Leaf Spring Saga - Part Two - The Remove and Install

[QueBota]

The new leaf spring and hardware showed up.

Removal was a battle against old/rusted fasteners. The front hanger bolt was solidly rusted inside the sleeve in the busing. Air gun and heat would not move. Went to breaker bars, ending up torquing the head off the bolt. No big deal, not enough room to remove without cutting anyhow. Nut on rear spring hanger on lower shackle came off surprisingly easy. Had to cut the head of the bolt with a cut off wheel and air chisel. No room for removal. Nuts on U bolts came off without issue, they live above the axle, little rust, pretty clean, had to catch a break somewhere.

Got the spring out, now the tricky part, getting the new spring in. Hard to work on the driveway, wife's Suburban is in the garage getting a front suspension rebuild but that's another story. Was cold and windy and getting colder, my son and I were both a little tired and grumpy. No joy getting the new spring in the front hanger. I wanted to hang the front spring mount first and work the rear shackle end next. Difficult to get the bushing/spring eye in the front hanger. Didn't go well. Getting darker, colder and windier. Son wants to hang the rear shackle spring eye first. That was difficult, didn't want to line up squarely, but we got it in. Now having a devil of a time getting the front busing/sleeve to line up with the holes in the front spring mount. We packed it in for the night, Steelers game was getting good. The way things were going someone was likely to get hurt. Live to fight another day. Supposed to be mid 50's today with little breeze.

Would appreciate any tips/techniques for getting this spring hung. We checked the new spring against the old, seemed to be a match or at least close, eye was broken off front of old spring, came apart in pieces. I was checking the new U bolts they sent against the mounting plate. U bolts wont fit through holes in the plate. Spring was heche in China, perhaps there is a manufacturing tolerance error. Contacted SD Spring this AM, they were helpful. Have to send them some pics and measurements, hopefully we can get this together this afternoon. They manufacture the U bolts in their shop. My son has been using my truck for work while his is down. I want my truck back.

Thanks and a Merry Christmas to all,
Q

 

[GLyford]

One end is longer than the other, make sure it's in the right way.

Whenever possible, use the weight of the vehicle to assist you. Come-along to front/rear of vehicle as needed, and either jack under spring eye or raise and lower axle or vehicle (whichever of the 3 is easier). And of course, about half dozen prybars to shoehorn things in desirable directions.

Good call on stopping while tired and frustrated.

 

[QueBota]

Best to start at the forward spring hanger? it's fixed and access it tight. The rear hanger at the bottom of the shackle is more a little more accessible and somewhat movable.

Going to go out a give it a look over before my son gets home from work. May appear different today, a little warmer today. It was cold, windy and getting dark yesterday afternoon. Removing the spring should have been it for yesterday afternoon, we were pretty tired, spent all morning cutting and splitting wood.

At least as I'm getting older I'm starting to realize when it's time to walk away from a project for a while.Things tend to go badly and people get hurt when you are tired and frustrated. Doesn't matter if the truck sits for another couple of days, although I would like my truck back, maybe even with some fuel in it . Enjoying the extra father son time, never know how much you have left.

Hope they didn't send me the wrong spring, they sent the wrong u bolts, which they made in their shop .

Here is a pic of my son and the truck, after all clutch and firewall work done, was a satisfying moment, before leaf spring broke . Just noticed, that's the day he snagged his fly getting out from under the truck . Good thing he wasn't going commando.



Thanks,
Q

 

[GLyford]

It's been a while, so I don't remember which end I went with first, I just remember wrestling with it.

 

[QueBota]

Wrestling with it, good description. Seems like it should be easier, been a while since I wrestled a leaf spring. Had quite a few tools out, took about 20 minutes to do a quick clean up before heading in to watch 2nd half of the Broncs/Steelers game.

I have to get the front end put back together on my wife's 2003 K1500 Suburban before Christmas. It's down to the axle stubs sticking out. New pads, rotors, ball joints, bushings, tie rod ends etc etc.

225K miles, been a good "truck", it's more car like than my 1994 Sub. My "friend price" at my buddy's shop was around $2k, he told me it would be closer to $3k for John Q. Public. He's a good mechanic and honest, has more work than he can handle. He always kids me about part time work, I may take him up on a bit, I could do oil changes and "light" work. Don't want to wrench on cars/trucks for 10 hours a day at this point in my life.

Thanks,
Q

 

[QueBota]

Got the spring installed, another day, better weather, better attitude. Required a couple different jacks, jack stands and pry bars. had to weight and unweight the frame, axle and spring pack in different locations as I went working alone. My son had overtime available, they have a job that needs to be finished by 12/31 or the owner of the company faces delay penalties. Also had to maneuver the lift block into place between the spring perch and spring pack.

Final step required using a ratchet strap to pull the axle about 1 1/2" inches forward to get the "button" in the bottom of the spring back to drop into the lift block/spacer. Don't like working under/around vehicles alone, sometimes you can't avoid it. Should get my truck back from my son tomorrow AM.

I will probably will do the other side as time and funds allow. Should take less than two hours. Hopefully the spring vendor will send me some correct u bolts, had to re-use the factory bolts for now. Funny how the process comes back to you, haven't messed with leaf springs in a while.

Thanks for all the help,
Q

 

[GLyford]

No problem, that sounds about like what I did the last time I messed with them. Glad you got it all back together...