I have a '52 Studebaker truck, set up as a gasser..straight axle and all. The stance is perfect, but the springs are way overdone. There is nearly zero movement when I bounce on the bumpers, and the darn thing rides like a buckboard. The problem is both front and rear. I am willing to replace the giant stacks of springs with something wider if required to get less leafs, but the goal is to retain the ride height while gaining some flexibility. How do I go about doing this? Do I start by getting axle weights and ride heights and finding something close in a wrecking yard? ...Start taking out leaves from my stacks until I start losing ride height? ..or take the whole thing down to the spring shop and let them figure it out? It looks like most of the newer leaf spring setups use less leaves, wider springs, and less arc. Is this desirable? As high as my truck sits, the mounts required to use a nearly flat spring would extend well down below the frame and might look out of place. Suggestions?
So, you're not happy with the ride of the stock suspension in a 60 year old truck? I've been driving a leaf spring Chevy truck for decades, maybe I'm just used to it. Doesn't seem to be a problem.
You didn't include a pic of your axel & springs, but assuming that your springs are sitting on top of the axel you could start pulling leaves till you get the ride that you wanted & then put blocks between the springs & axel at the height that you wanted the front to be at.
Actually, it hadn't occurred to me that this could be the original spring setup. Maybe it is, but someone has had their fingers in everything else with this truck, so I'm trying to go through and identify what might be wrong. As for the ride, the tires can have a lot to do with it also. The original tires were nearly 32" tall, and the current tires just 25-26" F/R. I owned one of these trucks years ago, and remember that the rear springs had several flat leaves at the bottom of the stack. No sign of any of that going on here.
heh...I stand corrected! yeah, someone added a whole bunch of leaves to those front springs, and the rears are probably 3/4 ton. You could probably get rid of a bunch of leaves, and keep the height, and smooth out the ride. If you take out leaves and it does set down too far, visit a spring shop and have them re arch them as needed. They might be able to help you figure out the right amount of leaves for your application, too. Play with it, see what happens.
yours has more than double the number of leaves mine has. That must be super stiff. I used an aftermarket add-a-leaf kit for a jeep to get a 2" raise, then removed a stock leaf to soften the ride back to what I thought it used to be. I dono what that would do for yours, but that's what I did to mine. why be ordinary?
I forgot to explain that the add-a-leaf kit used a long leaf with a pretty strong arch, fit in the second-leaf position, and put a bit more arch in the whole spring pack. It stiffened the ride, but not a huge amount. I could afford to remove one or more of the lower shorter leaves to soften the ride without dropping too much. why be ordinary?
Ok, it sounds like it's going to be a fun "trial and error" sort of project. I was following the Down & Dirty gasser build, and saw that he went with a single leaf rear spring and ladder bar setup. Ladder bars are cool looking, but what guided him with the spring selection? Are ladders bad on the street? (I've heard bad things) I was hoping that there was some formula or "rule of thumb" guidelines to get me going in the right direction. It reminds me of the hot dog song: fat springs, skinny springs, springs for climbing rocks...Tough springs, sissy springs, even coils with cargo shocks... It looks easy enough to put in pre-engineered ladder bars and adjustable coil-overs, but I want something that looks period correct.
Ladder bars have infinite roll stiffness, so the handling can be a bit "interesting" on the street. But lots of guys run them, very few crash their cars. I have monoleaf rear springs on my Chevy II, because that's what it came with, and I'm cheap. I built some "Traction Master" appearing traction bars for it...but they have a little trick that makes them work pretty darn good. Usually around 4-5 leafs is what you want for a smooth ride. It depends on the springs, though, not all leafs are made the same. Monoleafs like mine have a thick center that makes them work.
The only way a ladder bar gig can work is with a floater on the housing (not for full time street use) or to calculate the arc from axle to pivot point of the spring and set the bars based on what it works out to. Usually ends up with a bar a bit longer (forward) than the spring because you have to account for the shackles. Is traction going to be an issue? You racing it? If axle hop is a worry you can take inspiration fromthe MOPAR camp. Try a fabricated pinion snubber or add a 1/2 leaf or 2 to the front of the rear spring and remove the rear clamps (but leave the fronts). The front, well you could remove about the 1st 3-4 leaves but leave the stubby one in there to maintain pack alignment for the center pin (if it's on the axle) or just shorten whatever keeps themall centered. It's your truck but I think with those tire sizes you could spare a few inches in hgt if it comes down a little. Just an opinion...
those leaf packs are for a 3/4-1 ton truck , that will not give any ride until some weight is put on it and the coil overs assists on the rear will not help either , if you do not use your truck for hauling , get the front and rear weights and the heights and give the guys at eaton spring a call and have a set made up , they can bend the arches to give you the right height plus set up a nice spring rate , but once you do this you will loose the carrying aspect , with trucks you have to realize the stiffness is what gives you the carrying aspect , you can have a progressive leaf set up made like the new O/t trucks but they will not work if you race it . as they will wrap up and wheel hop bad . as for the mopar superstock setup , they have a good point ( they allow the axle to wind up and lift the chassis and plants the tires ) but the bad point is they are bouncy and clack ( make slapping noise since the rear clamps are removed ) when driven on the street and shocks length is a crittical factor as you have to know the lengths to prevent them from topping out ( not have enough extension )
All trucks are "over sprung" from the factory . In other words on a 1/2 TON Truck the spring stacks are made to carry 1500 lbs and ride smooth without bottoming out ! thus the extra spring leaves . So yeah they all ride like hell without carrying weight . Simply start by removing two of the middle length leaves . if its still too stiff remove another leaf. This lowers the spring rate and will lower the suspension a bit too. I'm a Gasser fanatic and personally think your truck would look tighter and closer to a real Gasser that actually would have ran at the strip in the '60's if it was brought down 2" and adjust with blocks to retain the slight nose up "gasser stance. They don't need to be jacked up to the moon to be a badass Gasser and A Street Freak is not a Gasser although the term Gasser is loosely used as a description for anything jacked up with a axle under it. I have a 1/2 ton '59 Apache that is set up like a gasser . one leaf removed in front with a two inch block and the rear had two leaves removed that lowered it slightly and softened the ride, and has what I believe is the perfect Gasser stance. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
regarding the stiff ride I did leave a suggestion a couple of days ago about removing leafs. I just saw the photos of your rear setup. There two things that are causing the rear to ride stiff . as I suspected before I saw the photos you have way too many leafs so removing half will help a bunch but that solid clamped slapper traction bar is also stiffening up the ride .that setup will stop the front half of the spring from working so only the rear can move. A ladder bar with a floater will give a way better ride , but that setup must have some type of floater at the front or rear of the bar or else it will be in a bind and again ride stiff and start cracking the housing. This problem is only with a ladder bar -Leaf spring combo due to dissimilar arcs causing a bind. with coilovers there is no bind. you like the truck high so putting the springs on top of the housing will gain back what's lost in height by removing leafs. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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