yea they physically break. from being over stressed or over weighted.
actually doesnt take much to break them. first signs in sagging and then just hitting a pot hole. or going over washboard

 

Is that some Junk spring from Base Maintenance in your photo? Good example but you would really have to overload the truck for that to happen IMO and would be a big concern especially if it broke after the fact when returned to normal, if so it could put you on your roof, and when these trucks flip its pancake flat time.
So this raises the question if the springs are rated for say a 1700 Lbs load that must be for both springs as a pair including gross body weight of the box and tailgate??.

 

I broke a rear leaf spring with little to no load, the old owner must've towed heavy with it considering the toasted transmission and fatigued leaf springs. I don't remember any big hits that would break a leaf spring, I'm wondering if there's a defect in the 2003 1500 rear leafs

 

I have a very early 03 build date on my 03 and I haven't broken any springs. I don't think this is a 03 specific problem. I don't have a O/L spring and the axle is flipped. I use to have a lot of axle hop until I installed traction bars. Simply stated, I have beat up my rear springs pretty good without breaking them. This is probably load related.

 

Wow, IDK you could actually physically break them. Ive never seen that before.