Its in the gallery ! The leafs are from a Generation 1 Lightning (Gen 1) thay were used from a 94, i think the sag comes from years of filling the gas tank its on that side?

 

Jason,


one more thing to check. they also told me that springs get replaced one at a time by shops not specializing in suspension and there can be variations in repopped spring packs. measure the length of your lower (overload) leaf. Make sure both are the same on each side and look at the gap between the top face of the overload and the botton leaf in the stack. if there are variations in gaps or lengths....there's probably been a leaf or stack replacement done at some point in time which will cause different ride heights left/right due to variations in springs, etc. Just FYI. When I get all done with this, I'll share all the info I learn to the forum. These guys at Benz have been doing suspesion springs for a long, long time and were suppliers to freightliner here for new production and are more than helpfull in providing info etc. Some places are like some top secret dept. of the gvmt. who can't tell you and if they did, they'd have to kill ya! LOL

 

(94xlt) Will do tomorrow in the day light, The pic below is before i installed the lightning leafs the sag is the same after thay were installed, ill take a new pic tomorrow !

 

Jason,

First off, nice looking truck!!!! And sunshine too! Send some up our way........

That stance looks very familiar....... Reference your bed front panel to your cab window (as long as your cab mounts are in good shape and front springs are good. Mine are my inpection and mesurements) I thought mine was sagging on the drivers side, then found out it was lifted on the passenger side....confirmed by inspection, measurement and........alignment of the bed to cab body lines.
Now that all said, your distance from the rear window to the bed front panel on the drivers side looks more correct to me than the passenger side. Have you scoped down the sides to see if there is a miss alignment of the lines bed to cab? This threw me off for a couple of days until I really started checking things out. I had to change tracks and start looking at it from a body/panel alignment stance and ask myself how could the drivers side be sagged when the lines match perfectly. After doing a complete clip/cab/bed off resto on our 67 chevy C10 prostreet, I had a good source of tools and devices to use to align panels.....not to mention my eyes. Those dang chevys don't have sharp lines to align to......PITA! LOL
Let me know what you find. Tomorrow, I'm off to Benz Spring to get the center bolt and get a tour. Also am going to check out costs and suggestions for maybe replacing the ol' springs. They told me about making leafs in a way when people need to fight axle wrap. I'll get the skinny on that to. They started doing that for big HP hot rods that would wheel hop their tires to an octagon shape or twist out the rosett welds out of their axle tubes. Hey, if nothing else, I'm gonna learn a few things tomorrow....and any day I can learn something is a good day.......even after 48 years. LOL

 

Will do man i'll look around and below and take some measurements tomorrow !

 

Well Jason & others, I got the skinny on the issue with mine. And oh what a learning experiance.....LOL
Long story short, the right/passenger side spring pack at some point was changed for what ever reason. This is not recommended by spring companies. They always recommend doing both for this and other reasons.....mainly to keep both sides match correctly.
Here's the "duh" on my part....I guess sometimes we can get to close to the issue and can't see the forrest thru the trees....(LOL) They pointed out to me that the right lower spring was 3" shorter than the left and the arch/curvature was different. They told me that this was probably a small shot repair when a leaf cracked and they got what was listed for the truck. In my investegation, even with all the factory info, I was given multiple replacement spring part #'s and offerings from different places......so I can see how someone with the best intentions could get one just a little off. Close but no cigar! I even had a large national spring company who offers replacements update there on line offerings and specs due to this investigation. Just goes to show that manufacturers have great ways to keep little secrets & codes that can confuse the world! LOL
Anyway, Benz is making me a set of springs to the exact OEM specs that they have for the "L" spring code and the little nuiances that ford/supplier had making the OEM units. These guys are great. Good coatings for the leafs and put together well. Along with that, they're providing new u-bolts and hardware for the mounts & shackles. Oh, the best part, they'll install both springs and make all adjustments for proper install, etc. for $180. That's in my budget and heck I even get to watch and learn from some experts at a company that's been doing springs since 1922. I don't see the down side.
Oh, and for those with the broken mounts/shackles, they say they don't see many of those out here west, other that the guy who loaded 4 tons of block in his 1/2 ton. (OMG really?) We don't have the salt on the roads out here and really don't have the winter you all do out east. They checked mine while looking at the springs and they gave them all two thumbs up.
Just wanted to pass this on to ya. The springs should be done next week and I should be able to get there for install a week from this monday. I'll give ya the update of the finished product then. I'll try and get some pics and see if Benz will let me shoot some of the install and there plant/shop.

Now for the next project.....while doing the chassis inspection, we found the radius arm bushings are old and should be replaced too. There not broken or really causing issues, but why not since (here's the great part) the brackets are "bolted" on and not rivited. All grade 8, so I'm good to go for a fairly easy/quick R&R of the bushings. Thanks to who ever did the hard work form me first!!! LOL The only thing the guys saw at Benz was that the passenger side front bushing section was thinner in width than the drivers side and both were showing age. Still tight though.
My question is what has everyone used? I'm not going urethane or prothane due to stiffness and squeeking. (had those before on other rigs...) This is not going to be a serious off road beater either. They suggested Moog. The Moog units seem to be the best of both worlds with material that adds good control with out squeeking and is also heat resistant with good wear longevity. They cost about $35 @ Napa for the set. Anyone use these? I think the Moog # is K80007...don't quote me though. I've used Moog products before and have always been very happy with there high end quality and fitment....not to mention long life.
Any help/suggestions would be appriciated. Thanks

 

my friends got polyurethane bushings on his ford....they dont squeak...nieghbors got them in his 88 chevy 3500 dually....not a squeak....

 

Hey "Mix",

Do you know what brand they each used and if they had to do anything special. My experiance was quite a few years ago and on several vehicles both on and off road and they had a lot of noise, vibration transmission, etc. But, they sure stiffen things up. Maybe technology and chemistry has changed a bit...this abck just after dirt was invented. LOL

 

AFAIK, they both ordered them out of LMC. ill double check tomorrow.

 

Thanks, I'll check out LMC.....they know me real well over there due to my 67 C10 prostreet project.

I'll check for your update tomorrow

 

alright. seriously, i can see only 2 reasons for squeaky polyurathane bushings, either you installed them wrong(doubt it, but still a possibility) or they changed something in the new ones.

we got really bumpy roads. suspension testers is what i call em. ii havent herd a squeak from either of the trucks.

 

That's outstanding!!!

I know ya got to grease em up and some ya have to keep greasing them up.

Ya, chemistry may have changed. Our motor mounts did at Harley and there was a real issue in 2005 on front mounts. Thanks probably to the EPA for formulation designs of rubber products. LOL

Then again, my issues were with Chevy's.....Hmmmmm, could that have been the problem?!?!!! ROFLMAO!!!

 

Time to throw a wrench in the works....

My 89 had the bad bed sag, and I mean BAD. It was a good 1.5" lower on the drivers side than on the pass. I thought it was my springs also, or maybe a twisted frame (I am not gentle to my beast) Well lo and behold, when i swapped out boxes to a newer rust free one, the sag was gone!! Turns out my box was warped, and somehow, dont ask me, it was causing the whole rear end to warp. Now everything is dead nuts even side to side, and the only thing changed was boxes.

 

ok well, to rule out bed warping, take a piece of wood across the top of the sping, then measure the distance from the wood to the axel. they should be the same.

and 94xlt4x4, i asked them 2 guys and they said they got them from LMC.

FYI, poly bushings start on page 49 of the LMC book.

 

My truck sags too. I honestly think its the bed b/c it was hit on the side of the box that is lower. And I put in new springs 2 yrs ago. Though the sagging didnt start until 6 months later so who knows, im glad someone brought this up. Bud I do frequently haul 1000lbs so maybe it is from that. I have 4 leaf springs with 1 auxillary spring. I will be swapping 5 leafs wiht new hangers over the winter. My radius arm bushings are TRW and I have had bad luck with them. The plastic rings/spacers have cracked and fallen out. They were installed correctly too. Everyone tells me to get Moog front end parts, maybe I should have listened.