Helping a friend with a very low budget '50 Chevy truck. Would like to to lower it a bit but a dropped axle or lowering springs are not in the budget. Can you drop the front by 2” or so just by removing leaves and without making the suspension too soft? If not, about how low can you go and how many leaves do you need to keep? Pics would be great. Thanks
Don't ******** do it This is my truck, as it sits << in my avatar or at least it is the springs under the front of my truck after I removed springs to lower it. They keep sagging until you have no sag left. I drove it for 15 years that way including that trip to Bonneville in 1998 but had about 1-1/2 inch of axle travel before it hit the frame when the truck was sitting static and it drove like ****.
Hello, Recently, I had a question about a 1948 Chevy truck and called this company for some clues or answers. https://www.cl***ychevusa.com/ The owner gave me a lot of information and was very pleasant to talk to about the Chevy truck. He was the expert and his answers were right on the money. I have posted some of his truck builds on the HAMB and they are pristine. If a Chevy truck were in our future, this would be the place to get parts or work done to complete the build. They are very knowledgeable. Jnaki Since you seem to be in North Orange County, the drive South is worth the effort. But, just to be on the safe side, give them a call, first. I was able to get the owner on the first couple of rings, but if no one answers, use their contact page on their website. YRMV
Did this on my truck back when I was young. However, it wasn't an attempt to lower it as much as it was to deal with broken spring leaves.
I've both removed leafs in spring packs, and also changed them out to replace with flatter leafs. All done on older axles, and car rear axles to lower the cars. The key is to not go too far, especially with old leafs. They're all usually lost a lot of their original arc, so taking too many leafs out will result in a weak pack. Just remove 1 or 2 to start with, and check the arc on them. If it has much arc, you might be able to hit local wrecking yards and find some old spring packs to buy, and rebuild them with flatter springs. A porta bandsaw is handy to trim down spring length if what you buy are longer than stock. I lowered my '39 in my Avatar over 5" in the rear by removing all the leafs except the main leaf. Then used '55-'59 Chevy truck front spring packs to build up with flatter leafs. I went from the 9 stock in the rear, to 4 now, and brought it way down, but still rides firm.
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