*37 Pickup Rough Ride*

I hear what you guys are saying so.....if the main spring needs to be longer does that mean the correct length after market leaf spring was not put on in the first place? Do they sell after market leaf springs that are an inch or two longer? Also, Is there such a thing as an off-set shackle that could be purchased to get the shackle more vertical? Thanks guys.
 
Ok, back to the beginning here. First, have you tried driving it with the shocks off? Need to work on this one step at a time. The spring LOOKS short, but that is based on photos, collect a little data (shocks off) and report back.
 
zippi said:
Is there such a thing as an off-set shackle that could be purchased to get the shackle more vertical? QUOTE]

In an attempt to be clear, there is NOTHING wrong with your shackles per se! The shackles you have there are just fine, and would become MORE vertical as the length of the MAIN leaf increases.....to a point, of course. And yes, custom leaf springs can be made to just about any configuration.

On another note, you like the way the truck sits.....it's attitude. It does seem to sit with the nose dropped.....looks cool! But that has been accomplished (on your truck) by using the flat crossmember, and by using a leaf spring with very little arch to it, along with the reverse spring eyes. What you DO NOT have is a dropped axle. DD
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Those old shocks I took off were not doing anything but hanging there so it was like not having any shocks at all and it was banging on big bumps. When I get some time I will take the new shocks off and drive it and see what happens. Here are a few videos I shot today after work. I stood on the front bumper. The shocks appear to be working good but the leaf spring looks stiff as a corpse.

https://youtu.be/R8IqVuzgY1s
https://youtu.be/oas_V1cOsfM
https://youtu.be/IbJLdQJxYgA
 
Everything looks hellish stiff. personally, (don't want to start an argument) I think the shackles are not the problem. The shocks also don't appear to be bottoming. The front crossmember looks like it is not allowing the spring to work correctly. The Ford crossmembers only support the spring across a 6 or 7" band across the middle. Outboard of this, the spring is free to flex. Your flat crossmember looks like it is holding the spring too stiffly near the middle. If you put a piece of 3/8 plate above the spring, about 6" wide, it would support the spring more correctly, and allow it to flex more.

My gut feeling is that the shallow shackle angle actually makes the spring a little softer. Despite this, it is very stiff.

You could carefully remove selected leaves to soften it, and maybe a plate above would compensate for the natural lowering caused by taking the leaves out.

If it were mine and I was on the spot so to speak, I would be more confident in making my mind up what to do. From thousands of miles away, a certain amount of guesswork is involved.

Mart.

Edit: Do you have a perch pin in on the right hand (passenger) side?
 
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Is there a spring shop near you?? If so. take the truck there, let them look at it , explain you want the nose down, have them make a new main leaf (and all the others). Easy, quick and reasonable price most likely.
Paul in CT
 
I think the shackles are fine looks like a very stiff spring, I didn't see anything banging, but I will look again
 
It's pouring down rain and looks bad through the whole weekend but next time I get the truck out I'll listen closely to the noise it makes when I hit a bad bump in the road and our city roads have plenty of them. I'm beginning to think maybe its just the whole truck making the noise and maybe not just the front end.
 
your spring should be 3 1/2 shorter then your perch eyelet

so the only way to check that would to remove the spring

if your spring is 39 eyelet to eyelet your perch hole should be 42 1/2 eyelet to eyelet
 
1931flathead said:
your spring should be 3 1/2 shorter then your perch eyelet

so the only way to check that would to remove the spring

if your spring is 39 eyelet to eyelet your perch hole should be 42 1/2 eyelet to eyelet
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Gottya. What is the best way to remove the spring and get it back on the perch?
 
it had to say how tight they have it

one way is to put blocks under your spring eyelets and just so you have a little weight on them then you should be able to pull your shackles out
 
1931flathead said:
it had to say how tight they have it

one way is to put blocks under your spring eyelets and just so you have a little weight on them then you should be able to pull your shackles out
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That will work on later model Ford springs, but not a good idea on the earlier ones. There is far to much energy in these springs to be messing around with them and not using correct equipment and procedures. You could end up losing body parts!
 
I have a Posie front spring and a flattened main leaf rear spring. It takes a lot of force to take the pressure off the shackles. I use a 4-ton port-a-powerl and it is all it can do.
 
1931flathead said:
If the spring is the Wright one you should be able to pull one shackle out with no problem with out any weight on it
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Very, very dangerous. You of course can do as you choose, however it is not a good idea to advise others to engage in activates that can in fact be life threating.
 
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