Leaf Spring Options

[Urban60]

I finally got my springs installed, and what a difference that makes. Deaver springs are good. I will say not any cheaper than Alcan, he gave them to me at his cost and I took them to my mechanic to install. All the stationary pins were frozen, but he only broke one on the removal. It really now has a very soft ride I cant' get over the difference. One of the leafs on the front spring was broken which explained the coil overs on it when I got Patunia. No problem finding the bushings either, they are readily available. Deaver supplied them with the springs. I keep thinking about the first time I drove it, it was such a fight to keep it on the road. It has come a long way to get as nice as my 64 before I wrecked it.

[yuke175]

I'm with you on the re-arching, they do not have a history of lasting very long. I would be very skeptical of the S10 spring route - I followed that thread at the time and there was a lot of compensating. The end result was a very unstable ride. The Alcan prices are pretty amazing right now, that's about half of what they've been in the past. I think ultimately that is your best bet.

Normally you don't want to go with any more than a 2" lift, otherwise the shackles will invert. This actually happened to a guy in Idaho that got some Alcan springs and was talked into a 3" lift - posted back a few months later that the shackles inverted while doing some off-road. But, in your case I think a 3" lift would actually benefit you simply because of the weight of the plow. Stock springs weren't meant to support that kind of weight continually.

Here are some spring specs I put together a while back when I was investigating the same situation:

spring_specs.doc

Don't ask me where I found the stock springs specs, I don't remember. I could probably find it again if I had to.

I downloaded this document and I see some conflicting messaging between 5 or 6 leafs. Do we know which is correct?

[Toads Patrol]

I know I'm slow but I finally installed the Alcan standard lift replacement springs. You can read my earlier posts in this thread. I bought a 16mm reamer and that did the trick. all bolts are 5/8in. The Specter shackles worked fine. I was able to reuse the original u bolts. I will send additional picts when on ground and an assessment of driving characteristics.

[Esteban]

Congratulations!

Excellent pictures with very good details. Thanks for posting them. They will become a definite reference for other members.

Let me know if you want to part your old leaf springs.

[RiverPatrol]

Outstanding!

[moore_rb]

Those look really nice, Mr Toad.

I like your tires, too

[Toads Patrol]

rear ride height with Alcans

So the Alcan springs raised the ride height. Front is jacked up while working on steering. Because of the raised ride, the steering center has moved such that I drive down the road with wheel approx 90 deg to where it was.
question to y'all is do I pull the steering wheel and realign on the splines to the 12 oclock position, or is there another adjustment (I dont see one)
Thanks

[Esteban]

So the Alcan springs raised the ride height. Front is jacked up while working on steering. Because of the raised ride, the steering center has moved such that I drive down the road with wheel approx 90 deg to where it was.
question to y'all is do I pull the steering wheel and realign on the splines to the 12 oclock position, or is there another adjustment (I dont see one)
Thanks

I don't see any other as well. Very interesting what you mention about the shift of position of the steering wheel. This will help other membes avoiding scratching their head trying to look for an explanation. Probably the shim that you added to the springs for the pitman arm attachment also contributed a tiny bit to compound this.

[Kdiv_n_tx]

Same issue here after installing new Alcans - my steering wheel is roughly 75 degrees left of center. It bugs me on occasion but I have largely gotten over it. Monitoring this thread to see if there is a solution.

[r1lark]

Because of the raised ride, the steering center has moved such that I drive down the road with wheel approx 90 deg to where it was. question to y'all is do I pull the steering wheel and realign on the splines to the 12 oclock position, or is there another adjustment (I dont see one)
Thanks

I don't have my Patrol here to look at what other adjustments may be possible. But........every steering box I have ever worked on has a 'high spot' in the center of it's travel. The high spot is meant to be the 'straight ahead' position. Assuming your steering was pretty much correct before the new springs -- the high spot at the straight ahead position -- you don't want to just reposition the steering wheel.

As I mentioned, my Patrol is not handy to study. But it seems to me that raising the ride height with springs could cause the drag link (the connection between the steering pitman arm and the steering knuckle on the opposite side) to be at a steeper angle, which would impact the effective horizontal measurement between the steering box pitman arm and the opposite steering knuckle. When the effective horizontal distance between the pitman arm and steering knuckle changes, your steering wheel will no longer be centered when you are going straight forward.

Can the drag link can safely be adjusted to change its length? Not sure if those ends actually have much if any adjustment capability. I've tried to post a picture of the steering linkage that Esteban posted in another thread, but it kept telling me the forum couldn't determine it's size?? I've posted the link to the thread here:
http://www.60patrol.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=4273

I may be all wet here, but throwing this out as a possibility. Comments and corrections are more than welcome!!