leaf spring droop

[durantk5]

i am trying to get more droop from my leaf springs and was thinking about cutting those brackets off. i have new tuff country 6 inch lift front leafs and stock rear leafs with shackle flip and blocks (ran out of money). how well are the main leafs going to hold up when they droop. i am getting the M.O.O. rear shock mounts and the ford towers up front. its an 88 k5. thanks.
Nick

 

[txfiremank5]

First off, what brackets are you reffering to? Also, front, rear .. both?

 

[durantk5]

i am refering to the brackets on the leaf pack that hold all the leafs together. in the front they are the kind that look like they are folded over the top of the main leaf and in the rear they are the kind that have the bolt going over the top of the leaf. i want to know if i should worry about the main leaf bending or breaking. thanks

 

[txfiremank5]

Some people remove the pin that goes across the U (although it's more square) shaped style so that it does not damage the leaf.. but they leave the U on the sides to keep the leafs from fanning out. I'm not sure I would remove the folded kind. You don't want to be out wheeling and find that your spring pack now looks like this * .. LOL.

You might be able to fold them up, while still leaving them able to hold the leafs in line. So that they now look like the others, without the pin across the top.

Maybe someone else here will have some better ideas.

 

[PsychoticDeadGuy]

i have the bolts taken out of my rear springs and the front i have the brackets that fold over, i cut them off at the bend and welded some metal to them so they look like the rear spring's brackets...so if i need to limit droop for some reason i can put bolts in the front and the rear...or take them out and have full droop. but this will soon be gone because i am going out to the garage to do the 63" swap in the rear...

 

[89GMCSuburban]

I heated the bend in the clamp and pulled it back with a big crescent wrench till they were pointing straight up. Works great, thing will drop down and the leaves seperate for more travel. I've heard of some people having problems with axle wrap and leaves breaking, but I haven't had any problems yet with 5" blocks.

 

[4xcrazy]

I cut the bends off of the rear springs back when i added two more leaves, never had any problems, and it would droop more, IF i had longer shocks now

 

[mtnman]

i am trying to get more droop from my leaf springs and was thinking about cutting those brackets off. i have new tuff country 6 inch lift front leafs and stock rear leafs with shackle flip and blocks (ran out of money). how well are the main leafs going to hold up when they droop. i am getting the M.O.O. rear shock mounts and the ford towers up front. its an 88 k5. thanks.
Nick

Straightened the folded clamps on mine and have suffered no ill effects for 4 years, lots more flex - check my pics post.