I've had this annoying high-pitched rattle every time I go over a bump since last year. So I got under the vehicle to investigate, and started banging my hand on whatever I could find -- the exhaust, hard lines, clips, hangers etc., but nothing matched the sound.

Finally, one day, I was checking my brakes and I accidentally bumped into the leaf springs, and there it was, that sound which I recognized instantly. Well, it was this ...



Each leaf spring pack has two clips. One in front of the axle, and one behind. The rear clips on both sides were loose and rattling.

The front ones were intact. Here's what it should look like, with a rubber spacer.



I drove in some wood shims as a temporary measure, but they fell out right away.

Has anybody else experienced this issue? Did they just fall out? It sure didn't take very long.
A quick google search hasn't turned up any replacement parts yet ...

 

GM stealership just quoted me $17 for them. If they're gonna keep falling out then I would prefer a cheaper solution.

 

I have the fortunate of having a spring company here. I also had them make coil springs for my Olds, point is, if you have a distributor, (manufactuer) go to them.

 

I highly doubt that a new set will fall out as easily as your wood shims. Minus the year you've had the problem, how long did the originals last?

 

The van has 70,000km (43,000 mi). I've had it for 20,000 of those km.
Both sides fell out.
I sometimes get into full extension situations (wheel in the air)

 

Maybe a little RTV would help a new set stay in place.

 

who knows if maybe they split and fell apart

 

If they're the same part number front and rear, it's more likely that movement was the reason. I'd do the front ones just for good measure. That way, you can inspect them.

 

I'm thinking about taking an old bike inner tube, wrapping it around a few times, and hose clamping it LOL

 

I went to a local spring ship and showed them what I needed. The guy there brought out a piece of this stuff and gave it to me.



Unfortunately it's too narrow. So I decided to go with my crazy inner tube idea.
I took the clips off, and threaded a piece of inner tube over each clip, and put them back on. It's not pretty, but it works. And they shouldn't fall off anytime soon. Rattle gone.