is pulling leafs safe?

Is it safe to pull a leaf/leafs out of the springs to lower a 57 chevy pickup?
Also, will removing a leaf make the truck less stable/handle poorly?

 

Leave the main and its partner for sure. Removing two or three smaller ones will make it ride nicer. They beefed them up pretty well stock to handle big loads.

 

Within reason .Don't go crazy.

 

Wow, there is another thread currently happening - monoleaf breakage.

Link - http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=468381

I guess using comon sense is the way to go. Scary stuff happens when springs break and there is not multiple leafs to back up the large spring that has the eyes, with the shackles attached.

 

I'm not thinking about running mono. I was thinking of pulling the first and third springs both front and back to drop it about an inch. I'm guessing it should lower about an inch.
Any ideas about what it will do to the handling.

 

How many leaves does it start out with?

 

I pulled the 3rd leaf, and two of the bottom, short ones out of my 1949 3/4 ton. It was a somewhat lower stance, and was a smooth dream to drive.

 

6 In the front and I believe 7 in the rear.. On my 59 Chevy which basically is the same set up. I removed 2 in the front and 1 in the rear cause I flipped the axle out back and I have yet to c-notch the frame and I was going to have travel clearance issues if I removed more than one spring..with the front, the two large springs as #1 and #2, I removed leaf #3 and leaf #5 which gave me about 2 1/2 inch's of drop. Out back I'm not sure which one I removed. That gave me about an extra inch of drop.

 

i have a 57 also, and although i have a 3 inch dropped front axle, i also pulled one leaf out of the front, (and will do 1 or 2 more here soon), and in the rear all i did was remove 4 of the original 7 leafs and added lowering shackles. actually made the truck ride much softer. rides perfect, and i have had it up to 80mph. i have gas shocks all the way around.

leonard

 

Removing leaves is reasonable if your don't remove too many. You want to retain some degree of 'overlap' between leaves.........not just remove all the short ones for example. The main thing is, for best results, you want really good shocks, not el-cheapos, to control axle jounce and rebound. Soft springs and worn out or junk shocks will not provide the results you'll want.

Ray

 

i always say leave 2-3.. there are 3 left in my galaxie..

i would rather leave 3 leafs and use a 2" lowering block than go nuts.. sounds like your on the right path to safe, and good looks!

 

I pulled some leafs out of the rear springs on my 39 Chevy sedan years ago. If I remember right I removed all but the 3 biggest ones, and had the eyes reversed. It rode great. Even with 4 people in it. You want to put a large C-clamp on it before you start to take it apart, or several smaller ones. That way as you remove the clips holding the springs together they don't come flying apart. My springs had a bolt running through them and after I took the end clips off, I unscrewed the bolt then slowly eased off the C-clamp.

 

Just clamp them before you do .

 

you can't use lowering blocks in most stock suspended trucks....the axle is below the spring....you end up raising it.
me? i'd leave the main and the next 2 springs and clamp 'em in the front..
doesn't hardly seem worth it to me though...
i HAVE repositioned the spring mount higher up on the frame on a few,though..

 

If I pull (from bottom to top) the first 1st, 3rd, and fifth in the front, then the 2nd, 5th, and 7th in the back will it drop me down an inch or two all the way around the truck?
Also, will the truck be level?
Any additional help would be awesome!
Thanks,
JIM

 

Any repuatable Large Truck (semi,dump truck etc) service shop can rearch your springs or recommend someone who does the work for them. This is common work for those shops.
Ive had several sets done and they were reasonable and offered a one time do over if the ht wasnt correct.
Same place that balanced driveshafts locally, yep.
So give it a try on pulling a leaf or 2, past that get a re-arch or have them build you a spring.

 

After removing three leaf from the front springs on my 51 F1. The ride dropped about an inch and looked very cool, but handling went to shit. Hitting a pot hole distorts the heck out of the springs. I heard to if you remove a couple of leafs it will smooth out the ride, no so on my 51. I put two of the three leafs back in and not as low as before but much better now, still drive like a truck though. LOL.

 

kinda just got to do the old "trial and error". take a few out, put back together, set the truck down and see how it looks and rides. im sure every truck will be a little different.

leonard

 

I guy on here just took 3 on the front and 5 on the rear of his 40 sedan, he says it rides great! He took out small leaves only, remember you'll need to put a spacer back in.

 

I just had the main leafs reversed on my 37 Terraplane [ $55.00 apiece] and removed the first, secod and third leaf on the rear springs. got rid of my 2 inch lowering blocks, so far rides better, will know over the weekend. The car rode like it had solid rubber tires now it seems float rather that hard bump.

 

If you are going to lower it only an inch or two, you could install these. They are fairly cheap and easy to install.

http://www.classicperform.com/Store/1947_59_Trucks/5559SHKRE.htm

 

I pulled 1 leaf from each side after I installed my 4" dropped axle. The leaf I pulled is the only one without the clamps riveted to it. After I got it out, I bent the end clamps father around the shorter leaf stack. That 1 leaf dropped the nose almost 1", but I also have a big Olds 455 under the hood.
Good luck