Helper Springs

[Wildercyde]

I had the same problem as the guy from the last thread with sinking rear suspension and today I replaced the bottom leaf spring with a longer one with a smaller radius. However, I must say that over certain speed bumps with no weight on the rear that you have to go REALLY slow or you'll slam the tires into the ground when you come off of the bump.

Now I carry band equipment that has a total weight of less than 7 people. I have yet to load up the van and see how much better the ride height is over the stock springs.

Now my question is...with no weight in the vehicle, since the van rides a lot stiffer, does this do any damage to the vehicle?

Jon

[Ed_Strong]

Where did you get the helper spring from and how much did it cost?
I'm guessing that the only damage if any will be on the tires if you're not careful around bumps and pot holes... everything else is doing the same function as before, just in a stiffer matter!

[Ed_Strong]

How many layers of leafs is the 95 Grand Caravan supposed to have as a standard equipment?
I crawled under my van today and saw one single leaf running front to back on each side of the axle, is that normal? Can someone please help me and verify...

[EVH5150]

Ed,
Just checked my 94 Caravan and it appears to have three to four leaf springs on each side.
This weekend I had a fully loaded van and had no problems on bumps. That may be your problem, having only one leaf. Seems strange that your caravan would only have one though.

[Ed_Strong]

Thanks for your help EVH5150, I was hoping it was a desing change from '94 to '95 to go with a single leaf, but no such luck.
I tried to check with my chilton manual, but the little diagram of the leafs of the suspension on section 8 in the book didn't show that well.
So I turned over to the rear brakes section and the picture clearly show 4 leafs on the pack, so it seems I'll have to go around from junkyard to junkyard hunting for a god set of leaf springs... BUMMER!