So I completed the leaf spring swap. Found one out of a 1999 with only 57000 miles on it, which is less then my truck and springs had. Even had them pull the passenger side for me, to make sure it wouldn't sag.

Still have a 1/2" lean, driver's side. Two half days of figuring it out, buying $100 worth of new tools, $65 for the new spring, and nothing. Nada.

I am just a tad frustrated. Only thing I can think of to replace next would be the front, driver's side coil spring. Or maybe just have the driver's and passenger side's springs swapped, see if that helps. Gonna need to do more research I guess, figure out what causes this.

Since my research so far has revealed nothing, I am probably going to end up taking it to Meineke tomorrow and have them track down the problem for me. If they decide to charge me for the "problem seeking", I might change my mind, but we'll see.

 

That sucks it didn't fix it . I put a new one on mine last year and it was fine and now it is a 1/4 lower! The springs are weak, our 1500's are like oversize station wagons basically. Plus you don't know the history of the truck you got the spring out of.

Have someone measure with you in the truck and compare, and the amount of fuel you have in it matters too. A gallon of gas is a little over 6 pounds, so you do the math.

And BTW it was driving me nuts too, thats why I fixed it. However, it is only noticable in my driveway or in other flat areas like parking lots. When you are on the road it sits level because of the crown of the road. If it was perfectly level on flat ground, it would be leaning the other way on the road.

 

My local Meineke told me (before I told them I had replaced the leaf spring) like it was leaning a little more to the front then the back.

I bought a $6 set of coil boosters (you have to get them in a set), and I'll twist one in just the front driver's side coil and we'll see if it fixes it. If not, then I know its something else.

I was quoted just over $250 for part + labor to put a new coil in the front, driver's side. Will see if thats the problem first.

The truck didn't do this when I bought it, so its not a history thing I don't think.

 

So I couldn't find the right size of spacer. They were either too big to get into the space between the loops or too small to do any real good. Exchanged to large, first purchase, for to small, and measured it in that parking lot. Seemed to lower the gap from 1/2" lean in the front to 1/4" lean. Didn't help at all in the back.

Drove it home, remeasured. Still 1/2", front and back. So I'm thinking they are just to small of spacers to help. Probably going to just go ahead and get the coil spring replaced. My Meineke guy claims that even if the problem isn't a weak spring, this extra stiffness of a new coil will overcompensate for the lean of anything else (except a weak leaf spring), but he claims that nothing else effects the lean of the entire suspension/frame/body other than the leaf springs and coil springs.

If that does not help, my Meineke guy is getting an earful, because thats a total of about $400 down the tubes for not even a fraction of an inch of headway.

 

dang, I thought for sure it would be the leaf spring, hopefully it is a coil spring.

 

Well, it could be both. The used spring I got might have already been worn out, I'm not sure how the donor truck was used. I assumed not too much at only 57000 miles, but I don't really know.

We'll see, I might see if they (or some other shop) will fab me a 1/2" plate or so to put underneath the rear leaf spring. Or buy a new leaf spring if I feel like spending $$$ that day. *sigh*

But first we'll see what a new coil does.

 

" The truck didn't do this when I bought it, so its not a history thing I don't think. " I was talking about the truck you got the spring out of.

 

Thats true then.

I think what I might do while I wait for the new coil spring (3-4 days) is, if I have time, switch the passenger side leaf spring over to the driver's side, like I was originally planning, and moving the old one to the passenger side. See if that changes anything.

 

I was developing quite the little sag on my driver side recently, and without even thinking about if it would help that or not, I threw on a set of my neighbors 3/4 ton heavy dutyshocks from his truck on my truck just to help it hold up to a little better payload, but, in my effort to help out my payload, I found out that I had defeated the sag in my rig, try that, grab a hold of shocks made for a 3/4 heavy duty, they are the same things, just a little more stiff, its a much cheaper fix than replacing your springs. at tops like 60 bucks if you can get them used. find a neighbor that just got a lift on his 3/4 ton or just needed new springs. it rides a little bit more roughly, but it gives your truck a little bit of lift(like a 1/4 to a 1/2 of an inch) but its better than nothing and seems to take the pressure off of the springs and help them return somewhat close to normal again.

 

First of all, thanks to those guys who said it was my leaf spring. Thats most of the lean, it appears, so thank you for your help. Thanks to the rest of the others who gave me their opinions as well.

So anyway, today I went for a ride with someone in the passenger seat (my wife), and discovered the truck leans down pretty badly on that side when someone rides with me.

In other words, I'm pretty sure that leaf spring is completely worn out. No wonder my truck was leaning when that spring was on the driver's side!

So I am going back to the salvage yard someday here soon and exchanging my 4-leaf spring for a 5-leaf one. I already ordered a 1/2" leaf spring leveling plate ($20 shipped), so even if the correct leaf spring and new coil spring don't fix my problem, the 1/2" plate should.

Thanks again for all your help.