MTFCA Forum

Hi all,
I took my front springs apart and marked each one on the front. How important is it to replace the spring exactly as they were when all together? Would there be any benefit to put every other one backwards? Or, put the pack in the same order but all facing backwards as opposed to the original way? Thanks in advance.
John

Good question. My way of thinking would be to alternate as you suggested, to distribute uneven wear into a new pattern.

It would be shortsighted to reassemble ANY spring with original wear that has not been reworked to remove all traces of it.

i put them in the proper order. Sometimes I need to replace a leaf from another spring if one is broken. I like to grind a slight curve on the bottom of each leaf where it rides on the one below and lubricate each one before I bolt together. It really doesn't matter whether they are swapped from one side to the other as they are symatrical
Just be sure the bushing is in good condition as well as the shackle.The front spring usually fits right in but the rear spring is quite strong. If you place the head of the bolt in the crossmember with the pad between the crossmember and the spring, you can put a short 2x4 block under each end and let down the weight of the frame with body to compress the spring. You might need some weight in the back of the car. If you have a spring stretcher you might be able to do it without. Sometimes you can leave the spring perch nuts loose on the axle housing and get the spring to reach and then tighten up the nuts and place the cotter pins.
Norm

Hi again,
I forgot some information. I wire brushed all surfaces of the leaves, then ground the underside of where the springs wore a little indent on the lower spring. I also ground a little of the lower spring to "remove" the edge of the indent. Then put on a coating of slip plate. All leaves now slide beautifully. I think I'll put the leaves in the same order and put them all facing backwards. The original axle had a slight bend, so I had another spare that looks straight. The real test will be with the caster checking when it's all together.
John

I assemble in original arrangement. To me, mixing them up is a little like turning a bearing cap end for end to 'even out the wear'. They assemble better too, IMHO. Round over the bottoms of the ends, slip-plate coat, paint, reassemble with new center bolts, clips, bushings. I'd NEVER grind the divots on the top side, that's a bad place to add stress risers from the grinding. YMMV, jb

With respect, James, if you feel that removing or blending the acute notches in the tops of leaves induces stress, I believe you may have an incomplete understanding of what stress risers are.

Ensuring that each leaf remains firmly locked into it's lower cousin negates much of the benefit of Slip Plate, and is not going to lead to a better ride or longer spring life in the least.

I certainly concede that if someone were to go after the area with an angle grinder and gouge things out willy-nilly, at best the spring will be defaced and worst, ruined, but careful remediation of the area with proper technique removes only a very tiny amount of material and is essentially undetectable. The resultant finish is a smooth, stress-free length of spring steel...i.e., no stress risers.

With respect, Scott " Round over the bottoms of the ends" stated in my post resolves the issue you describe. jb

Yes, rounding the bottom edge is PART of the fix as it reduces the amount of reintroduced wear. Unfortunately, under full flex, you are still crashing over the edges left on the tops of the leaf if they are not removed, and thus are not enjoying the best ride the car can potentially give.

I offer this bit of extra information for anyone anticipating working on their spring(s) in the future...I don't expect you to agree with me, so please don't view this as an effort to try to convince you. That ship apparently sailed already and that's OK.