1987 Chevrolet V20 front leaf spring replacement

[iamtherealJayy]

Are the ubolts supposed to have lock washers? I noticed one side had lock washers and one side didn’t, I don’t know if they were added onto one side or lost on one side. I’m going to assume added since the drivers side had them and passenger didn’t. The rain is supposed to slow down soon when it does I’m going to go try and take the sway bar out

 

[hoagster]

Off Road design makes the sway bar disconnect.

@iamtherealJayy I have been following along with this... project and I am sorry you are having such a rough time with all of this. If it makes you feel any better, you and I have both learned a lot from all of this. I have been looking at replacing my front leaf springs as well and will no doubt encounter some of the same issues you are so this thread has been very helpful to me. Can you tell us what brand of leaf springs you used for this project?

@77 K20 you said, "they make a nice sway bar disconnect bracket". Can you tell us who "They" is? I may need exactly that soon. My truck already has some aftermarket front leaf springs of unknown origin that I think has me about 2" higher than stock. My plan is to go with a new set of front springs for a true 2" lift above factory height. Will I need that disconnect bracket?

@hoagster your knowledge is EXACTLY why I joined this forum. I appreciate you and everyone else that offered wisdom and advice during this fiasco.

 

[nvrenuf]

The front sway bar is listed as part of my camper special option package, so I assume a base truck does not have one. Should be problem running without one for a while, especially with new springs.

ALL "K" series square body trucks have a front sway bar.

 

[Grit dog]

This truck is a custom deluxe so I assume that’s base model. As far as I can tell custom deluxe isn’t so deluxe lol. And “ should be problem running without one for a while” do you mean it shouldn’t be a problem or it will be a problem?

If you don't understand the function of a sway bar, it essentially links both suspension springs together, so if the right one compresses, it also compresses the left spring, transferring some of the load to the left spring. Bigger the sway bar diameter, the greater the effect. If your springs were very soft, no sway bar would result in excessive compression on the outside spring when, say turning a corner. If your springs are very stiff, they may have as much or more resistance than say, a soft set of springs with a sway bar.
So basically, drive it, if it feels like it has too much "body roll" when cornering then a sway bar will correct that. If it handles acceptably, then you may not want or need it.

Also without a sway bar, you can articulate the suspension further. not a benefit for daily driving, stability is a benefit for on the road driving. Better articulation can/is a benefit in off road situations. Hence the quick disconnect hardware. Handle good on the road, better articulation off road at low speeds.

 

[Grit dog]

Dad said he was laying under the truck last night looking for differences and he thinks the sway bar is bent, I’m going to try and remove it today to make getting the ubolt plates off easier anyways so I’ll check it out and see if it’s bent and if it is I might just not run one for a while and if it’s sketchy I’ll get a new one. He also said his frame patch for the cross member under the engine the weld cracked(the rivet broke in the wreck so it welded it back apparrntly) so could that be why it’s off center? I’ll try and get pics of everything when I go back out there

That's possible and a likely source of the difficulty in getting it to line up. Makes sense, because with similar lift height from the old block setup to the new springs, I would have expected everything to line up easier than it appears that it did for you.

 

[Grit dog]

@Grit dog in all honesty this truck doesn’t have much rust I’m really glad it wasn’t a northern truck lol. If it hadn’t of been wrecked on drivers side I bet I wouldn’t of had any problems. The passenger side pushed right out lol. I’ll disconnect the sway bar when I go to actually chop the ubolts it made it hard on passenger side since it’s on the outside of the bracket. I have the rough country sway bar drop but would it be too large for just a 2.5” lift? And I honestly have no idea what happened to the alignment in the pics lol they were fairly straight before and now the drivers side is slight left and passenger is pretty much straight. I’ll just do the using a board at home alignment to get it straight for now so I can try and get the leaf springs broke in a little bit. Then I’m replacing all the steering stuff and getting a real alignment.

I wasn't insinuating the truck was rusty. Just them bolts you had to cut off....
Idk how much the drop is, but on my 4" lift, I think the drop brackets are about 2" tall? Proper length would have the sway bar ends about flat/parallel with the ground.

 

[iamtherealJayy]

@Grit dog well the old lift was blocks, so technically the spring was in same position correct? So the sway bar would’ve been higher? That’s why in those pictures the gap between the spring and sway bar plate was present? I didn’t take geometry in school lol I’m trying to explain a way someone other than myself would understand. I’ll measure my sway bar drop brackets and see how big they are it’s still raining so I haven’t been able to go get some pictures or work on it. Dad thinks the center pins aren’t too long the ubolts just need tightened. I’m going to remove the sway bar for now since he swears up and down that it’s bent. I haven’t checked it out so I couldn’t tell if it is. Hopefully with it removed I can get the ubolt plate on easier.

 

[Grit dog]

^ Yup you’re right. Wasn’t thinking block vs spring lift.
If you think it’s bent, probably best to just undo it at the axle mounts.
If there’s a chance it’s fine and you need to put the lift blocks in anyway, just unbolt from the crossmember.

 

[iamtherealJayy]

I’m in search of a 1-1/8” socket right now to remove the sway bar lol and I’m going to get the plates sitting on there right and then try and get the frame straughtened

 

[iamtherealJayy]

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Sway bar removed from plates. Both sides still currently have a gap. Removing the sway bar should make it easier to loosen the ubolts and cut the center pin correct?
Edit: sway bar is still connected to the frame, I didn’t have another wrench on hand to put on other side of bracket to hold the bolt. Also when I removed the bolt the ends of the sway bar dropped some, it moves down fairly easily but it’s not so easy to lift it back up to be horizontal. If I get a new sway bar and use a drop bracket would it be better to have a positive angle or a negative angle? Negative being below horizontal and positive being above?

 

[Grit dog]

Not a sway bar expert, but if the drop brackets were part of the "kit" with the springs, I'd assume they work. I can measure the drop bracket height with my 4" K20 springs and how parallel the sway bar is, to give you a reference. The point of it being near flat at ride height is so that it minimizes it getting "longer" or "shorter" with suspension droop or compression. I don't think neg or pos slope matters as much as minimizing the overall slope, if you will.

Those springs look very stout. I would yard the sway bar out of there, get it drivable, decide if you even want a sway bar. Work on everything else you plan on repairing or replacing to get it good and roadworthy first. Sway bar is the least important part of the overall equation.
Since the sway bar didn't "spring" to one side or the other after disconnecting it, the good news is maybe the frame isn't racked. Bad news is, IF the sway bar is bent, it lines up with the current geometry going on under there and a new sway bar may not. In which case, pop the old sway bar back in with new bushings, drop brackets, whatever, and roll with it.

 

[iamtherealJayy]

@Grit dog as bad as I hate to I guess I gotta work on loosening the ubolts and chopping that center pin down and getting it flush and then I’m just going to completely remove the sway bar for now and drive it around some and let everything settle before I do anything else. Dads wanting to try and fix the frame but I wanna let everything settle first. Hell if I know what the better idea is.

 

[Grit dog]

Yeah, that sounds like a bit of a project. Idk how "tall" those centering pins are, but the top ones aren't as important as the bottom ones. That said, my goal would be to leave a little meat on them to ensure the top plates are in the right spot, especially given the uncertainty about what is straight or right on the truck and what isn't.
Now that you got the sway bar disconnected from the plates, this is easy compared to what you've done so far.

 

[iamtherealJayy]

The bottom pins fit in no problem, but the plate on top I can’t get to sit flush, dad said they just need tightened more but I questioned the length further back in this thread. I mean I can try and tighten them some but they’ve still got quite a large gap for as tight as they were yesterday. The sway bar could’ve been holding it back not sure. I don’t know how deep the hole is in the top plate but the center pin on top looked about an inch tall or so. Maybe 2-1/2 times bigger than the factory one.

 

[shiftpro]

If you don't understand the function of a sway bar, it essentially links both suspension springs together, so if the right one compresses, it also compresses the left spring, transferring some of the load to the left spring. Bigger the sway bar diameter, the greater the effect. If your springs were very soft, no sway bar would result in excessive compression on the outside spring when, say turning a corner. If your springs are very stiff, they may have as much or more resistance than say, a soft set of springs with a sway bar.
So basically, drive it, if it feels like it has too much "body roll" when cornering then a sway bar will correct that. If it handles acceptably, then you may not want or need it.

Also without a sway bar, you can articulate the suspension further. not a benefit for daily driving, stability is a benefit for on the road driving. Better articulation can/is a benefit in off road situations. Hence the quick disconnect hardware. Handle good on the road, better articulation off road at low speeds.

And longer shocks required for more droop. And stock length shocks will ot last long if you are off road causing the droop to terminate at the bottom of the shock travel. It's called topping out the shock and it's worse than bottoming out the shock.
Longer upper shock mounts needed.. Use old ford upper shock mounts or make your own for the win.