68 K10 4x4 Rear Springs

[FlibblE]

Hi everyone!
I only recently came across this forum, it looks like a great place

I have a 1968 K10 Suburban, the rear leaf spring has snapped

Am I right in thinking that the only option for me is to either get a new leaf put in (the main guy in my area who does this said he'd never seen a spring before that was a different width in the middle to the ends, and he couldn't do it) or the 4 leaf replacements from LMCTruck?

Obviously I could try breakers yards, but here in the UK you don't see many 67-68 4x4's waiting for me!

I've done a few searches on here, but haven't really turned up anything else.

Thanks all for any help, cheers,
Seimon

[msgross]

that sucks... 67 and 68 rear springs are kinda rare.

You could try to find some newer springs but then you are looking at moving mounting points, using spacers etc... being in the UK makes it even more difficult.

Cant someone make you a new spring?

[FlibblE]

Thanks for your reply

The guy I sent them to, to get a new leaf made recoiled at the sight of the tapered-ness. I think I might have to see about getting a new one made at a constant width and fabricate some new u-bolt brackets.

I'm still waiting for a shipping quote from LMC for the replacements that they do tho (4-leaf replacements that fit in place, apparently); anyone had any experience with these ones?

Cheers,
Seimon

[vectorit]

WOW! and I thought I had resource issues with my '68 K20 Burb...

From my experience, the 67-68 leaf springs for the 4x4 burbs are not reproduced. If they are being done by LMC, they are most likely going to be pretty tame OEM spec ones.

What I did with my spring packs front and rear, was to find a good big rig suspension shop. The type of shop that builds custom springs for just about any large truck on the road, and if you have the originals and tell them what you want are able to build up a set right there by beefing up the OEM pattern.

67-68 Burb 4x4's are scarce here in the states, and I can only imagine how scarce yours is (1 of 1 ?).

Would love to see some pictures!

[FlibblE]

I'm not thinking of doing any serious off roading with it, so oem style ones would suit me fine if they bolt right in. But I got the shipping quote and it seems a little expensive!

I've sent the springs off to another spring shop who think they can do it - we'll see at what price, I hope it'll be less than the $1200 it's gonna cost to get something out of LMCTruck!

I'm not sure how many there are over here - there was a 68 for sale the other month but I think it was 2wd and the advert said it was the only one; I take these claims with a pinch of salt

I'll try to get some pictures for you, the bodywork is not A1 by any stretch of the imagination - it's ex-USNavy and the guy I got it from watched it sat in a field for 10 years before he was able to buy it, drag it out and fix it up. His fixing up was mostly mechanical from what he told me - a newer 292 straight 6 running on LPG (petrol's is about $8/gallon here now and LPG is almost half the price) - oh and a huge tubo

Cheers,
Seimon

[msgross]

I wouldn't trust anything like that from LMC.... take some pics and measurements, maybe someone over here has a spring that will work. I would look into changing over to more modern rear springs and more the brackets to make it work...

diy4x.com has some nice parts...

[FlibblE]

Thanks for all your tips and suggestions. So I phoned a few different spring companies and one said they'd make me some springs that'd fit. A few weeks later I have them! They're not quite the same - three leaves instead of two, a notch for the u-bolts instead of the tapered originals, and heavier - as if I needed extra weight!

I had got some poly bushes from shipped over from energysuspension so I thought I was ready to go...
But the shoulder on the new poly bushes seems to be too big and won't fit into the hangers/shackle without a big fight
Is this normal - should I just jack it in place somehow? Should I trim down the shoulder? or maybe I should have just got some standard rubber bushes after all - the originals don't seem to really have a shoulder on them. If I do get some rubber ones, does the metal sleeve that fits in the eye come as part of it?

[FlibblE]

As I had my camera out and it's not raining, I got around to taking some pics of the rest of it...


Yes, the front bumper is made from checkerplate





The 292 turbo!

[msgross]

wow, what a rig....

I'd stick with the poly bushings... how tight are they? Don't forget to use the grease that came with them. Did you order a set of springs? I wonder if they will sit the same once installed?

1. Can you spread the spring hanger a little?
2. Can you trim (by slightly sanding maybe?) the outer edge of the poly bushing?

If not then i'd grease it up and slam it home... Original bushings will have to be pressed into the spring.

[FlibblE]

Hi,

Thanks again for your feedback
I got a set of springs made up in the end - I sent them the broken one as a template.

The fit isn't just tight, I think if I took 1/16" off each half-bush it might squeeze in and still be tight!
It looks like the poly bushes could do without the whole shoulder bit. I didn't put them in (the spring guys did) but I'm guessing that there is a gap in the middle between the two halves about the same size as the two shoulders.
In fact the metal inner tube doesn't reach flush to the ends (about 1/4" off - which happens to be about the same size as the shoulder on the bushes).

I'm thinking about trimming the whole shoulder off the bush - do you think this is wise?!
I've just emailed energysuspension about it too - see what they think...

The bushes fit the spring hanger/shackle just fine, but that's 2 1/2" across, not 3" like the spring eyes.

[FlibblE]

So I just spoke to a guy at Energysuspension. Obviously he's no expert in 1968 Chevy leaf springs so he could only really tell me that I have the right part that is listed.

I think if I was going to do it again, I would just get some new springs made up at 2 1/2" width all the way along - that way I could use the bushes straight out of the box, it'd fit the u-bolt plate just fine, and it'd probably be a whole load less hassle at the spring shop!

As it is, I've got some springs that more closely match the original 68's - 3" at each end and 2 1/2" in the middle, although the sexy taper of the originals couldn't be matched by the spring shops that I tried - mine have a step in instead.
I'm going to take the shoulder off the poly bushes so that they fit entirely within the spring eye, which is how I think the originals were - I've taken a couple more pictures for anyone who comes across this thread in years to come

Thanks again for all your help and advice