What to do with weary leaf springs?

[chstickl]

Hi there, my 37 Roadmaster hangs a bit low on the rear end. Even with no passengers and no luggage on board, the leaf springs are straight flat. Is there a way to rejuvenate my old ones, or to add or excahnge single leafs, or do you know any reasonably priced sources to buy complete new sets? Any tips are welcome. Cheers

[jscheib]

Christian,

Are there any heavy truck spring shops in your area. If the steel has been compromised, it would seem best to build a new set. the steel is heavy and to ship two sets,m if you found new here in the US would be expensive. In the US, some truck spring specialists will build new for you based on the springs you have for size and save the bolts and shackles.

John

[Guest Grant Magrath]

We have a company here in Christchurch, New Zealand called Bellamy and East, and they manufacture all types of heavy springs. The exchange rate's in your favour if you're having trouble finding a place.

Cheers

Grant

[Guest Harold Phillips]

There are spring shops that can rearch leaf springs,, I had a set done for an Olds. some years ago, Check with suspension shops to see if they have referrals

[Guest]

It is not difficult to rearch your leaf springs yourself. A bit time consuming and a little hard on your arms but really quite simple to do. I did mine 300,000 mile ago and have had no trouble since. The car has settled down about one half inch in the last 31 years. I suspect that because our roads are better than in the old days there is not so much strain on the springs.

I used a piece of railroad track about a foot long that I had as an anvil. I placed it on its side, put the spring leaf across the head and base of the track , with the curve up, and struck it about three times across the width between the head and the base (where it was unsupported) with a ten pound ball pean hammer. If you had an hammer with a blunt narrow head it would probably be faster. Working about four inches apart keep doing this from end to end of the leaf. Repeat as necessary. You would be surprised how much you can rearch a leaf in ten minutes. An eighty year old blacksmith showed me how to do this in 1950. Of course he had a proper spacer for the top of his anvil and also had a triphammer. All that did was make him quicker and less tired than I was.

[Mark Shaw]

And make sure you wear ear protection when you start swinging that hammer! Could you do this with a press instead?

[chstickl]

After your hints I did some research in Germany and found several shops who can to that. Indeed this seems to be the state of the art method to facelift old leaf springs. (see picture) The picture came from a job where someone wanted his car to be lower. That´s why he hammered on the outside of the arch. According to their statements it is important that after re-arching the leafs, there is no gap between the leafs. It seems that it takes some experience to doing it in a way that afterwards both springs have the same arch and tension. A good shop also has some UV-lights to detect cracks etc.

This is what I will try before spoiling it with my own (lacking) skills.

Thanks for your advice, Christian

[jscheib]

Christian,

I understand there is some plastic film that they put between each individual spring. I believe it makes the ride a bit smoother and also will prevent the instividual steel peices from touching and creating a metal to metal contact and resulting rust. I will try to get the name of the material so perhaps you can find it in Germany. The problem is, you will need longer bolts to hold the stell pieces together and maybe the car will rind a few mm higher.

John

[Mark Shaw]

I bought some of this in a spray can for my leaf springs...

EZ-Slide is black graphite coating designed for any farm, home or industrial applications where a smooth, low-friction coating is needed. EZ-Slide bonds quickly to any clean metal, wood, concrete and most plastic surfaces. Available in two different formulas, EZ-Slide can be applied with a brush or spray can. RB-9512 is the oil-based formula, available in gallons, quarts, and aerosol spray cans. QB-9511 is the waterborne formula, available in gallon containers.

[McDar]

Have also re-arched many a leaf for circle track cars way back when. Used a engine block instead of a railroad track. I don't think a press would work because the molecules have to be "jiggled" into a new position, not stretched. Good firm blows, not round house punches, for more than several minutes is needed. When a spring worked well we would disassemble it and trace it's arch(s) on a piece of plywood so we could duplicate it the next time we had to drag out the hammer and block. You can just use the finished sides leaves as templates for the unfinished side on a street car. If too much, reversing the procedure de-arches them.