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- Apr 3, 2022
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I started another thread to see which ones and how many leaves folks are removing to get a more level ride. I accomplished the procedures today and took good pics of the process that hopefully will help others taking on this project.
First, I have a WH 2.5" SL and no body lift other than maybe 3/16" shims in rear body mounts to deal with door gap. All new suspension, hardtop, and both main and aux gas tanks. Pretty normal weight all around. After a year (not really any driving just during restoration) rear end still sat just over 2" higher than the front.
Most research suggested that you should start by removing the 3rd from top leaf and then 1 or two of the small last leaves (10 and 11). I removed the 3rd from top and the last one (11). This can all be easily accomplished without removing the leaf springs from the truck.
First you need to chock front wheel. Jack up rear end high enough to get tires off the ground then rig up jack stands that go up to the frame. I used the frame area just to the left and right of the main gas tank. The 4x4 blocks actually have to be slight;y tapped up into place because its a tight fit but that makes for a good lifting liocation. It looks a little jankey but it was very solid. I also had backup jack stands on the frame in front of the axel near the leaf springs front mount just in case. But as stated, the rear stands were very solid.
Remove the tires on both sides, lower axle and let it get to almost hanging free then jack it up about 1/2". This takes a bit of the pressure off the shocks for removing. Remove the top shock nut and pull of the shock letting it hang backwards. No need to remove entire shock.
Remove the U-bolt nuts from the axle and remove the plate. Becasue you still have the jack under the axle housing, nothing will fall or come down on you.
VERY IMPORTANT: Get a marker that will show against the black and not easily rub off. Make a straight line right down the outside edge of the leafs where the retaining bolt goes down through them. Then put a small dot on whichever leaves you want to remove. The line makes realigning very easy when reassembling and when/if the leaves fall apart when removing, you will not have to guess which ones were the ones you selected to remove...they will be marked with a dot.
Now remove all of the leaf bracket bolts. I suggest you reassemble to sleeve bolt and nut so those pesky things don't roll off.
Put c clamps or welding clamps on the leaf pack about five leaves deep from each end. That is plenty. The only leaves with any compression will be the top five.
Now lower the jack down (lowering the axle) just until the leaves pop out of the axle centering hole. Leave the axle at that point for now.
Remove the nut from the leaf centering bolt.
The entire stack will now be loose. In order to get the centering bolt out, you will now need to lower the axle far enough down to make room for the bolt to be pulled out the bottom of the stack. This is where you must be careful not to over stretch e-brake lines or brake lines. If they are stretching them you must remove them. In my case there was enough slack. Before you remove the bolt, slide a bracket bolt back into each of the end brackets. All that does is keep the top leaves from falling all apart and holds them somewhat in place.
Once the axle is low enough to remove the bolt, just tap is out. If your leaves are new, it will likley just slide out. If not, might need some lubricate and then tap it down. Once that bolt comes out, all the bottom leaves will be loose, may fall out, and the little tin plates that go in between each leaf will fall out all over. Dont freack out, no biggy. It all goes back together easily.
Notice how all the white marks from the lines are now all scatterd. It is easy to realign everything using the marks.
Notice the tin plates in pic above...they go between each leaf. They will fall out all over. Not a problem, they just slide back in during reassembly.
Remove the leafs from the stack that you previously marked. Now start putting it all back together. Start by putting all of the long (top) leaves that go inside the outer most leaf clamps and lift those up to the top permanent leaf and put a bolt temporarily through the brackets (front and back). That will hold those top leaves in place.
Now do the same with the lower set of leaves and use the bracket bolts to temporarily hold those all up in place. The only leafs that are not supported by the brackets are the bottom 2 or 3 depending on which pack you have.
Just working with the leafs that are held up by the brackets, start maneuvering each one to line up the white marks. This is also the time to slide the tin plates in between each leaf. Use the centering bolt down from the top to slowly line all the marks up all the way down. Once you have all the the bracketed leaves aligned and the bolt in from the top, put c-clamps back on the stack to hold them all together. Now pull out the centering bolt. Put the centering bolt through the bottom couple of plates (the ones that are not yet installed because they are not part of the bracket sets), and don't forget the plates as well. Now slide the bolt from the bottom up through the stack. Might require a little tap, but it should already be aligned from the prior step. Once you get a bit of thread showing on the centering bolt sticking through the top leaf, put the nut on it a turn or two. Remove the c-clamps.
Now go through and make sure all of the leaves are aligned in a nice organized stack. Once your happy how they look, tighten down the centering bolt nut. Now jack up the axle to the point just below where the centering bolt head goes into the axle mount hole. Make sure it is aligned. You might need to move the leaf stack or the axle in/out/forward/back a small amount to get the hole aligned with the bolt head. Be carefull pushing and pulling because remember you are high up on jack stands. It will not take much. The holes are normally within 1/8" of alignment so just a bit of movement. Once aligned, jack axle up and seat stack and centering bolt head back into axle mount. Replace the u-bolts. One side done. Repeat.
Finally, I marked the removed leaves so I can put them back if needed.
So, after all of that the rear is still about 1 inch higher in the back. I still need to put in the liftgate glass and the rear seat and then I plan on driving it awhile to see if it settles. If not, may remove one more small one. While each stack will likely be a bit different, what my WH 2.5 11 leaf stack shows is that removing the 3rd leaf and bottom leaf drops it a total of 1 inch. Because the thickness of the leaves are about 1/4" each, that means 1/2" of the drop was just from removing the thickness of the leaves. The other 1/2" is from the 3rd leaf.
Hope this helps someone.
First, I have a WH 2.5" SL and no body lift other than maybe 3/16" shims in rear body mounts to deal with door gap. All new suspension, hardtop, and both main and aux gas tanks. Pretty normal weight all around. After a year (not really any driving just during restoration) rear end still sat just over 2" higher than the front.
Most research suggested that you should start by removing the 3rd from top leaf and then 1 or two of the small last leaves (10 and 11). I removed the 3rd from top and the last one (11). This can all be easily accomplished without removing the leaf springs from the truck.
First you need to chock front wheel. Jack up rear end high enough to get tires off the ground then rig up jack stands that go up to the frame. I used the frame area just to the left and right of the main gas tank. The 4x4 blocks actually have to be slight;y tapped up into place because its a tight fit but that makes for a good lifting liocation. It looks a little jankey but it was very solid. I also had backup jack stands on the frame in front of the axel near the leaf springs front mount just in case. But as stated, the rear stands were very solid.
Remove the tires on both sides, lower axle and let it get to almost hanging free then jack it up about 1/2". This takes a bit of the pressure off the shocks for removing. Remove the top shock nut and pull of the shock letting it hang backwards. No need to remove entire shock.
Remove the U-bolt nuts from the axle and remove the plate. Becasue you still have the jack under the axle housing, nothing will fall or come down on you.
VERY IMPORTANT: Get a marker that will show against the black and not easily rub off. Make a straight line right down the outside edge of the leafs where the retaining bolt goes down through them. Then put a small dot on whichever leaves you want to remove. The line makes realigning very easy when reassembling and when/if the leaves fall apart when removing, you will not have to guess which ones were the ones you selected to remove...they will be marked with a dot.
Now remove all of the leaf bracket bolts. I suggest you reassemble to sleeve bolt and nut so those pesky things don't roll off.
Put c clamps or welding clamps on the leaf pack about five leaves deep from each end. That is plenty. The only leaves with any compression will be the top five.
Now lower the jack down (lowering the axle) just until the leaves pop out of the axle centering hole. Leave the axle at that point for now.
Remove the nut from the leaf centering bolt.
The entire stack will now be loose. In order to get the centering bolt out, you will now need to lower the axle far enough down to make room for the bolt to be pulled out the bottom of the stack. This is where you must be careful not to over stretch e-brake lines or brake lines. If they are stretching them you must remove them. In my case there was enough slack. Before you remove the bolt, slide a bracket bolt back into each of the end brackets. All that does is keep the top leaves from falling all apart and holds them somewhat in place.
Once the axle is low enough to remove the bolt, just tap is out. If your leaves are new, it will likley just slide out. If not, might need some lubricate and then tap it down. Once that bolt comes out, all the bottom leaves will be loose, may fall out, and the little tin plates that go in between each leaf will fall out all over. Dont freack out, no biggy. It all goes back together easily.
Notice how all the white marks from the lines are now all scatterd. It is easy to realign everything using the marks.
Notice the tin plates in pic above...they go between each leaf. They will fall out all over. Not a problem, they just slide back in during reassembly.
Remove the leafs from the stack that you previously marked. Now start putting it all back together. Start by putting all of the long (top) leaves that go inside the outer most leaf clamps and lift those up to the top permanent leaf and put a bolt temporarily through the brackets (front and back). That will hold those top leaves in place.
Now do the same with the lower set of leaves and use the bracket bolts to temporarily hold those all up in place. The only leafs that are not supported by the brackets are the bottom 2 or 3 depending on which pack you have.
Just working with the leafs that are held up by the brackets, start maneuvering each one to line up the white marks. This is also the time to slide the tin plates in between each leaf. Use the centering bolt down from the top to slowly line all the marks up all the way down. Once you have all the the bracketed leaves aligned and the bolt in from the top, put c-clamps back on the stack to hold them all together. Now pull out the centering bolt. Put the centering bolt through the bottom couple of plates (the ones that are not yet installed because they are not part of the bracket sets), and don't forget the plates as well. Now slide the bolt from the bottom up through the stack. Might require a little tap, but it should already be aligned from the prior step. Once you get a bit of thread showing on the centering bolt sticking through the top leaf, put the nut on it a turn or two. Remove the c-clamps.
Now go through and make sure all of the leaves are aligned in a nice organized stack. Once your happy how they look, tighten down the centering bolt nut. Now jack up the axle to the point just below where the centering bolt head goes into the axle mount hole. Make sure it is aligned. You might need to move the leaf stack or the axle in/out/forward/back a small amount to get the hole aligned with the bolt head. Be carefull pushing and pulling because remember you are high up on jack stands. It will not take much. The holes are normally within 1/8" of alignment so just a bit of movement. Once aligned, jack axle up and seat stack and centering bolt head back into axle mount. Replace the u-bolts. One side done. Repeat.
Finally, I marked the removed leaves so I can put them back if needed.
So, after all of that the rear is still about 1 inch higher in the back. I still need to put in the liftgate glass and the rear seat and then I plan on driving it awhile to see if it settles. If not, may remove one more small one. While each stack will likely be a bit different, what my WH 2.5 11 leaf stack shows is that removing the 3rd leaf and bottom leaf drops it a total of 1 inch. Because the thickness of the leaves are about 1/4" each, that means 1/2" of the drop was just from removing the thickness of the leaves. The other 1/2" is from the 3rd leaf.
Hope this helps someone.
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