truck is not sitting level - need help diagnosing

[Frankenchevy]

A set of air bags will take care of that.

 

[Rusty Nail]

Yeah man..you really only need one air shock - too bad they're sold in pairs!

 

[Paladin]

Just have the "Fluffy" gal either sit in the middle or go on a diet! Problem solved! Next!!!

 

[AuroraGirl]

Yeah man..you really only need one air shock - too bad they're sold in pairs!

How about a coil over just to bump up a side?

 

[hpp]

Thanks, all. Some more answers to your questions:

Measured from the ground to bottom of frame rails near the rear:
Left 17-3/8 Right 17

The rails are less than 3' apart at that position. Extending this offset across 6' of truck width is 3/4" plus.

Front rails on left is only 1/8" higher than right. It makes sense to me that the very low back right makes the front left go up just a little.

I will take a closer look for a broken leaf at the center by u-bolts. I didn't notice this but will examine it.

From Dave M: Park it on level ground, jack the rear right under the chassis rail, not the axle, up until you have even measurement with the opposite side. See how it looks then. sounds like the rear leafs need resetting, one has sagged more than the other Take them to a spring works.

Did this. Truck can be leveled this way and all looks good. Anybody know of a "spring works" place in North NJ? I am not familiar with resetting springs but will look into it.

I also measured from the top of the axle just outside the springs to the bump stop brackets. In hindsight, I should have checked this measurement first. It was 3/8" or 1/2" less on the right side.

Otherwise, I checked rockauto. I have the 52" long leafs. They show a Husky spring https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=6401613&cc=1030217 and it states a specification of 1290 lb/inch.

 

[gotyourgoat]

I'll bet when you climb in the truck and drive around it is sitting level. It's sad when you get out and walk away so it Chevy leans..

 

[HotRodPC]

They didn't sit level when new.

Add some shims to square it up.

K

EXACTLY, You got the squarebody lean. Don't sweat it. I also know a guy who said he had a bad problem with his leaning. It leaned wayyyyy left. I told him to back it in his driveway. Now it leans wayyyyyyyyyyy right. Yeah, he only thought his driveway was level. A good driveway is NOT flat so that water will run off. He was actually off by about 1/8 inch. I told him to get a fat girlfried and the problem is solved. And he did too.

 

[Dave M]

Thanks, all. Some more answers to your questions:

Measured from the ground to bottom of frame rails near the rear:
Left 17-3/8 Right 17

The rails are less than 3' apart at that position. Extending this offset across 6' of truck width is 3/4" plus.

Front rails on left is only 1/8" higher than right. It makes sense to me that the very low back right makes the front left go up just a little.

I will take a closer look for a broken leaf at the center by u-bolts. I didn't notice this but will examine it.

From Dave M: Park it on level ground, jack the rear right under the chassis rail, not the axle, up until you have even measurement with the opposite side. See how it looks then. sounds like the rear leafs need resetting, one has sagged more than the other Take them to a spring works.

Did this. Truck can be leveled this way and all looks good. Anybody know of a "spring works" place in North NJ? I am not familiar with resetting springs but will look into it.

I also measured from the top of the axle just outside the springs to the bump stop brackets. In hindsight, I should have checked this measurement first. It was 3/8" or 1/2" less on the right side.

Otherwise, I checked rockauto. I have the 52" long leafs. They show a Husky spring https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=6401613&cc=1030217 and it states a specification of 1290 lb/inch.

New ones sound like the way to go, remove and replace and your back on the road.

 

[Keith Seymore]

They didn't sit level when new.

Add some shims to square it up.

K

EXACTLY, You got the squarebody lean. Don't sweat it.

Every couple years some higher up would notice that the trucks leaned (we called it "box lean") and would direct all out war to figure it out and fix it.

So we'd work on it frantically until the next big thing came up and we'd get distracted and the project would fizzle out.

Then in a couple years we'd do it all again.

I have a quarter inch spacer between the leaf spring and axle pad on one side of my truck to level it up.

K

 

[Kim Burke]

Burke Spring rearched and added 1 leaf or added a block over the axle to one rear spring or the other to level up squarebodies for as long as they were made. Transports, rail or truck, routinely cranked the chains down uneven tweaking the springs by the time they made it to the dealerships. Literally did hundreds of these trucks over the +14 yrs. Some just needed a block, others had as much as 1 1/2” difference side to side needing rearched and a leaf

My suggestion is a 1/2” block on right rear, should level it up. New center bolt, ubolts, and a couple of c-clamps should be all you need. Bounce the crap out of it afterwards, frame may take a few miles to relax. GLTY

 

[Bextreme04]

The truck could probably do with some new springs anyways. You can order new springs from a place like SD Truck springs(which is pretty close to you in Long Island). They aren't that expensive and you can even upgrade to the 56" spring for a better ride. Your frame should already have the holes drilled for the 56" spring mounting location, you just need to grind the heads off the factory rivets and then move the rear spring mount back to the other set of holes. Use 5/16" Grade 8 bolts and nuts to hold the hanger in the new location and you're done.

 

[hpp]

My suggestion is a 1/2” block on right rear, should level it up. New center bolt, ubolts, and a couple of c-clamps should be all you need. Bounce the crap out of it afterwards, frame may take a few miles to relax. GLTY

Kim, (anyone)
I like your idea of using a block under the right side leaf spring and I would like to try this before pulling the trigger on new leaf springs. Can you help point me to the 1/2 blocks - which vendor, other sources? I did some googling and don't think I was searching with the right key words.

Also, how does the rear axle locate to the right position on the leaf spring? Does it locate on the center bolt and nut only?

I did check to see if there was a broken leaf and there is not. pic attached.

Eric - I checked out SDsprings. Looks good. I'll use them if I go for springs later.

Appreciate everyone's points of view on this. My takeaway is that the quality of springs from the factory (and maybe aftermarket too) is poor. Resulting in a lot of variability in spring rate, loaded height, etc. I know GM's quality was not stellar in the 70's and 80's but still love a lot of their vehicles.

Thanks,
Rick

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[Scott91370]

Yes, there is a center bolt/nut though the spring that goes into the mount on the axle saddle.

 

[Bextreme04]

Another option is to go to the junkyard and buy a leaf spring from a 90's GMT-400 truck. They have metal spacers between the leaf packs and you could easily just add as many spacers as you need to get the truck level. ORD sells similar spacers here, but they are a little thicker. The ones from my 1997 K2500 Suburban 5+1 springs were about 1/8" thick and placed in between each leaf for a total of 4 spacers plus a super thin one between the rest of the pack and the overload.

The ORD 1/4" spacer set is here : https://www.offroaddesign.com/1/4-inch leaf spring spacer, 2-1/2 inches wide.html

Its 2 spacers in the set plus a new center bolt, and each spacer is 1/4", so you could try two different spacer lengths to see which gets it more level.

 

[Rusty Nail]

GRR