MTFCA Forum

Hi, like many I suffer from Broken Top Front Leaf Spring Disorder(BTFLSD). It can be an embarassing condition especially in crowds. Does anyone sell these? Can they be hand made with a grinder cutting wheel from existing spring steel? My favorite vendor says that their supplier won't sell individual leaves.

Give me the length as I have them breeding in the barn!

Hank

Yes indeed, I am not sure of the length because all of my top leaves are broken. I do not have an intact example to measure. That's why I am not invited to all the cool model T kids parties...

Let me go and see in my big playhouse what I have. What time is the cake and ice cream?

They range from 8 1/2, 9, 9 1/2” total length.

Alright then let's go!

Henry K. Lee wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 11, 2020 4:52 pm

They range from 8 1/2, 9, 9 1/2” total length.

The single curve in a front spring means any longer leaf can be cut down to the length required. I use a chop saw for this.The arch in the spring can be beaten to the correct profile using a heavy ball pein hammer over a lump of channel steel.

Allan from down under.

Good to know, I can get the late style cut look easily but the nice early rounded end look? I was thinking trace the end of a good one with a marker on the new piece and use an angle grinder to cut it to the curve?

Allan wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 11, 2020 9:08 pm

The single curve in a front spring means any longer leaf can be cut down to the length required. I use a chop saw for this.The arch in the spring can be beaten to the correct profile using a heavy ball pein hammer over a lump of channel steel.

Allan from down under.

Ignacio....I may have one.

I don't think you have to worry about whether or not the ends are the later style or the early tapered & rounded end style. Being the top leaf, the ends should only be just barely visible, (if visible at all), when installed in the car. If it's an issue for you, just grind in the taper and round off the ends.

And so it turns out that the hay wagon front spring had 10 leaves probably to level it and the top leaf is a intact tapered, unbroken top spring hidden under the cross member! Yes indeed. I can use it to fix a good set of 1917 or before front spring that was broken. See picture at the end of this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13511&p=102215#p102215

I have a pile of 7 leaf spring leaf's. I don't think there are any tops, but you could shorten one. Free, if you don't mind paying for the shipping.

I'm prepping all of the parts for my ‘24 touring’s front axle for paint, including the spring leaves. After wire wheeling the rust and paint off of the spring leaves I found cracks in the top two. My plan was to replace them with the top two leaves out of the old spring assembly from my ‘25 express wagon that I replaced because it had lost much of its arch. However, the top two leaves in each set are different lengths as follows:

’24 touring top 2 leaves: 8-11/16, 13-1/4
’25 express wagon old top 2 leaves: 13-3/16, 14-7/8

The third leaf down in both sets are 18” +/— 1/16. Did the stack up change from ‘24 to ‘25? If not, which, if either, is correct?

It's likely that many spring leaves found on Ts are shop made replacements, and not exactly the correct length. There used to be several spring shops in this area, and they made and repaired a lot of springs. I've found a number of pieces of Model T front springs laying in the dirt where old oil camp roads used to be. These are usually one half of either the top or second front spring leaf, broken at the tie bolt. Evidently, it wasn't uncommon for these to break and be shed along the road, or what passed for a road.

The lengths of the top two leaves of the two older sets aren’t even close to each other. In fact the top leaf out of the old set from my ‘24 is about the same length as the second one down in the set from my ‘24 touring, yet the third leaves down in both sets are very close to the same.

Measuring the new set on my ‘25, I think the shorter set of top two leaves are correct.

Also, I note that all but the top leaf out of the ‘24 have Ford markings, some block letters, some script, but all are embossed (not stamped, but actually raised above the surface), which I assume would have to be done in the forging process.