Any of you folks ever had extra springs installed in your pickup truck so you don't have to worry about such heavy loads?

I'm considering it. My suspension is shot. Too many loads of bricks and mulch in a half-ton pickup. The truck is paid for, only 90K miles, looks great, runs like a top, and worth TONS more to me than it is on paper. It just can't handle much more than a gallon of milk as a cargo anymore.

Just curious.

:?:

Elk Doc, my 1957 1 ton chevy has 2 complete sets of springs under it to keep it up its original GVW was 8800 lbs. it takes 6 ton (12,000) lbs license to operate it emptly legally.

what I did was take the second set of springs, cut off the eyes on the ends of the main leaves and put the 4 top leaves including the main ones less eyes right under the original main leaves. and left out the real short ones on the bottom in the front and in the back I added the top 3 main leaves in the original also leaving out the short ones on the bottom, and adding the rest to the overload springs so it rides nice when empty (which is never LOL). My 2 1/2 ton military has 2 complete sets in the back stacked one on top of the other with longer u-bolts and I replaced the front ones all except the main leaves with the rear springs from a farm truck, and rearched them to give me 18 inches of ground clearance.

Elk Doc,

I put a set of Helwig overload springs on my 1/2 ton and they work great. I bought them from (gulp) J.C. Whitney for around $180. As I remember, they were no problem to install and went on in less than an hour. They really make a difference when I pull a gooseneck trailer.

Keep in mind that you have a half ton,,,springs will not change that,,,The components are not made for heavy continuous useage. One thing that may help a bit is a set of air shocks,,you can inflate them when carrying a load and let them down a bit for normal driveing. Do not go over the weight your truck is rated for when you load it up. Simply not safe. One more thing to check is how your tires are rated, if you have passenger car tires on your truck it may not even be safe when you load it to its maximum allowed weight. Just some thoughts.

If you think that the old springs are comprimised in some way and not holding the weight they should, look into a set of new springs.

Rich has a very good point. Consider the original GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight). 1 ton springs on a 1/2 ton truck may hold the load, but what about the 1/2 ton brakes trying to deal with a 1 ton or greater loading? The ply rating and load rating on the tires must be considered also. Truck tires take 70 psi of air or higher as normal depending on the tire and ply rating.

It is easier to make two trips with two smaller loads, than to overload a truck and stress the truck or break something.

No, I just don't think the current springs are holding what they should. A few concrete blocks and some treated 2x6's shouldn't squat this thing like it does.