Lifting the rear of a pickup truck to level it out/Van Spare carrier

On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:13:56 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, Gunner Asch quickly quoth:

Har!

Potentially a BIG problem. How holey are the rims? Does the van have the heavy duty radiator package? If so, you might be OK. But that's a helluva big risk to take IMNSHO.

I MUST be right, it passed my spell-chucker!

Before my 91 extended cab was dead, I had to replace the front springs since they couldn't align it anymore and have a spring shop add a leave. The truck probably only carried real loads

=========== Not to hijack your thread, given the number of responses from people "what been there and done that," and the huge number of web sites with air lifts / helper springs, etc., this appears to be a basic design flaw rather than something unique to your truck.

Even trucks used as cars, i.e. no loads, just people, seem to have this spring problem. It can't be that expensive to put a few more pounds of good steel in the springs. Has Detroit lost the ability to design even utility vehicles? Did the beancounters run amok again? Did they throw the prints for the

Anybody have similar problems with the import trucks such as Toyota?

Unka' George [George McDuffee] ============ Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), U.S. president. Letter, 17 March 1814.

Gerore sez: Anybody have similar problems with the import trucks such as Toyota?

Don't know about trucks. My best car, a Pontiac Bonneville GXP, has an automatic load lever. A few seconds after each start-up you can hear the air pump run to "trim" the level. The car came with an accessory air package that connects to the compressor pump via a shrade valve in the trunk..

Bob Swinney

=========== Not to hijack your thread, given the number of responses from people "what been there and done that," and the huge number of web sites with air lifts / helper springs, etc., this appears to be a basic design flaw rather than something unique to your truck.

Even trucks used as cars, i.e. no loads, just people, seem to have this spring problem. It can't be that expensive to put a few more pounds of good steel in the springs. Has Detroit lost the ability to design even utility vehicles? Did the beancounters run amok again? Did they throw the prints for the

Unka' George [George McDuffee] ============ Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), U.S. president. Letter, 17 March 1814.

My diesel Mercedes wagon has a hydraulic levelling system. The car is rated for a 1000 Lbs load, a true half-ton.

IIRC the early Lumina APV had pneumatic leveling as an option. They had an air hookup just inside the tailgate on the left side for inflating beach balls etc. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

I've had to SOFTEN the springs on several Toyotas to keep the owners happy - - - .

automatic load lever. A few

The car came with an

in the trunk..

Both my 1988 NewYorker and my 1994 TransSport had those "Air ride" self levelers. Both had failed before I got the vehicles. The Chrysler one had been replaced and failed again soon after. The failure mode this time had the car almost standing on the front bumper when the compressor would not shut off and the release v alve would not release. I replaced the soft springs on both vehicles with "load handlers".

If it really worked, it would have chucked 'Hawkie' and all his buddies a long time ago!

I've turned over a new leaf! No more troll banter. If I slip, remind me.

Should get better with the beefier rear springs and resulting new attitude. If not you might consider a beefier sway bar since you're running fully loaded most of the time. (after you've confirmed all the steering parts are good)

Pete

That is the accessory air package I was referring to. You can inflate things with it, including tires.

IIRC the early Lumina APV had pneumatic leveling as an option. They had an air hookup just inside the tailgate on the left side for inflating beach balls etc. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

OK. But if you backslide, I'm going to smack you up the side of your head with one of their dirty sock puppets! ;-)

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 18:45:25 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, "Tom Gardner" quickly quoth:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You and Gunner both promise but never hold to it. Best of luck sticking with your resolution, though, Tawm.

-- Honor unto death, or at least unto discomfort.

The wife's extended cab broke a leaf at some point, she had a spring shop fix it, somewhere between 100 and 200.

My regular cab was sitting low, found out I had at least one broken leaf on each side, got a pair of spring packs from the junkyard for <

1. Kept the old top leaf from the original packs, cut the eyes off the new top leafs to use as overloads, no complaints after over a year...

--Glenn Lyford