Rebuild a leaf spring?

[jaybee]

Under what circumstances would you clean up a used leaf spring & reassemble vs buying new?  I'd like to consider doing that, maybe even putting some plastic sliders between the leaves, rearching, and some other modifications, but I'm wary of doing all that work on springs that turn out to be shot.

[UGLY OLDS]

Watch for cracks around the center hole .....Gouges & grooves on top of the leaves from the end of the leaves above them rubbing without lube....."Curled" or bent leave ends ...Lots of wire brushing ..Dirty-hard work...( Also be careful taking them apart...LOTS of energy stored there...)

[couper]

Jaybee, I think the age of the spring is an important factor. I had my original 1934 rear leafs re-arched only to have them both flatten out within a month. The old metal fatigued. (one side worse than the other). I ended up buying a pair of identical replacement springs with sliders from posies. They've been perfect.
Lance

[enjenjo]

lots of variable here. The condition of the spring to begin with is only one of them. If all else fails, as long as the leaves are not broken, they can be retempered. Rearching old springs is not always successful, unless they are retempered.

[jaybee]

Would you make sure both sides came off the same car?  Thinking that might be important to get even action side to side.

[enjenjo]

Would you make sure both sides came off the same car?  Thinking that might be important to get even action side to side.

If the springs came from different sources, just mix the leaves from side to side. 1st, 3rd, and 5th from one side, assembled with 2nd, 4th. and 6th form the other. It has always worked for me

[38HAULR]

And  teflon inserts between the leaves gives ,em some bounce,chamfer the ends of the subsequent leaves........Frank

[couper]

lots of variable here. The condition of the spring to begin with is only one of them. If all else fails, as long as the leaves are not broken, they can be retempered. Rearching old springs is not always successful, unless they are retempered.

I still have my old 34 springs, and plan to build a 34 2 dr standard sedan for Kristy, so....just out of curiosity, what do you suppose a spring shop would charge to re-arch AND temper a pair of springs compared to buying a new pair? I never thought to ask nor did they offer tempering. Good point
Lance

[Mikej]

One of the car magazine just had an article on this but like normal I can't remember which one :oops:    Just rearching doesn't last very long. They need to be tempered.

[enjenjo]

lots of variable here. The condition of the spring to begin with is only one of them. If all else fails, as long as the leaves are not broken, they can be retempered. Rearching old springs is not always successful, unless they are retempered.

I still have my old 34 springs, and plan to build a 34 2 dr standard sedan for Kristy, so....just out of curiosity, what do you suppose a spring shop would charge to re-arch AND temper a pair of springs compared to buying a new pair? I never thought to ask nor did they offer tempering. Good point
Lance

Arrond here, about $100 a pair. Retempering will not fix cracked leaves, so check them carefully.

[jaybee]

Thanks for the input.  After I started talking about this I realized that I have a full spring pack for one side but only a main leaf on the other.  I broke the cardinal rule "never throw anything away".  Hmm, have to think about it.

[brti]

I might be abit "out there" :oops:  but,,,,,, I have an old willys pickup and I pulled off the original 8 leaf front springs and put on a set of 11 leaf springs that I just went over and cleaned them up and checked for cracks etc and wound up with a smoother ride (if that is possible in a willys)
The leafs were thinner and more flexible even though there were more of them.,,,,, oh well,, see what I mean,, sort of "out there" :(D)