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Quick answer: As of 2026, leaf springs are still the default rear suspension on heavy trucks, trailers, pickups, vans and buses. Passenger cars have all but given up on them — the Chevrolet Corvette being the famous exception. The quickest way to tell if a vehicle runs leaf springs: look at the rear axle. If there’s a stack of curved steel plates sitting on top of it, that’s a leaf pack.
Who Uses Leaf Springs, and Where Are They Mounted?
The broad picture, based on what actually ships out of our plant:
| Vehicle type | Typical setup |
| Heavy trucks | Standard on the rear axle; many front axles too |
| Trailers | The backbone of trailer suspension |
| Pickups | Still the go-to rear suspension |
| Vans / Coaches | Few-leaf or parabolic springs out back |
| Some older SUVs | Rear leaf springs |
| A handful of performance cars | Composite leaf springs |
Trucks: The Heartland of Leaf Springs
Do all trucks have leaf springs? Not all of them — but it’s close. On heavy trucks, the rear suspension is a leaf pack in nearly 100% of cases, and up front, leaf springs are still the mainstream choice while independent suspension remains the minority. Light trucks depend on spec: load-rated versions lean leaf, comfort-oriented trims may run an independent front axle.
One thing worth knowing if you’re specifying springs for a truck fleet: heavy truck leaf springs are built to order. The same tractor hauling different trailers can need different packs — different leaf counts, different specs. If you’re not sure what fits, ask us before you guess.
Trailers: Nothing Better Has Come Along
The trailer industry is the most loyal leaf spring customer in the world. What a trailer wants from its suspension is simple: cheap, tough, and replaceable at any roadside shop. Leaf springs check all three boxes, and no one has built a better business case for anything else.
They’re also one of the highest-volume categories in the aftermarket — low unit price, high reorder rate. Anyone in parts wholesale knows how that math works.
Pickups: Still Leaf Spring Country Out Back
Plenty of people assume pickups should have moved on from leaf springs by now. They haven’t. A large share of the pickups on the road today still ride on rear leaf packs.
The aftermarket for pickup springs is huge, and it spans the whole user base — work trucks, the towing and RV crowd, off-road builders. Of all the segments we ship to, it’s the one where customization matters most: adding a leaf, changing rates, tailoring ride height to the job.
The Lightweight Frontier
This is where leaf spring engineering has moved fastest. Few-leaf taper designs and parabolic packs have closed most of the comfort and weight gap that coil springs used to own — a modern parabolic setup replaces a five-leaf parallel pack with just two or three leaves.
Long-distance coaches, touring buses, and school buses in many countries lean on few-leaf tapered or parabolic springs for ride quality. Higher-end models go with air suspension. The point is that “old steel stack” no longer tells you anything about how a vehicle rides.
Will Leaf Springs Be Phased Out in 2026?
No. And we don’t see a challenger on the horizon.
Heavy trucks and trailers have no replacement need. Electrification changes the powertrain, not the suspension — if anything, battery weight raises the load requirement on the axle. Meanwhile the technology itself keeps moving: fewer leaves, lighter packs, better steel. Leaf springs have stayed competitive in exactly the places that need them.
One more point for anyone in this business: the global trailer fleet is still growing, pulled along by e-commerce logistics. We stay bullish on the leaf spring aftermarket as a whole.
FAQ
Q:Do all trucks have leaf springs?
A:Nearly all heavy trucks run leaf springs on the rear axle — close to 100%. Front axles favor leaf springs too, though some comfort-oriented light trucks use independent front suspension.
Q:Do any cars still use leaf springs?
A:A few. The Chevrolet Corvette runs a transverse composite leaf spring and has for decades. Apart from rare cases like that, modern passenger cars have switched almost entirely to coil springs.
Q:Are leaf springs on the front or rear axle?
A:Mostly the rear. Some heavy trucks run leaf springs on both axles.
Q:What vehicles are most likely to use leaf springs?
A:Vehicles built to carry weight and keep running: heavy trucks, trailers, pickups, vans, and buses.
Spec by Vehicle Type — or Send Us a Drawing
Everlasting is an established suspension spring manufacturer based in Qingdao, China. Our production line covers the full range: multi-leaf packs for heavy trucks, trailer springs, taper-leaf and parabolic springs. Before you order or request a quote, send over your target vehicle and load parameters — we’ll come back with recommended specs and pricing.
Get a quote: Contact us