1996 at 420k miles: replace front coil springs?

[Solar1]

Hello folks, I will soon be giving my 96 a good "going over" installing new shocks brake/fuel lines, injectors, and anything else I find as I go through the truck.

One concern was the front coils springs.
I really have not come across any threads here or other forums regarding front coil replacement.
Forgive my lack of knowledge, but are the front coil springs considered "good for life" or do they in fact, change over time, requiring replacement?

I imagine the weight of the 12V up there must fatigue the coils at some point.
I have 420K miles on the truck.
The truck seems to to have lost it's original "tight" ride feeling and I don't mind replacing parts to maintain the truck. I do also plan on replacing the control arms and bushings as I go through the suspension looking for issues.
Any thoughts or real experience to share?
Thanks!

 

[tomblue01]

I'm curious too.

 

[fest3er]

Real experience? Shocks really only control bounce; they provide little control over steering, though they can have some effect. What does control steering?

• suspension bushings (front mostly, but rear also to a degree)
• tie rod ends
• ball joints / king pins
• track bar
• steering gear; there's a *lot* of moment arm at the end of the gear's sector shaft that wears out the bearings; a sector shaft stabilizer makes a *large* difference
• steering shaft and associated bearings
• front end alignment
• stabilizer links
• dragging brake caliper
• rear spring shackles
• tires (a Dodge Ram with tires that have 'weak' sidewalls and/or low pressure, and/or are oversized can wallow like a pig in muck; one with load range F tires--like the Yokohama 19.5" TY303s I had for 100k miles--can make the P/U drive like a sports car.
• wheels; a wheel that flexes more than a bit will affect steering
• steering dampener

Ovr the 23 years I've been driving my '98,

• Replacing the track bar made a small difference
• periodically replacing tie rod ends made a difference
• Adding the steering stabilizer bearing to hold the sector shaft in place made a significant difference
• Replacing the control arm bushings at around 200k miles made a *huge* difference; they may seem tight, but they are really worn out after 90k miles or so
• Recently, replacing the center link, drag link, tie rod ends, track bar, etc. eliminated a lot of wander

I was going to have the rear bushings and shackles replaced, but the shackle 'mounts' are rusted enough that the mechanic wouldn't replace the shackles until the mounts could be replaced and bolted/welded in place.

 

[GAmes]

I've never even considered replacing mine.

 

[Solar1]

i have routinely maintained(replaced) most of the above, with the exception of the control arms/bushings (overdue). I also installed the steering stabilizer brace which eliminated death wobble.

 

[DavidC]

Somewhere there has to be a spec for front and rear bumper height. When I lived in Pa. ( a long time ago ) part of the safety inspection was measuring those items. If someone knows or can find those specs. you will know if your sagging or not. Maybe in a FSM.

 

[Joe Mc]

Three of the best things I did on my front end (in addition to all that fest3er mentioned) were:
1- Converting to 3rd gen track bar. I had tried replacing with stock (Moog) and the ball joint wore out in quick order, perhaps 20k miles. Put another, warranty, on and same thing. The 3rd gen bar has been solid for over 100k.
2- Tubular control arms (got them at Topgunz Customs). I had to replace them once, after ordering new bushings and they were wrong size. I still have the old arms and intend to use them on a 4 link rear I plan to build for my hot rod, I can get correct bushings thru Energy Suspension didn't know that before.
3- New PSC steering box got it at Geno's. Although I had the box stabilizer I couldn't use it with the PSC box without extreme modifications due to size of PSC box. It makes the stock one look very small as it has a much larger bottom sector shaft bearing and, I believe, it has a top bearing whereas the stock doesn't. It was a tight fit between the engine and frame but once installed there's ample room.
The steering is rock solid now, for the last 90k miles.

 

[NIsaacs]

Is your truck a 4x4 or 4x2? I don't see a sig.

 

[b2bomber]

If you find your springs are bad, my truck has 150k and I replaced them with Carli springs. I will give you mine if you take care of shipping. I am not on all the time, so give me some time to respond ha.

 

[Solar1]

Is your truck a 4x4 or 4x2? I don't see a sig.

mine is a 4x4

 

[Iron Duke II]

I haven't considered swapping the coil springs out (yet). The only issue I have now is a very little bit of slop in the original oem steering shaft.
The DW was not bad when I bought the truck, but the following have been installed since.
BD Steering Stabilizer Bar, Moog Track Bar, Moog Ball Joints, Moog Tie Rod Ends, Moog Control Arm Bushings, Moog Stabilizer Bar Links.

I'm looking at installing a Dorman replacement steering shaft with the following in the future.