1/2 ton springs installed on 3/4 ton truck

[Oliver]

My 3/4 ton 1983 2wd camper special truck beat me and my wife up on a 14 hour trip. Has anyone changed out 3/4 springs front and rear for 1/2 ton springs for a smoother ride? Any info is wanted. I suspect I can remove some leafs from the rear and remove the rear helper spring shocks but unsure if 1/2 ton springs would fit on the front without modifications. Thanks in advance for any info. ( I have 2 other 3/4 ton square body truck for local hauling so don't need the "nice 1983" to haul heavy weight. )

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Nope they won't fit. The rear springs are 56 inches on 3/4, 1/2 ton is 52 Inch rear springs. The eye bushings may be different but shouldn't be a big issue. I can't help on the front springs. I'm not much of a 2wd guy.

 

[SirRobyn0]

@Oliver Remove the rear helper springs for the back. How many leafs are in the rear on your? I think there was a 6 leaf and 9 leaf available, but regardless it's an old truck it's not going to have a cushy ride. With that said I've driven my 84' C20 several hours to get feed for the farm and several hours back to the farm, basically all day in the truck and I've never felt like it beat me up. However some overload shocks can be very stiff. I'd dump those for good set of regular shocks and replace the fronts to, I have seen shock seize sometimes which will definitely make for a bad ride. See how you feel after that, if your still not happy then maybe remove a leaf or two from the rear but remember your going to sacrifice carrying ability when you start pulling leafs out.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

The shocks will help too. As for the spring hangers, you can bust out the factory rivets on the spring hangers and move them forward for 1/2 ton springs.