Who had "rubber boots" put on leaf springs?

Hutch · June 17, 2002

I saw a post (I think on this board) that someone had these square rubber boots installed on the ends of the bottom, heavy duty leaf spring to stop the springs from slapping against each other. For the life of me I can't find that message now. If anyone knows about this, please respond, I need the part number.

Thanks,

Hutch

MountaineerTom · June 17, 2002

Here you go: Spring Insulator Thread The part number is on the page in the link in that thread. Do a search for "insulator" and you'll see a couple others, if needed.

Not sure if those insulators are the same for both 1500, 2500, or 3500 though. A dealer should be able to tell you. Verify the part number too before ordering as GM sometimes changes part numbers.

Hutch · June 17, 2002

Bingo! That's it! Thanks, Tom.

Hutch

GreenRado · June 17, 2002

Hutch, please keep us posted about whether and how well these insulators actually work, if you go ahead with them. I have the same issue, and I think there's more to it that just the overload spring slapping.

Thx

JEBar · June 18, 2002

Had rubber bushings put in mine (dealer found bulletin about it) didn't stop problem ... new springs on order and should be replaced next week...have noticed that bottom leaf spring on both sides doesn't line up with rest of springs, turned to where about 3/4" off at each end

Hutch · June 18, 2002

JEBar,

Do you know where I can find the bulletin? My dealer says he can't find one so he can't help me. I told him, "There is a problem, you agree, we have a possible fix, why can't you try it?" He said, "Because nothing is broken or malfunctioning and there is no bulletin for this so GM won't pay for the insulators."

Geez people, it would cost them a whole $30! In my business, the customer comes FIRST!!! In their business they have the attitude of, "What customer, you're lucky we're here!"

I do have another dealer I can try but it's VERY inconvenient.

Hutch

MountaineerTom · June 18, 2002

Hutch,

I think those things are around $30.00 each.

When the dealer installed mine, they didn't mention a TSB just for installing the insulators. I mentioned to them that I had heard of them though, and they installed them after first telling me it was my exhaust hitting the shock. They have worked great for me and eliminated the noise I was hearing.

I think what JEBar is referring to is the bushings out on the ends of the springs, where they conect to the frame. Maybe not though.

Good luck with it, I think I'd try giving that other dealer a try. If I come accross any TSB info, I'll let you know.

GreenRado · June 18, 2002

Just for the sake of completeness, I had my leaf springs replaced under warranty because the originals were extremely loud, and it worked for about 15K miles, now it's back but not as loud. ???

Anyone ever notice that when the leaf springs get wet, the noise goes away? That's why I am leaning toward a design and/or implementation issue and not just the helper slapping. I may just cram a sheet of rubber between the helpers and others to see if this quiets the noise at all.

JEBar · June 18, 2002

Hutch.... Called the service manager at my dealership. He got info from calling GM's help desk (for lack of a better term) ... they installed GM part number 15604176...these rubber pads/bushings or whatever they are called are supposed to dampen the impact when the overload springs kick in...hope this helps you, as noted above, it did not resolve the problem with my truck ???

JEBar · June 29, 2002

Yesterday dealer installed completely new set of rear springs including the rubber spacers mentioned above...too soon to tell if fix is going to last but on drive home, no sign of the problem :blush: