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[oletrucks] Patricks shifter & leaf springs

To: oletrucks@autox.team.net
Subject: [oletrucks] Patricks shifter & leaf springs
From: Jack Halton<safesix@earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 12:02:27 -0700
Hi All,

Been lurking here for a while and decided to re-join the fun...

Re Patrick's shifter - this isn't one of the original B&M shifters, is it? 
Patrick replaced all these with Hurst Competition Plus units years ago. The B&M 
units were notorious for hanging up in the way you describe. The Hurst shifters 
can do it too, if the alignment is incorrect, shift forks worn or linkage is 
bent. All those little bushings and clips need to be in good shape too. Hurst 
dealers sell a "Pit Pack" (grossly overpriced" to renew all these little bits. 
When set up correctly, with all of the rest of the Patrick's kit, it works 
beautifully. 

The leaf spring article was probably from Bob ADler, Advance Design restorer, 
tech advisor and columnist for "This Old Truck". Bob's a very knowledgeable guy 
and has been a help to many an old truck hobbyist, but even he would admit to 
being a bit of a purist...not that there's anything wrong with that! He's 
correct that the load rating of an AD truck is dependent on spring friction and 
the teflon liners can defeat that...But, in a lowered, street-rodded or 
"cruiser" truck, ride quality may be of more concern than load capacity. 
Removing leaves, adding liners etc can take some of the jolt out of the ride, 
but compared to a modern truck, the leaf spring stack is too narrow and short 
for anything approaching a smooth ride (Especially in a 3/4ton truck). 

So....If you want to stay stock and keep your load capacity, leave out the 
liners. If not, clean 'em up, add teflon strips, gas shocks and maybe take out 
a leaf or two. But just don't expect it to ride like an S10!

Jack / Winter Park FL (rain, rain go away!) 
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959

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