Front leaf spring, Negative Arc

Attatched is a picture of my 47 Dodge Truck front leaf spring. I removed 4 of the lower leafs to get the drop I wanted. I had to bend the drag link a little and it steers fine. I didn't turn the spring upside down. Just wanted to know if anyone ran their springs like this without any problems. Thanks, Greg

 

snapped a leaf once and it was at a little less arch, just add one more leaf and run it. or flip the axle on top of the springs

 

No. You are asking for a spring to break on you with it like that. Do it correctly with either a dropped axle or relocated pads.

Don

 

If those springs have not been re-arched to that shape then they are probably under a lot of stress. A good spring shop can make leaf springs in almost any shape you want.
I re-arched the springs on my truck to lower it, they look similar. Many vehicles had reverse arc springs from the factory, my super duty Ford has them.

 

Also pay attention to the movement of the shackle. If the arch is reversed, the shackle will move differently under compression and drop than it did in its designed position.

 

I believe if it were me I would take the springs out and replace them or have them re-arched,,I'm afraid your asking for trouble. HRP

 

Yea, not only breakage to worry about, but that spring is probably so soft now that you'll be smacking the axle on the frame over every piece of gravel in the roadand when you apply the brakes it's gonna wrap up like a wet noodle and handling is gonna get REALLY weird.

 

Thanks for the replies, I'll add back leafs to correct it and look into a dropped axle, Greg

 

Another worry with parallel springs that are soft...can they still control the axle against wrap-upwhen you apply the brakes?? Whatever you end up with with front parallels, do some brake testing in an open place before you take it on the road.

 

Been running it with this set up for about 8 months with no problems. Braking is good but never had to make an emergency sudden stop. Going to add a leaf back today and see what happens. Thanks, Greg

 

Hmm.

I know it's an off topic vehicle but the stock leafs on a late model F350 are long and look like that when the vehicle weight is on them. In the uninstalled state, they arc the right way and installed, they arc the other way. I know this because I will soon be installing a D60 front in my F600 conversion and that is what I am going to be using.

IMHO, if they haven't broken yet or bent, I wouldn't worry a whole lot about them.

The Ford springs look like this with full weight on them...

 

Not applicable. Your truck is equipped with a spring that was engineered, designed and manufactured to work in that configuration. The OP's truck has an exceptionally overstressed stock spring, that is in genuine danger of catastrophic failure.