New Rear Leafs

[studum]

Just thought I would post up that I found a place that will sell me new OE spec springs for my customers '03 Fronty CC, for $190.00 a piece w/o hardware. Will let you know what they look like when we get them.

Hi-jack time: Jay how did those OE type springs that you got workout? Could they be ordered with an extra leaf for a bit extra capacity?

I'm going to look at all my options over the next week or so, including those, what Sanfu with the AC HD Springs (minus the lift shackles), or the last possibility is grabbing Sanfu's old set from the shop (plan to grab them this weekend) and use them as a donor set to get them rebuilt locally (with a little extra capacity added) and swap mine out for his rebuilt set.

[Bender]

Just thought I would post up that I found a place that will sell me new OE spec springs for my customers '03 Fronty CC, for $190.00 a piece w/o hardware. Will let you know what they look like when we get them.

Hi-jack time: Jay how did those OE type springs that you got workout? Could they be ordered with an extra leaf for a bit extra capacity?

I'm going to look at all my options over the next week or so, including those, what Sanfu with the AC HD Springs (minus the lift shackles), or the last possibility is grabbing Sanfu's old set from the shop (plan to grab them this weekend) and use them as a donor set to get them rebuilt locally (with a little extra capacity added) and swap mine out for his rebuilt set.

Worked out smoother than Snafu's bits and pieces. In this instant, a custom rear leaf or one from rancho ( I combined both of those with my old X ) would come in to play. Make sense?

[studum]

Worked out smoother than Snafu's bits and pieces. In this instant, a custom rear leaf or one from rancho ( I combined both of those with my old X ) would come in to play. Make sense?

Sorry, not sure I follow you. I get that you're saying that what you ordered went smoother install wise than Snafu's AC setup. The last bit I don't understand what you're saying. Are you suggesting that I get a custom leaf put in? Or get a set of leafs from Rancho? I can't find Rancho springs for my application, I found they're catalogue but only found shocks listed.

[Bender]

What I am saying is,if you went with an OE one like the one are asking about,then you will need to beef it up with an AAL, or go with a beefy set up like Snafu's, but that may have more lift than you want.

[studum]

Ahh I understand now, thanks for clarification. You're right, I do not want much lift: 1" total max. I need to keep my current shocks (they're new) and keep the truck accessible to my gradparents as I shuffle them around from time to time.

I've been doing some calling around, and prices for custom repair leafs have gone down every place I called. I've gone from $475 to $370 to $300 to $220 all in town here... The lowest price is a small spring only shop "Dave's Spring Service". 2 of the shops I called stated that the truck has metric springs and that raised the price, other two (including the cheap guy) acknowledges that but says they use regular material - that it will work fine and the truck won't know the difference.

So the appointment is made for tomorrow morning with the cheap guy.

[Bender]

Is that replacement plus an extra leaf, or are they going to incorporate that in the new pack or are you going to add the Rancho AAL later?

[studum]

That is a new leaf added into my existing leaf pack. They will measure for, cut, arch and drill the new leaf to my spec to fit the existing pack + install it with any necessary hardware such as longer centre bolt, etc. So I tell him I either want stock height or stock +1", and 500lbs extra capacity or ~700lbs extra capacity. More capacity = thicker spring and stiffer back end. 500lbs isn't supposed to be very noticable compared to stock.

I've been told as long as my main leaf isn't broken this is the way to go if on a budget and not doing a whole new pack. If a middle leaf is broken they can replace that leaf in addition to the new leaf that is getting added to the pack (additional cost if necessary). I do not believe I have any broken leaves.

From my understanding the additional leaf will be going in the middle-upper region of the leaf pack, not bottom. Pretty sure the stock overload spring remains. Will supposedly bring me back up to height and give me an extra 500-700 pound capacity depending on the thickness of the spring that ends up going in. Right now I think I'm down about an inch in the rear, I can still get in the back of the truck and bounce around without bottoming out (I weigh 220, conservatively). With the truck loaded I can get on the bumper and bounce a few inches also.

I asked about adding 2 leafs, and was told not a good idea unless they remove one of the existing leaves while doing that. I know it's not a full new pack, but at less than half the cost of new leaf packs hopefully it can hold me over for a good while.

If I took in the doner pack for a leaf to be added the price would be cheaper, even cheaper to just buy the leaf... but then I need the time to install myself + I'd have to gather all the required hardware. If these guys are saying it takes them about 2 hrs then it would probably take me 4 at a minimum.

[the x kid]

Ahh I understand now, thanks for clarification. You're right, I do not want much lift: 1" total max. I need to keep my current shocks (they're new) and keep the truck accessible to my gradparents as I shuffle them around from time to time.

I've been doing some calling around, and prices for custom repair leafs have gone down every place I called. I've gone from $475 to $370 to $300 to $220 all in town here... The lowest price is a small spring only shop "Dave's Spring Service". 2 of the shops I called stated that the truck has metric springs and that raised the price, other two (including the cheap guy) acknowledges that but says they use regular material - that it will work fine and the truck won't know the difference.

So the appointment is made for tomorrow morning with the cheap guy.

Let us know how it goes.

[studum]

I tried to get a before pic and measurements, but ran out of time trying to ge the damn camera to work. The battery was dead so here's a quick snap with my blackberry. Didn't have time to measure exactly where it was sitting, but you can see the slightly saggy back end.



It's a small one man shop, 2 bay doors: 1 lift and 1 pit + a big machine to arch them. Had some MASSIVE springs waiting for trucks lol. Had a quick conversation with him, he used to be the head of service at one of the more expensive shops that I called, actually the one that I was going to go to if not him. He didn't like how things were running there so he set out on his own a couple of years ago. He rents the two back bays out of a small big-rig repair shop. He had a nice GMC Denali on the lift already working on it by the time I got there.

Re-confirmed what he's doing, a long custom add a leaf in the top of the pack to bring it back and keep the ride as compliant as possible. Should add about 500lbs capacity before much sag, chose that way because it's still my DD so will be a bit softer, also the add-a-leaf will be closer in size (thickness) to the original springs. In the future if/when I do replace the whole pack this leaf can be removed from my current pack and re-installed into the new pack to keep the added weight capacity, which is nice. Money not totally wasted then. I told him anywhere between stock height and stock height +1" is fine with me. Will update when I get it back, should be picking it up at lunch time.

[studum]

Found out more about this guys story when I went to pickup the truck. Turns out my buddy's Dad knows him (the one I moved the engine for) and he even gave me another small break on the price which was awesome to say the least. My buddy's dad saif it was good of me to go to him, as he and the machine shop he works at use him for any spring work that they need done for their vehicles. My buddy's dad has known him since he was working at the other spring shop before starting up on his own.

Very happy with the results so far. It is sitting high in the back, and was told to expect it to settle over the next couple of days to where it will sit. Aparantly this is standard anytime the pack is disassembled and re-assembled. The ride is noticeably improved: stiffer, but not harsh by any means. I actually quite like it and hope it stays that way or at least close to it.

Here's an after shot. I will watch it to see how it settles over time. Again, this is taken with my blackberry, and I had to lighten it up to see the back tire for comparison. In a couple of weeks if she doesn't drop much I'll likely be looking to crank the t-bars a bit, but want to give it a chance to settle first. I'll be happy as-is if it drops a bit.



Here's a quick shot from under the back end to show what he did. He placed it right under the main leaf, nothing else in my existing pack was broken so the extra leaf is all that was needed for now. He trimmed the original second leaf back a bit to make room for the new one above and inserted the shims. I'm glad he did that, because I forgot to specifically ask him to do it. The original overload springs were retained. It may be tough to see the difference in the photos, but it's obvious in person. My buddy who picked me up from work and dropped me off to pick it up thought it looked awesome lol.



If you have any questions I'll do my best to answer them. If you're looking to contact him he's a great guy to deal with, no complaints what so ever. Took him about 2 hrs.

Dave's Spring Service
670 Industrial Rd, Cambridge, ON N3H 4V9
(519) 650-3939 ‎
http://maps.google.ca/maps/place?oe=utf ... 7929118481

He doesn't have a website or anything flashy.

[the x kid]

Loks a lot better.

[Snafu]

My truck is still running great with the new suspension. Still a bit bouncy (rabbit hops at times...quite fun) but Mike confirm that it is still sitting a bit on the front stops. If it doesn't relax come spring then I'll think about dropping it down a bit.

How's yours doing studum?

[studum]

Doing as well as I'd hoped for the money I spent. Surprisingly they didn't sag much from the photo above, my truck is still tilting forward slightly and has me thinking about getting the front cranked a tad to level out, and actually getting the truck off-road My guess is that the front would need about an inch +/- to level out, but I haven't measured.

Load handling is absolutely fantastic. No more bottoming out, either with the bed or a loaded trailer tongue bearing down on the back end. Squatting after being loaded is also minimal.

Only annoyance is that a squeak has developed and I believe its in the spring pack. Can hear it if I get up on the bumper or in the back of the truck and bounce. Can also hear it over big slow bumps (speed bumps) with the windows down. I've gotten used to it now, not sure if there's anything really that I can do about it. Other than making it more interesting to get myself up and into the bed with the tailgate down (I'm a short / stalky guy) that's my only issue.

I believe the rear end is riding stiffer than before, but it's still soaking up the big bumps. Probably minor rabbit hopping in the right circumstances. Overall it's a hell of a lot better than it was riding on the bump stops with them flattened - especially while loaded up.

[Snafu]

Cool. I noticed a bit of a squeak too but usually only when it's in bounce mode