Rear spring length

[Burbdood 74]

Ok, this pertains to a 1988 1/2 ton Suburban....


So, long story short, bought a R.C. 4" lift with 52" rear springs. When my friend and I went to put the rear springs on, we noticed they were about 3-4" short and if we bolted up the front of the springs and moved the rear shackle to meet the spring, the rear shackle was at about a 30* angle.

So, I put blocks in and I've been looking at a permanent solution. Fast forward to yesterday, I was installing hoop steps for the wife and kids so they can get in easier and I got to looking at the rear shackle hangers.

Somebody told me that there were already holes drilled for 52" and 56" rear leaves. I noticed this....(for clarification, the front of the truck is to the right of each pic)







So am I correct in assuming that I already have 52" rear springs? I cannot believe how I never noticed this crap before...

If I do have 52" rears, how in the hell do I get the lift springs to bolt in? Do I need to compress them somehow to get them to bolt in?

 

[Burbdood 74]

couple more pics....







Again, the front of the truck is on the right of the picture....

 

[Stomis]

Suburbans should have had 56in rear springs from the factory. 52in springs were a 1/2ton pickup thing IIRC. If something seems way too short then you ordered the wrong springs. And to go from 56in springs to 52in springs is a step in the wrong direction.

Btw your pics are like now help lol

 

[Burbdood 74]

I've read that some Subs had 52" springs and some had 56" springs. The lift springs I bought measure 48" eye to eye. I thought that maybe they would stretch out a bit once the compressed under the weight of the truck...


This is my first lift in the 22 years of adulthood I've had to deal with so it's all new to me.

 

[Burbdood 74]

Hopefully this is a little bit clearer....I'm like a virgin on prom night when it comes to computers...sorry...lol

if you click on the picture, just to the right of the top rivet, you can see another factory drilled hole for what I assume would be the front/top rivet.

 

[Stomis]

Sounds like you bought front springs.

 

[nvrenuf]

Post a pic of the new lift springs, the spring eye shape will tell if they are fronts instead of rears. Fronts will wrap under/over on both ends, rears will wrap over/under on the rear most eye. It's hard to describe.

Also, is your 48" measurement straight eye to eye or are you following the arc of the spring.

 

[Stomis]

Post a pic of the new lift springs, the spring eye shape will tell if they are fronts instead of rears. Fronts will wrap under/over on both ends, rears will wrap over/under on the rear most eye. It's hard to describe.

Also, is your 48" measurement straight eye to eye or are you following the arc of the spring.

I always wondered if there was a rhyme or reason to the eye wrap.

Regardless though a 48in eye to eye whether he measured center to center straight or along the top leaf properly is still WAY to short.

 

[Burbdood 74]

I'll snap some pics of the springs in the morning and post them up.

 

[Burbdood 74]

Also, is your 48" measurement straight eye to eye or are you following the arc of the spring.

IIRC, I measured along the arch of the spring. I'll measure again tomorrow. I'm pretty sure the lift springs are rear springs because they have a pretty beefy overload on the bottom.

 

[Stomis]

IIRC, I measured along the arch of the spring. I'll measure again tomorrow. I'm pretty sure the lift springs are rear springs because they have a pretty beefy overload on the bottom.

Yeah definitely rears then but it still sounds like theyre wrong.

 

[Burbdood 74]

Ok, I don't know where in the heck I got the 48" measurement from unless I measured eye to eye instead of the length of the main spring, but they are in fact, 52". A couple of years back, I had to change rear springs before I installed the lift because I had one that was broken in two. I found one of the old rear spring packs in the scrap heap and it measured out at 52 1/2" along the main leaf.

So, given that I have the right springs, how is it that when we tried to bolt in the springs last fall, the shackle hanger was forward at a 45* angle while the current setup has it standing straight up?


And here's a couple pics of the lift springs...




rear spring eye



front spring eye





I remember someone had a thread saying that their springs needed to be compressed or tweaked a little before they would install right but I can't remember who it was....