Checking front bumper height.

M

MickeyT

Senior Member
Les Andrews says one way to check the quality of your front spring is to measure the bumper height above the ground. He says measure it a the "center of the bumper". I assume that means the horizontal center but is that measurement taken at the botton, center or top of the bumper?

One more question. What is the "standard" tire size for a wide body 31' CCPU.
 
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id assume the gap at the center of the bumper between the ground and bottom of the bumper.

got a picture? usually its pretty obvious if a spring has sagged or worn out shackles or both. A side profile picture of the car on level ground and one of one of the shackle ends is all I/we need.
 
I'm just entering into the evaluation process and was reading up on replacement. Visually the truck is low in the front and has a list to the left (to borrow a naval term). That made me consider replacement.

If, as Les says the spring can be easily removed without the use of a spring spreader is there any need to buy one?
 
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I pulled mine off without a spreader as there is no real pressure like the rear one. I still took precautions but it came apart easily. And once rearched made Avery noticeable difference in ride height. For tire size it is 19" on 30/31' vehicles.

Mike
 
Also, if it is 'listing to one side or the other' the bolt may be broken and a leaf may have moved. So just be careful when removing it, I used a large'C' clamp and just released it slowly. If I remember right Les gives a height of something like 26" and I think I measured mine from the top, but it has been a few years.

Mike
 
Hi Guys,
The front spring is not under any tension, once the weight of the car is taken off the wheels and in any case, there is not enough space to insert a spring spreader in the front.
 
Floats said:
Hi Guys,
The front spring is not under any tension, once the weight of the car is taken off the wheels and in any case, there is not enough space to insert a spring spreader in the front.
Click to expand...

Depends on the spreader! I made one that does.
 
For 30-31 what I figure is you should see about 1/2 the axle looking from the front. About 1/2 the axle is hidden by the front splash apron.
I based this off of cars I know with good springs and suspensions. Also there were a couple of dealer photos where you could see that.

Part of my test is how does the car drive with no shocks. If the car does not feel safe over 25 MPH cause it is going everywhere then you have a good front spring. If you do not have shocks and the car runs 45 and not feeling squirrely then you need spring work.
 
Thanks to all. Your suggestions have helped.
Kevin, your last test fits my truck well. It has no shocks but is pretty stable at speed. It does/did wander a bit but I'm hoping a rebuilt steering box has fixed that. I haven't gotten it back on the road yet.
 
Check the height in three places. each end and the middle from common reference point(top of the bar, bottom of the bar just a common point). if not the same, is the car listing on the spring, weak spring, shock hung up, bent frame, bent frame horn, bent bumper bracket, bumper close to one tire, bent bumper? lots of places to look for the diagnosis.
 
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