ha ha ha ha ha ... it wont spontaneously combust but it will friction bind the leafs and make racket.... if you get in touch with Eaton or Posi's you can get some new teflon sliders to stick in there.
Don't worry - No Boom You can run them without the strips, I have done it on Falcons and Rancheros. There is NO perceptible noise but it does make it ride a little stiffer. Probably slightly increases wear also, but there have been thousands of leaf spring designs without anything in between since the beginning of automotive time.
May be common knowledge here, but if you break the spring packs down and wire wheel the surfaces, then put on a LIGHT coat of heavy grease, the ride will get a LOT better and quieter.
That it does... the only problem is that it also gives road debris something to stick to. The best route ( other than putting a damn hairpin or a four bar in ) is to use the teflon sliders.
Regardless of whether you're using Teflon sliders or not, the best thing you can do is to carefully disassemble the spring and use a D/A sander to smooth out the mating surfaces of all of the leaves. Take them up to at least 400-grit. A common repair on big trucks is replacing the worn-out plastic between the leaves. The need for this can be minimized if the plastic isn't being ground up by being sandwiched between pieces of rough, hot-rolled steel. Dave http://www.roadsters.com/
The idea of smoothing out the mating surfaces of leaf springs may have come from Jim Jacobs, or perhaps someone before him. Dave http://www.roadsters.com/
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