I'm no square body guy but maybe my opinion's still comparable.air shocks have always been rite out,that said I'm a Bilstein guy through and through. If you're looking to do it on the cheap seeing as one sides already down a leaf,try jerking it outta the other side and see how it sits.it's far from permanent you can always put it back and start over no harm no foul.
What did you do to your non g-body project today [2025 edition]
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Of course your opinion is valid- I'm open to all of them I just don't seem to get as much feedback as I hope for. I vaguely remember separating the leaves and reassembling them on the '86 years ago, and recall bolting them back together but also needing to round the bolt head to locate it in a hole on the perch. I could definitely do the same thing to the '81, and this time it would be the shortest actual leaf whereas on the '86 I removed the overload/ helper springs.
Honestly, I was providing the 2 easiest solutions but yours is possibly the best use of my parts & money. I'm curious which leaf is better to remove: shorty or overload? I bet that removing the helpers would affect the daily ride the least.
The latter is up to you. As it pertains to the main leaves, the shorter ones are stiffer. The truck would ride nicer without the overload, so if you don't intend to do truck stuff that's a good way to go.
Thank you for the info. I was assuming that since the overloads are completely flat they didn't come into play until I was actually overloaded. I also assumed that the shortest actual leaf was the stiffest and would have the biggest impact on both ride quality as well as load capacity.
The overload isn't there for being overloaded per se, rather when loaded like a truck. A better way to think of it is that it's a 2 stage leaf pack.
Ahh, I think I see: the regular leaves do my day to day bouncing but as soon as I have a payload bigger than a fat girl they rely on the helpers. It sounds like they come into play a bit sooner than I thought. I plan to use it as a light duty truck to haul car parts, used oil, etc. but not like a workhorse, and the ultimate goal is to flip it for profit after using/ fixing it. She will retain the Rochester equipped 305/th350 combo but may get gears- It's got saddle tanks so who cares about highway mileage, right?
Thanks again.
if that's the case,you're only going to need that helper on the right side😉
Flip kit and shocks is preferable and will have a good ride. I've also done leaf removal with hangers/shackles but always did an air bag over leaf with upgraded shocks if going that route. Air shocks aren't up to the task especially if you like a good ride IMHO.
Thank you very much for the first-hand insight. The air shocks are just something I have on the shelf and could adjust when necessary but Bilsteins and bags would definitely be way better. Full blown Firestones are out of the budget on this one though.
Edit: Might've found something that'll work. Owning a classic car has gotten more expensive but it seems "fancy" parts like bag kits have come way down.
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