consider Timbren rubber springs.
they're awesome.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...installed.html

http://www.timbren.com/

 

they are pretty nice.... however, i have an add a leaf, so these wouldnt work for me, id still be squating pretty terribly before the timbrens even started to work.

 

maybe not.

there's a one inch solid rubber spacer that can be added to increase the height of the rubber spring. i can get you a rubber spring measurement if you are interested. and its not a bad thing to have an inch or two of spring squat before the timbren comes into contact. that gives you the nice unloaded ride quality.

 

I installed Firestone air bags on my RV. They help talke somoe of the load off when loaded, and dont make it ride stiff when less loaded. They have kits for trucks as well. Also AirRide has some also. My be worth considering.

 

i think the easiest way to make the back end of your truck to sit higher when hauling weight is to go to the junk yard, buy another set of 1500 springs, cut the ends off the main leaf and stick them under the main leaf that is currently in the truck. now if that still does not do the job them cut down one of the spare springs and stick it under the leaf that it use to be the same size as. just did something similar on my dads ford but there was 4 broken leafs that needed to be replaced.

 

I actually was looking at those brackets on ebay, lol. i thought about getting some brackets like that and getting springs off an older dodge 250, my 89 ram has "overloads" (I always thought they were called "auxiliary springs") they are 2.5" wide springs and are 39" long, so they would work on a 2nd gen 1500. I was gonna do that but i just put on some air ride air springs

 

well, ive been searching and searching all day for the aux springs for the 1st gen rams, and have yet to come up with anything

 

I put simple 1000# leaf helpers on my 1500 because I have been hauling a lot of stone and fill dirt, as well as a 275 gallon water tank and railroad ties. It hasn't hurt my ride at all and the squat is about 1/2 as bad with the full water tank on. But because I am wanting to haul even more, I'm going to switch to a Dana 60 and 3/4 ton leafs.

 

i agree that adding a leaf or 2 will not hurt the ride. i got 7 leafs per side in my 81 and it actually rides fairly nice even if there is no weight in the back of it.

 

emailed a few people for trucks that are being parted on craigs in my local area. hopefully someone comes back with something!