Not enough room in the spring pack for add-a-leafs

[DblTap]

I've searched all over for this and can't seem to find the answer. I bought add-a-leafs for my 60 and cant seem to fit them into the pack because the bands are too tight. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[4alarm]

Bend the bands.

[Micah]

bend the tabs straight then when you get the add-a-leaf in you then bend the tab back to where it fits over the leafs.

Or you could make them all straight then drill holes in them and put bolts through the tabs with sleeves in between. Just another thought.

[DblTap]

Anyone have any suggestions for the easiest way to bend them? Am I going to have to take the spring pack out of its eyes or is there a simple way to get on them with enough juice while they are still on the truck.

[zuluzeugma]

Do you have a torch? Rosebud and hammer is all is should take if you want quick and easy while still in the vehicle...

[brokenparts]

Originally Posted by DblTap

Anyone have any suggestions for the easiest way to bend them? Am I going to have to take the spring pack out of its eyes or is there a simple way to get on them with enough juice while they are still on the truck.

I just did mine last night... just use some vice grips and strong arm them. They'll bend.

[Micah]

Originally Posted by brokenparts

I just did mine last night... just use some vice grips and strong arm them. They'll bend.

yup thats all it takes.

[akarilo]

Leave them straight and put bolts through them, it will definately improve the flexing department. You dont need to bother with the middle one, as the leafs will never have an opportunity to escape that one.

[cruiser88]

use a couple of c-clamps......helps alot

[sterling]

I just did this one and cruiser 88 is right....
I used two c clamps to hold the packs together and bent the tabs with a crow bar it helped to have that leverage.
Good luck
The hardest part for me was lining the pins up with the axle when you install the fronts

BTW: The difference in stance was totally worth it

[Tapage]

Originally Posted by akarilo

Leave them straight and put bolts through them, it will definately improve the flexing department. You dont need to bother with the middle one, as the leafs will never have an opportunity to escape that one.

Good mod ..

I just take a hammer with mines years agoo ..

[DblTap]

Awesome! Thanks for all of the help. Greatly appreciated!!

[DblTap]

Okay, I got past that issue. Now, I have a new issue. The spring pack has moved about an inch forward and the head of the bolt that aligns all of the springs in the spring pack won't drop into the hole of the axles spring perch because it is too far forward. I have attempted to move it by placing the jack on the spring, placing it on the diff and pushing it back by placing a pry bar in the shackle. All of which have not worked. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. In addition, I also have extended shackles I need to install and the stock shackle bolts are frozen. There isn't any problem with hitting them with WD40 since I am going to be replacing them with new bolts anyway is there? Thanks for your help.

[sterling]

Thats what took me the longest too.
I used a floor jack and the factory jack to get em back in.
On pass side I used floor jack with 4x4 block to jack up on the front axle,put jack stand behind pass wheel well on frame.

I put fact. bottle jack on spring pack towards the rear with enough room to be able to tighten the u-bolts and raised the spring pack onto the axle.....if it wouldnt line up I would jack up the floor jack and raise the bottle jack to see which way the pin was moving and would either raise or lower each jack until the pin would line up.
You should start to see the shackle go to a more natural angle when the spring is jacked up, used a small flashlight to see the pin.
On the drivers side I did the same but the bottle jack was towards the front on the spring.
Good luck...it whooped my ass all last Sat.Sorry for the long post...tried to describe the best I could.Keep in mind my methods weren't the safest!

[DblTap]

LOL! That's awesome! That is exactly what I am going through. Thanks a million! I will drag out the ol' bottle jack. I've been using the BFH (Big F'ng Hammer) and a pry bar. Hopefully, this will be a work smarter and not harder way to do it instead. LOL! Thanks Sterling!

[HntWhtTail]

if you leave the wheels and tires on axles, gives you all kinds of leverage to move axle back and forth until it lines up. have someone else let the truck down when you got it lined up. Easiest swap ever doing it this way vs. wheels off and shifting up and down with two floor jacks. Did that on the rear and it took me twice as long as when I did the front with wheels and tires on.

[DblTap]

Got it finally. What a PITA!!! The second one was much easier, just anything I guess. What's the best way to take the weight off of the springs to get the shackles replaced? Where should I place the jack for optimum leverage?

[sterling]

When I did some shackles 3yrs ago on a 60 I once again used a bottle jack in unsafe ways...between spring and something solid.What shackles did you go with? Ive got about a 1" sag in the rear and am going to either add 1.5 over stock or 2.5 over not sure.

Maybe HntWhtTail will chime in on the leverage issue too

[DblTap]

They are Dick Cepek Shackles. Somebody on Ebay is selling them for $19.95/pair. They are advertised as 2" of lift but I just measured them a little bit ago and they are actually 3" longer than the stockers. The add-a-leafs are Heckethorns I got from JC Whitney for $45/pair.