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Spring weight differences


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Anyone know the weight difference between a 44000 pound spring for the tractor vs a 34000 pound spring? Can it be swapped? I ask because last year i had my trunion bushing and spring packs replaced and my dad advised me to go with 34000 pound springs because he said it would ride nicer and be lighter. At the time i asked mack and my mechanic and they both said either you cannot or its not a good idea, i forget which. COULD it have been done? What would be the disadvantage or advantage? i haul 73280 with this setup too.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race!

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I have rubber bushings and i am sure i went with 44s because i was talked out of going to a 34 or a 38. My dad said it would ride nicer and be lighter but the mechanic and mack said either we couldnt do it or it wasnt recommended so im not sure why they would of said that or what the advantage or disadvantage would have been. I have seen other trucks or truck paper and rbauction sell and they had 38s on almost 90 percent of them have 44s i never knew why though. I am not complaining about my comfort of the ride i just wanted an answer to this mystery.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race!

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Yes that helps if i were going to do this project or if anyone else is, i really want to know what the weight difference is and what the difference is between a 34 38 44, advantage and disadvantage? one ride better? one lighter? if you get too light a spring will it not ride right? I was told i should stick with 44s because i only haul gravel and do construction and i needed the extra support?

Slow and Steady Wins the Race!

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id stick with the 44 housings with the 44 springs. why would anyone wanna change them around? the weight you save will only be a few pounds and why bother period? you have 44's and thats it. any camelback rides horrible empty anyways and there wont be that much of a weight savings to even matter. not only that if you change to 38 springs on 44 housings and you break one, you will wish you left it alone. not only that but the door tag is probably stamped with 44's and if you change shit around it wont be legal anymore

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Doesn't it save a few Hundred pounds? Do you know from experience what a 34 38 44 all feel like in a tractor trailer setup empty vs loaded? I never thought about it being legal anymore though.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race!

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My old sales book show a RD600S with 44k standard. If you spec multileaf 34k springs and axles, a weight reduction of 465#. If you spec multileaf 38k springs and axles, a weight reduction of 443#.

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Holy crap, im kinda disappointed that i didn't go with the 34k like i wanted to then. I had it all apart, isolaters , trunion bushings, and spring packs, I would of left the axles the same though they told me no though :blush:

Slow and Steady Wins the Race!

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But how much weight does it even save? So maybe that is why they told me i couldn't make the switch was because i would have to change the housing too? I think, because it was just easier to say no.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race!

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...not only that but the door tag is probably stamped with 44's and if you change shit around it wont be legal anymore

I highly doubt there are any laws prohibiting altering the suspension. When I broke a 12K leaf on my steer axle, I would've had to wait for any spring I wanted to put in there to be ordered...so I upgraded to the 16K front springs. I'm not sure why anyone would want to downgrade their suspension...especially in a rock bucket...but to each their own. I've got 38K rears on air ride right now and WISH I had 44-46K at a minimum. I'm usually heavy on my drives (35.5K neighborhood), and although still under the 38K, I just hate running weights that close to the spec'd maximum, and certainly wouldn't put springs on a tandem that were only rated to 34K.

For what it's worth, the ride is much smoother with the 16K springs up front as opposed to the 12K springs. I used to have a pair of clean spots on the underside of the frame rails where the bump-stops made contact when I'd hit a dip in the road or ease over a speed bump...but they haven't touched since I upgraded the springs. You've got to make sure you have enough spring to not only hold the weight, but to catch it when you go over a bump in the road. When they aren't strong enough to do the job, hard parts start smacking together and that is a heck of a lot rougher than any bump that can be absorbed by the suspension.

When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way!
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  • 3 weeks later...

So i found out the weight differences of the 38k and 44k

The 38k is 312 pounds per spring pack making a pair weigh in at 624 pounds

The 44k is 353 pounds per spring pack making a pair weigh in at 706 pounds

The 38k is 6 inches tall of steel

The 44k is 7.5 inches tall of steel.

So if i was kicking myself for not getting the 38k instead of the 44k to save weight, now i feel better!!!

Its only a 82 pound savings!

Slow and Steady Wins the Race!

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Did you remove everything ac related from under the hood just to save weight?

Rowdy removed it cuz he knew it would be $500- $1000 per year to keep it working. Thankfully he isn't a panty waist. - Brad

ps. I hope I didn't offend anyone that is a panty waist, but A/C systems are a real pain.

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Just pipin in on a rainy day, don't know who's doin your a/c work.....U may want to find someone else . I rebuilt my a/c system in my R modle about 8 years ago , spent about $12 or $1400 ( new comp,evap.cond,dryer, lines, the whole kabang) I put a can of gas in it for the first time this year . I figure that to around $175 a year so far + 1 can of gas and it will freeze you out of the truck in South Mississippi. Not a bad investment ,its hard to keep the inside clean with the windows down anyways. My first truck was a 1969 IHC fleetstar 2000d tandem dump with a 250 cummins between the seats. I still have it. Get in that little jessy on a site job by the hour ,never get out of the low side in august. you will appreciate a little air. I'm shure most will agree with me on the weight issue,'' Get a Freightliner'' if you are interested in weight savings

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Did you remove everything ac related from under the hood just to save weight?

Rowdy removed it cuz he knew it would be $500- $1000 per year to keep it working. Thankfully he isn't a panty waist. - Brad

ps. I hope I didn't offend anyone that is a panty waist, but A/C systems are a real pain.

Close...

The bug screen behind the grille was loose and had rubbed a hole in the condenser before I ever bought the truck. After 3 years of not getting around to fixing it, it was going to need a condenser, compressor, dryer, lines....pretty much everything north of the firewall, as well as probably some of the valves and lines behind it. It was going to cost WAY more than I was willing to spend fixing the AC. When I got the new charge air cooler, I left the condenser out....no point in placing a broken part back into the truck. Once that was out, I decided I may as well pull the rest of the parts & pieces that were needing to be changed....and then the brackets and such looked out of place without the components bolted to them, so I removed them as well.

After listening to the big boss at the company I'm leased to going on and on at the safety meeting about what all they are doing to cut tare weights and the importance of maximizing your loads each and every trip and what it adds up to, I decided to weigh the parts & pieces I had removed. The next safety meeting when the big boss was carrying on in the same manner, I mentioned how much weight I saved by eliminating the AC. He laughed and said if he tried that, he wouldn't be able to find anybody to drive his trucks. Guess there are a lot of panty wastes in this industry.

Long story short, I removed it because it was broke, and I'm too much of a penny-pinching tight wad to fix it.

When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way!
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like clock work my a/c took another dump. not going to fix it. Well not factory. looking into putting a reddot unit on. factory air in the truck sucked and times it just never cooled right. when we get home next month if I do not fix it I am thinking of leaving the dog home for the first time in 8 years. To hot for him in the truck. But we are sleeping in motels at night for the most part unless we are lucky enough to have temps in the 50's at night and sleep in the truck.

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