56' Rear leaf removal

[Ammo]

My 56' has 11 springs up front and 17 in the rear. I would like to lower the rear end 2" so it doesn't sit so nose heavy; I don't haul or pull anything so reduced payload is not an issue. I've never disassembled a spring pack and the manuals are extremely vague. My thinking is to remove all the u-bolts, support the rear of the truck (by the cross member), and lower whole axle without disconnecting spring hangers, then I'll disconnect brake line and drive shaft so I can roll the axle forward and out of the way. I would ideally remove the whole spring pack and do everything on the bench but I'm having a heck of a time removing the spring pins. I'm assuming I should remove the center bolt nut that holds all the leafs together and the individual leafs (not strapped together) should fall? Is the centering stud, below the bottom leaf, attached or will that come out? Plan is to remove the 3 bottom leafs that aren't strapped together. Does this sound about right? Any advice is welcome. Thanks! Andy

[dougdodgeman]

As I said on Joe's page, make sure to remove the pinch bolts completely so the pins can slide out of the hangars. Doug

[Ammo]

You must fully remove the shackle clamp bolt before the pin can slide out. Once the bolt was removed all it took was a twist of the zerk and they all slid right out. My bushings and pins are like brand new, as I thought they should (the truck only has 8500 original miles).

[Matthew Welcher PWA]

Did you get your spring packs taken apart? Do you have any more questions? Once removed from the truck, they are easily taken apart and re assembled. If your pins and bushings are in good shape you should be able to take out what you need and stick back in fairly easily. Just make sure the U Bolts have enough thread to tighten up once the leaves have been removed.