Leon
 
53/54 Car Hubs on a 49 Panel

Hey Guys, I just read that last post on five lug Hubs on a 3100 series. Is this for real? :D Can I use 53/54 Hubs/bearings and the races and their backing plates and convert to bendix brakes and 5 lug pattern? What mods have to be made to the backing plates or any other hicups involved. NATE - where are you? :confused: Can you clarify for me.
 
Yes you can swap this but you gotta use ALL the 5 lug parts , dums , backing plates , brake cylinders , hardware and return sprngs , shoes ~ the whole ball of wax as the Bndix brakes are a totally different design being self - energizing and all...

IIRC there's two bolt holes in the spinle you may need to drill and tap slghtly larger.....
 
Hubs and Stuff

Nate thanks for the information once again and Omega7979 sorry for jumpin in off topic. Now if I can just find a 5 lug rearend with the right width and ratio to use the original trans but allow higher speeds I'd be all set to upgrade.;)
 
can anyone let me in on the secret to removing the front leaf springs, i have wheels, hubs, etc. off but cannot figure out how to remove the leafs. Thanks
________
ACURA CL SPECIFICATIONS
 
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Do you mean get the springs off the truck or separate the leaves themselves?

This is what I did to get the springs off my truck, first take the axle off the springs - two U bolts each side (8 nuts) - you can then move the axle out of the way. This is a whole bunch easier for you with the brakes etc off first.

Then, take the springs off the chassis - one bolt at the back and two bolts top and bottom of the shackle at the front - you'll probably need to lever the shackle to get it apart even when the nuts are off it.

The leaves have a bolt thru the middle - take it out, they fall apart.
 
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