Traction bar snubber

I attempted to upload 2 pictures the first time I asked the question I selected them but the upload didn't seem to do anything. I will try again. But the bottom line is this: The snubber on the passenger side is completely gone so the traction bar is tight against the lesf spring and I don't know how to separate the traction bar from the spring to install the new snubber which is like 1 3/4" high. On the drivers side there's a snubber there but it is smashed, again how do you separate the traction bar from the spring? People talk about adjusting them by cutting off a 1/4" like they are easily accessible.

The pictures uploaded upside down not sure why. The snubber on the driver's side is hard to see because it's dark. If you enlarge it or change the gamma you can see it better. 1st one is passenger's side.

Of course I realized that the snubbers shouldn't be laying on the mono-leaf springs which brought me to realize that the air shocks had sprung a very small leak somewhere. I haven't had time to trace the leak, of course, the mechanic I had look at it said there was none. I had encouraged him to put some air in before he checked for leaks which he didn't do. He said that 29psi was plenty except it wasn't cause he didn't find the leak. If he had put air in them he would have seen that they go up and they go down almost immediately. I tried tightening the valve but it wouldn't tighten yet when I sprayed it with soapy water nothing. Why is everything so abnormal on my car?

I had it pumped up to 71 the other night and the next day it was at 64psi. But even at 71 psi, the traction bars were still laying on the springs which was the sound that I was hearing the metal traction bar hitting the metal spring. There used to be a metal circle around the valve that told you what the limits were but that's gone. I don't know how or why but it is. I've read that they can go from 30 to 150 and other people have told me over 200. I don't know. Is there a way to find out how much air I can pump in?

Then I was told that the mono-leafs should be replaced just for safety reasons that they can do some real damage to the car if they snap. I started looking at conversion kits. They have them that won't change the stance of the car and that lower them 2" typically.

I was thinking that it would be better to get them higher so I wouldn't need the air shocks anymore then I wouldn't have to worry about leaking and I could get regular shocks which would probably ride better.

But with the whole mess collapsed how do I know where anything should be? And just putting on new leafs could change the stance from what I expect to something higher.
I think I need to be able to restore it at least momentarily to see where it was which means getting enough air in those shocks without blowing them apart.

I'm looking for 4 answers: should I use the leaf springs to replace the air shocks? What do you think I could put in the shocks, assuming there's not yet something else like the mono leaf having de-sprung to get it back to ride height at least long enough to get a measurement?

The last answer is regarding the Lakewood traction bars. It's a look, that goes with the car but I think most people have realized that these don't work as they should and have moved to the 4-link style. I don't know if those work either. What I know is I put my battery over top of the right rear axle and that's eliminated most of my hop. Should I even put the traction bars back on? Maybe I can put them back but decoratively so they really don't do anything.

The last answer is regarding the number of leaves. They have 4 or 5 multi-leaf springs available is there some reason to prefer one over another?

There's no connection from the traction bars to the differential.

There is no connection from the traction bars to the differential. I don't know how else to say it.

I think you mean the axle, not the differential. The problem seems to be that I have a slow leak in the air shocks and quite possibly a sprung mono-leaf spring(s). Not sure how one knows if the spring has sprung?

I've reposted, with minor updates, this is because I never really got any answers to the questions I asked.

Of course I realized that the snubbers shouldn't be laying on the mono-leaf springs which brought me to realize that the air shocks had sprung a very small leak somewhere. I haven't had time to trace the leak, of course, the mechanic I had look at it said there was none. I had encouraged him to put some air in before he checked for leaks which he didn't do. He said that 29psi was plenty except it wasn't cause he didn't find the leak. If he had put air in them he would have seen that they go up and they go down almost immediately. I tried tightening the valve but it wouldn't tighten yet when I sprayed it with soapy water nothing. Why is everything so abnormal on my car?

I had it pumped up to 71 the other night and the next day it was at 64psi. But even at 71 psi, the traction bars were still laying on the springs which was the sound that I was hearing the metal traction bar hitting the metal spring. There used to be a metal circle around the valve that told you what the limits were but that's gone. I don't know how or why but it is. I've read that they can go from 30 to 150 and other people have told me over 200. I don't know. Is there a way to find out how much air I can pump in?

Then I was told that the mono-leafs should be replaced just for safety reasons that they can do some real damage to the car if they snap. I started looking at conversion kits. They have them that won't change the stance of the car and that lower them 2" typically.

I was thinking that it would be better to get them higher so I wouldn't need the air shocks anymore then I wouldn't have to worry about leaking and I could get regular shocks which would probably ride better? Thoughts?

But with the whole mess collapsed how do I know where anything should be? And just putting on new leafs could change the stance from what I expect to something higher.
I think I need to be able to restore it at least momentarily to see where it was which means getting enough air in those shocks without blowing them apart.

I'm looking for 4 answers: should I use the leaf springs to replace the air shocks? What do you think I could put in the shocks, assuming there's not yet something else like the mono leaf having de-sprung to get it back to ride height at least long enough to get a measurement?

The last answer is regarding the Lakewood traction bars. It's a look, that goes with the car but I think most people have realized that these don't work as they should and have moved to the 4-link style. I don't know if those work either. What I know is I put my battery over top of the right rear axle and that's eliminated most of my hop. Should I even put the traction bars back on? Maybe I can put them back but decoratively so they really don't do anything.

The last answer is regarding the number of leaves. They have 4 or 5 multi-leaf springs available is there some reason to prefer one over another when replacing my mono leaf?