Wow, thanks, Bowrack! My friend up in Ohio says that his are the same way also.

Other points of interest - the telltale sign of sagging rear springs are headlights that are aimed too high. Mine are not - in fact, they are a little low for my tastes though I have to be cautious that I don't blind other traffic.

I think that based on all the input from others here, along with my experience so far (ride firmness, the stance of the truck, and the way the headlights are still down at the factory-type aim), I am going to keep the present springs and start using the truck for its intended purpose. If carrying a load pulls the back down too much, then I'll consider a set of heavy duty springs for it. Otherwise, I'm going to stick with what I have for a while.

 

I just crawled my 275 lb. fat a$$ under my truck and took a look. I have the same inverted spring on the bottom but my leafs are flat as they can be over the entire length until they begin their upward turn nearing the ends.
Now I don't haul much more than my 700# ATV in the bed, although I did have two loads of river rock (about 2000#) in it a few years back, but that was a one time thing.
I also have 2" blocks between my axle and the leafs inside the U-bolts, so if anybody would have sag in the middle (axle wrap) it should be me over a stock height truck.
I'll get my fat a$$ under there tomorrow with the camera and snap a pic.

I'm not saying you have an issue and NEED to replace them, only passing on what I'm seeing looking under my truck...

 

Out of curiousity, Hammer, do you have the 4-leaf + 1, or the 3 + 1 springs? I'm wondering if the 3 + 1 spring sets have this curve while the 4 + 1 sets do not.

The only other ones I've looked at in person were on a D-2500 and those are a different spring.

I will keep a close watch on these to see if there's some signs of cracking or discoloration near where the spring mounts under the axle.

 

Good thing you got that lift on your truck eh hammer lol i am also in the 270+ group, but my truck is stock height

anyways i have the 3+1 and they are about the same as yours heres some pics
please excuse the Canadian undercoat aka surface rust lol

 

That is definately the shape, Marx.

It almost looks like that is normal for that spring set. At least on some setups. Almost like they're inverse-curved near the axle so that they will gradually engage the overload leaf when you inadvertently dump that 2 cubic yards of top soil in the bed!

That Canadian undercoating looks a lot like the Ohio undercoating I used to endure, courtesy of a healthy dose of road salt.

 

Might I suggest going to a salvage/recycle yard for different springs.. Much cheaper and most people just drive trucks cause they are "cool" never loading anything heavier than barbeque grill in them.. Much cheaper alternative.. We did my Dads 78 in the garage with a couple tall jackstands and handyman bumper lift jacks.. took about 4 hours and I think a 12 pack. Don't remember for sure been a few years back.

 

Thanks, Plainbroke. I'm probably going to just hang on to what I have. I'll be getting tires in a week or two, and then I'll see how it works when I do a little hauling with it. Throwing a little weight in the bed will show whether they are up to the task or not.

 

Ive got the 3+1 in my 1500, and they look like that. I thought I caused it by the way mine is loaded, but it is nice to know that other trucks look the same. Mine has 156,000 on it and rides just fine. Just installed a new set of Timbren SES rubber helper springs, and love them. Looks like a small airbag, but is just a thick walled hollow rubber tube. got them from the GMC dealer in town when I took our c-60 in for major work. $320.00 for the set, with a lifetime warranty.

 

I agree with dirty on this, from the pic at least those springs look like they've taken some abuse, under no load you're springs shouldn't be for lack of a better word WAVY like they appear in the pic.

 

I was thinking the same thing when I posted the thread, but it appears that a few others have the same spring shape.

That might just be the way the are on this model, or maybe they are 'waving" goodbye.