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Do I have Lifted leaf pack or add a leafs?

Bigb55

Bigb55

1/2 ton status
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Fallbrook, Ca
Hey all, trying to figure out my leaf spring situation.

Previous owner said it had a 4" lift. Which he was told that by the previous owner before him. Currently have 32x10.5 tires. With lots of clearance.

Measurements from top of front axle tube to bottom of frame at bump stop is 10". That would estimate about 1.5" of lift.

Here's pics of the springs. Front leaf springs are 3" wide, 3 spring pack. Every so slight arch.

Rear leaf springs have 6 leafs and an overload. They are 2.5" wide.

Appears to be no steering correction or sway bar correction. Which is normal for 1-2" lifts.

IMG_20230806_105819581.jpg

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IMG_20230806_105524819.jpg

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Hd front stabiliz 1f58, probably a package. 3 springs, dual shocks
 
I’m lean’n towards an add-a-leaf up front ( maybe a flipped OEM bottom leaf to counteract the negative arch and the clamps repositioned because they look factory as well ). The ends of each of the bottom two springs have the same taper/cut on the edges and not altered lengths like a aftermarket add-a-leaf would be like.
Seen a lot of OEM optioned front three leaf set ups and they all still had the negative arch thing goin on.
Looks good for a minimal type of lift effect - if it rides good and is a good height for ya I’d run it with no worries.
 
would be nice to find a break down of the rpo codes, this code means you get x, and ,z but not y. That would make things a lot easier
 
After a few hours on Google and staring at the front leaf springs. Plus everyone's comments here.

The front springs appear to be a OEM HD 3 spring pack. Probably off a pickup with plow package or m1008/1009 leaf springs Explains the 1-1.5" lift in the front.

And the rear springs appear to follow suit. 6+1 packs were offered on HD tow packages on the k10/20s

So basically, someone swapped bigger OEM springs for a 1" lift.

I like the height, and it rides nice. It takes bumps on par to my 1993 k1500.

Now I have an idea on what shock lengths will be needed.
 
Bigb55 said:
After a few hours on Google and staring at the front leaf springs. Plus everyone's comments here.

The front springs appear to be a OEM HD 3 spring pack. Probably off a pickup with plow package or m1008/1009 leaf springs Explains the 1-1.5" lift in the front.
Click to expand...

There is no such thing as a "plow package".

I have cut up far more Blazers/Jimmys and K10's with three pack front springs than K20's. In fact, even a C6P K20 only had two front springs.

Martin
 
82355 said:
There is no such thing as a "plow package".

I have cut up far more Blazers/Jimmys and K10's with three pack front springs than K20's. In fact, even a C6P K20 only had two front springs.

Martin
Click to expand...
I’ve owned two different K-30’s and one had the two leaf front pack and the other had the three pack.
Both are 1983 models with DRW’s and each came with a 454 but the one that’s a crew cab had the two leaf pack - the other is a regular cab cab chassis short 134.5” WB and has the three leaf pack.
I always assumed that the three pack leaves came on that particular truck because it was a cab chassis and was destined for more work load service factor. I never paid enough attention to other cab chassis trucks to know if that was standard issue or not ( SPID sheet is not readable on my cab chassis truck - it was an ex-fire support brush truck ).

The crew cab truck was a maxed out drivetrain with the 454, SM-465/205 D60/D70HD and 4.56’s but did not come with the HD front springs - it had the nine leaf rear packs plus the overloads but funny enough the cab chassis truck has a ten leaf rear pack but no overloads.
Sadly I did not keep track of the SPID sheet codes on the crew cab before it was sold back in the 90’s.
I guess it all boils down to what box is checked when ordered and not so much as other equipment complimenting the others.

BTW, those two leaf packs on the crew cab were sagging severely in 1994 when I bought that truck - so much so that I thought the truck was a 2WD when I first saw it from the road. If there was any truck that needed more spring help up front it was that truck!
 
tarussell said:
I’ve owned two different K-30’s and one had the two leaf front pack and the other had the three pack.
Both are 1983 models with DRW’s and each came with a 454 but the one that’s a crew cab had the two leaf pack - the other is a regular cab cab chassis short 134.5” WB and has the three leaf pack.
I always assumed that the three pack leaves came on that particular truck because it was a cab chassis and was destined for more work load service factor. I never paid enough attention to other cab chassis trucks to know if that was standard issue or not ( SPID sheet is not readable on my cab chassis truck - it was an ex-fire support brush truck ).

The crew cab truck was a maxed out drivetrain with the 454, SM-465/205 D60/D70HD and 4.56’s but did not come with the HD front springs - it had the nine leaf rear packs plus the overloads but funny enough the cab chassis truck has a ten leaf rear pack but no overloads.
Sadly I did not keep track of the SPID sheet codes on the crew cab before it was sold back in the 90’s.
I guess it all boils down to what box is checked when ordered and not so much as other equipment complimenting the others.

BTW, those two leaf packs on the crew cab were sagging severely in 1994 when I bought that truck - so much so that I thought the truck was a 2WD when I first saw it from the road. If there was any truck that needed more spring help up front it was that truck!
Click to expand...

I’ve never seen a K30 that did not have three front leafs.

Martin
 
82355 said:
I’ve never seen a K30 that did not have three front leafs.

Martin
Click to expand...
I’ve only seen three K-30’s over the years with only two front leaves and regrettably one of them was mine.
I was truly surprised on that truck considering the rest of the chassis was maxed out on the heavy duty side of things. It even had a front pinion snubber / bracket on it - I’ve got no idea what RPO option code that was ?
 
Included with diesels, also part of Z75 Quad shocks, but Z75 was not available on a K30.

Martin
 
82355 said:
Included with diesels, also part of Z75 Quad shocks, but Z75 was not available on a K30.

Martin
Click to expand...
I wonder why that bracket was included on that truck being as it was a gas burner (454) and no HD front springs ?
That truck also came with the automatic front hubs and goofy shift on the fly 205 but according to some warranty paperwork at some point the front hubs were changed out for manual hubs do to issues with the auto locking ones.
 
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