Standing_Arnold Posted September 12, 2020 Report Share Posted September 12, 2020 (edited) I just bought this truck and noticed the center leaf spring bolt...is it missing something? It seems like a nut should be there but I don’t see any threads, then I thought cotter pin... I don’t know And can anyone tell me what kind of shackle is in the second picture? I am absolutely ignorant when it comes to trucks, so please bear with me.. any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks so much Edited November 1, 2020 by Standing_Arnold I’m an idiot (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcairns Posted September 13, 2020 Report Share Posted September 13, 2020 (edited) Welcome to the site Are you sure you have an 03 ? As I recall, all 03's were AWD (like mine). I attached a couple photos of my original leaf springs, and it looks different than yours. Please note, these photos were highlighting an aftermarket rear anti-sway bar and helper bags I installed, so those bits won't match your truck. You have a squared off spring, with the plastic disk and pin going through the spring. I only have the plastic disk on the second largest spring, which has a somewhat rounded end. Also, it looks like your plastic disk pin may have broken the retaining bit and been replaced with a spring clip. Or perhaps it is a replacement that mounts that way. Your shackle looks freshly painted, if you did not do that, then it would say that it has been replaced recently. I don't recall the stock shackles having all those holes in them. Edited September 14, 2020 by dcairns (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxSilverado361 Posted September 14, 2020 Report Share Posted September 14, 2020 (edited) Dcairns' truck has three leafs in it, maybe the picture is a bad angle but it looks like yours only has 2. Since the shackles are most likely 2-3" lowering ones, I want to say they took a leaf out to get it lower. From my understanding the 3" setting on lowering shackles sometimes isn't a true 3" unless you remove a leaf. Edited September 14, 2020 by TxSilverado361 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
someotherguy Posted September 16, 2020 Report Share Posted September 16, 2020 Yep those are definitely drop shackles, no question. Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Standing_Arnold Posted September 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2020 Thanks so much for all the replies and help. @DCAIRNS: mine is a 2003 LS, NOT an SS. I’m sorry I should have said that to begin with. Yes the drop shackles were already on it when I bought it. The ass end seems to go up & down very easily (like my ex gf) So I was thinking something was not right and When I saw the center bolt it just looked off to me like it was missing a nut or something and after reading,searching, & looking at countless images I still came home short so that’s why I made the post. Besides one or two, all the other Silverado sites seemed to have died so I really appreciate you 2-3 people that are still on here and trying to help thanks so much On 9/13/2020 at 6:52 PM, dcairns said: Welcome to the site Are you sure you have an 03 ? As I recall, all 03's were AWD (like mine). I attached a couple photos of my original leaf springs, and it looks different than yours. Please note, these photos were highlighting an aftermarket rear anti-sway bar and helper bags I installed, so those bits won't match your truck. You have a squared off spring, with the plastic disk and pin going through the spring. I only have the plastic disk on the second largest spring, which has a somewhat rounded end. Also, it looks like your plastic disk pin may have broken the retaining bit and been replaced with a spring clip. Or perhaps it is a replacement that mounts that way. Your shackle looks freshly painted, if you did not do that, then it would say that it has been replaced recently. I don't recall the stock shackles having all those holes in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Standing_Arnold Posted September 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2020 Had no idea the suspension was so shot. I took it to a shop & they said I need new Control arms & ball joints so that’s found to be a few hundred... Just found this broken mount also, so shit is just stacking up. planning on replacing as much of the suspension as possible. Any suggestions on the route to take? Truck is super clean with only 150k miles and the shotty suspension is the only issue. thanks so much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcairns Posted September 17, 2020 Report Share Posted September 17, 2020 Lowering can be hard on suspension parts as they are often forced to work outside their normal range of motion. Looks like your rear suspension "bumpers" are shot. I just replaced mine a couple months ago and the old ones were like yours. With a lowered truck the stock bumpers are probably too long. Take a look at what "04palass" used on his lowered SS : http://www.silveradoss.com/forums/topic/92062-2003-ss-building-my-dream-truck/page/5/ A little more than half way down the page, you can see the red bumpers he used. Probably Energy Suspension, also a comparison picture of the stock vs aftermarket "red bumpers". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Standing_Arnold Posted September 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2020 On 9/16/2020 at 10:45 PM, dcairns said: Lowering can be hard on suspension parts as they are often forced to work outside their normal range of motion. Looks like your rear suspension "bumpers" are shot. I just replaced mine a couple months ago and the old ones were like yours. With a lowered truck the stock bumpers are probably too long. Take a look at what "04palass" used on his lowered SS : http://www.silveradoss.com/forums/topic/92062-2003-ss-building-my-dream-truck/page/5/ A little more than half way down the page, you can see the red bumpers he used. Probably Energy Suspension, also a comparison picture of the stock vs aftermarket "red bumpers". Thanks a lot I really appreciate the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.