leaf spring broke

[yahoo2]

the other day i was under my truck and noticed the second leaf from the bottom on passenger site is busted just ahead of the axle..and the loose 1/2 was headed towards the new BFG tire which i didnt find too impressive. anyway just wondering if this is a big job to replace or is it not that bad? and can i use the truck normally and plow with it broke for now? because if i do it myself itll be awhile before i get to it. i put a hose clamp around the whole leaf set so itll be held in place.

[snowjoker]

It should be ok as long as you dont load the truck to heavily. Changing them is not too big of a job. Just take off the u-bolts that hold the springs on and lift the body up so you can get under there.

[JCurtis]

Snowjoker,

If I were you, I would consider replacing the complete spring on both sides. Don't mess around trying to replace the one broken leaf.

Just an idea ! But if one broke, there may be others on that one side that are cracked, and putting a new spring on just one side may cause ride and load problems down the road.

[John DiMartino]

I agree with Jeff, replace the whole pack,on both sides.If the 2nd leaf broke the main leaf is next,IMO. Ive seen several 88-98 GMS now that the front spring eye snaps clean off 1/2 way around.IT looks fine until you raise it by the bumper,then you see the ones side spring pop clean away from the front mount! Ive seen this on 4 trucks all 95-98s. Id check for that problem too.If the truck is loaded heavily get an extra leaf now,it wont cost much more,and really helps level the load out. I think i saved one of the spriongs il lget a photo of it if i did,ive never seen this until recently,its very dangerous,IMO.becasue you would never know its broken there until you totally unload the suspension or get up and look real good at the front spring eye near the top.

[yahoo2]

hmm ill look into that fersure then..thanks,and maybe think about replacing the whole packs

[Lawngodfather]

Same thing on my Ram V10.

We replaced both sets and added 1 more spring to the packs.

However, the u bolt may not be so easy to get off, and the bolt through the shackles are not easy at all.

We has to burn the rubber out of both front and rear to remove them and cut off the u bolts.

I had to do the same thing on my Wrangler when I put the lift kit on.

[BWhite]

Replace both sides !! Go to a spring rebuilder and get the max amount of leaves that were offered . Dont forget to get NEW u- bolts . Its not to tough of a job to do just make sure you have everything properly supported