2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission New rear springs on my 2001 1500

[CUMMINZ]

My son and I took on a neat project a couple weeks ago. Back last year I purchased a 1500 club cab 4x4 for my hunting trips. We built a ramp and mounted it in the bed to cratle my new John Deere Gator 525. I then purchased 2 sets of aluminum ramps at Walmart. A friend of mine welded the ramps together to give me 2 ramps 24"s wide. The mounting system worked great for me to load & unload the Gator by myself while deer/bear hunting this year. The 01 only had 56k miles on it and the truck did great. The Gator weighs 1200#s and it squatted the rear springs down onto the large overload. I called a friend in Charlotte that has a spring shop and he wanted $500. 00 to add one rear leaf. My wife said forget that. I visited a local scrap yard and purchased a pair of leaf springs. We took both sets apart and cut the main leafs to fit onto my existing set. We also took one of the shorter leafs and then added 2 leafs to both sides of my existing springs. The whole job cost me $25. 00 . . The truck was lifted about 1. 5"s and it still rides great. Have not loaded the Gator yet.