Leaf springs to go down?

[1 bad 91]

Ok i have a 91 silverado 350 short wheel base it has shakles in the rear and i want to go down another inches or 2 i dont want to do spring hangers or buy drop leaf springs what are the pros and cons of takin out a leaf from my stock prings and how do i do it?? i appreciate any tips or advice

[sLOWrado01]

do a search in the street forums

[454ss]

You could take out the over load spring and it will drop the truck 3/4". The truck will ride bouncey and you'll get wheel hop on take off.

[1 bad 91]

which one is the over load spring and how bad of ride and wheel hop are we talkin if a lot of wheel hop how about lateral bars

[Blue94]

dont be cheap.. its unsafe for you and others. drop kits arnt expensive.

[SolMan98]

The overload spring is the short bottom leaf that is not connected at the ends to the hangers/shackles.


dont be cheap.. its unsafe for you and others. drop kits arnt expensive.

I had problems when I did the flip on mine. So I took it out and ran with 2" drop shackles and the overload out for almost a year. Never had an issue with wheel hop or it being bouncy. When I finally picked up a set of 4" drop leafs, they went in.

So please explain how taking out the overload spring is unsafe. The overload spring is just that, a heavy short spring that supports the spring pack once a certain weight is reached. Under normal/average driving and loads, it's not even in use.

[phatblackhoe]

On my tahoe, the overload/helper spring was removed. After a year now the ride continues to get worse, with more bounce and sway. I wouldnt advise removing any leafs. As far as being unsafe, well I only see it as unsafe if you are towing anything or carrying heavy loads in the bed. If ya dont wanna spend the $ and dont mind sacrificing a little comfort, pull it out. If you want to keep a good, tight ride, get some drop leafs or hangers. IMO anyway.

[flotsamm]

I just removed my overload spring and it seems to ride the same. Granted the payload capacity dropped, but I plan to install some helper springs made by Hellwig(part# EZ-990) that install on top of the leaf pack. This should help gain back some of the payload. I'll run them loose so it doesnt raise the rear up again, then tighten them down if I need the help.