I came out of the hospital from visiting my mother and found this little square metal piece about 1 inch square with a rectangular hole in the middle of it, dangling alongside the inside edge of my rear leaf spring on my 1978 pinto wagon.

 I reached down to see how loose it was and off it came so I have no idea if it was part of the leaf spring shackle or what. It looks shiny on two points at the edge like it was attached at that edge.

 If you need to see a picture of it Im trying to get one know. I need to know if my spring is going to fall apart now When I really need my car.

Tonyj1960, if you are worried about your springs... you should take the part you are talking about and your car to a local shop. have them put it on a hoist and take a look. Nothing better than a personal look and inspection vs. pictures on the internet. Find a local "experienced" mechanic and they should be able to look at all the places we can't see if you post pictures.

 Thanks I kow I have to do that asap. My mother fell Monday and we found out she broke her hip (shes 86(. All day yesterday they were telling her they were going to do the operation up until 530 then they changed it to Tuesday. Im going to try and find someone who can look at it today, but I have to try to get to the hospital this morning regardless so  Im going to keep my fingers crossed.

 Toni

It might be a part of one the so called straps that is around the spring. The reason why it's so called is it's made of steel and not flexible. Did this come off the front part of the spring ?

 I found it hanging alongside the bottom edge of the spring at the middle. It fell off so easy I couldnt tell if it came from between the leafs. But you can see lots of space between the leafs.

 So busy with my mother having surgery on her hip I havent found someone to look at it yet.

 Heres a link to a picture of the piece.

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/3816/0uxu.jpg

I looked at the spring pack on my 74 tonight and it has what appears to be a wear pad at the end of each leaf. I would think it might look somewhat like what your picture shows if they were out. Each of my leaves has a little gap between them because of this pads. Would it be possible that is what your seeing? I agree you should get it up in the air and have someone take a look at it.