Leaf Spring Problem...please help

[Bennett99]

This is my first posting on this site and I am also not a car expert so sorry if I don't use all the right terms. Basically I have a problem with my back left leaf spring and I have a few questions. There are four of the metal bars and the second one up completely broke just behind the axle and somehow got pushed under the thick short bar on the bottom. This is kind of stretching out the clamp and it makes noices when I go over bumbs. I know this isn't a great description so let me know if you have questions. I have probably been driving on it for a couple weeks now before I noticed and I was wondering how bad it is to be driving on it and the possible risks. I was also wondering how hard it would be to replace the leaf spring if I bought a new one. I went and talked to a parts guy at a dealership but I felt like he may not of been giving me straight answers. Thanks for the help.

[OffroadX]

It's not a critical problem, but should be fixed promptly. Replacing the leaf spring isn't terribly complicated, but can be rather frustrating. You'll need a couple of tall jack stands and the factory jack. Raise the rear up pretty high by jacking under the axle tube, put jack stands under the frame. Move the jack to a point on the axle tube between the leaf spring and the diff, and raise it until it is just supporting the axle. It's then pretty much a matter of removing the nuts from the U-bolts under the spring, and the bolts at the ends of the spring.
Problem is getting everything lined up just right again when putting it back together. Just be thankful it's the left side, not the right, no gas tank in the way.