Technical Dearching springs with a tubing bender

I've seen guys talk about de-arching springs with a similar cheap hydraulic tubing bender. Happened to be in horrible freight yesterday and saw they're fairly cheap. Has anyone here de-arched springs with one that could give tips? Id obviously start with a second set of springs in case one cracks or I completely screw up. And I know to keep track of the curves as I go for reference. Really thinking on pulling the trigger

 

Watching with interest.

 

I use a regular hydraulic press, because I have it already. That might work if you use it on the narrowest setting.
Trace the free arc of the leaf on something before you start bending, then you will have a reference

 

Nope, I've always used a sledge hammer and a big anvil....

Before you go bending anything, take the spring still bolted together and stand it on the floor, with both ends on the floor and the arch up measure from the floor to the top of the spring at the center bolt, because this is were the car weight rides and write it down.

Next take the spring apart, then lay the main leaf on its side and take a piece of chalk and trace the main spring on the floor, opposite side of where the spring pack goes.

Now when you bend you will have a pattern on the floor showing exactly how far you've moved it. Then ***emble and measure height and you will know exactly how much height change you have in the entire spring...


...

 

I would really love to have a regular shop press. While not out of budget I really don't have anywhere to keep one unless it lived outside lol

 

I forgot to mention the tubing press I was looking at comes with a smooth anvil. Not just the notched ones for tubing

 

Bennetts Customs in Australia did exactly that in a youtube video a week or so back. Check it out. He successfully re-arched the leaf springs reversing the spring eyes in the process.

 

You won't be able to use any of those half round anvils. You need to make a sharper bend. Probably have to make one

 

Anvil I was talking about it coming with looks like a 1"x2" of rounded iron looking like it was cut off a body dolly

 

That actually looks familiar similar to the included die I was talking about

 

Did this experiment

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/spring-reversal-experiment.1329298/

 

This summer I might actually make an instructional video of doing leaf spring arching and de-arching with the old sledge and anvil.

Lord knows I don't have many years of swinging a sledge left in me so it might be a good time to do it...

. ....

 

I probably have plenty of years left. But that mentality is part of why I'm trying to do***ent so much on my YouTube and build threads. Example is me swapping flexplates without pulling engine or trans. Found countless people twenty years in age either direction that didn't realize it was possible

 

I use my 12-ton Harbor Freight press. Works great.

 

My uncle gave me his HF tube bender. I modified the smallest anvil by cutting ends off. I also drilled two holes close to center and used the factory pins there. I made a “gauge” from threaded rod to keep track of how much I press the spring. This is mounted on the top frame over the ram/anvil. I am off and on working on springs from an OT restoration project. So far so good.


I could snap a couple pics Friday

 

Do yourself a favor if you go this route. Buy an air over hydraulic jack to speed up the process. Takes what seems forever pumping the handle and then releasing numerous times.

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-airhydraulic-bottle-jack-59425.html

 

Draw some lines on the spring about an inch apart with soapstone or something. Do the bending in "baby" steps instead of all at once. I never used a gauge; but judged by the movement of the spring. You also need to drill another set of holes closer together.

 

I built this about ten years ago. Bottle jack is pretty small, label messed up but two ton maybe. I had built the basic unit for bending a Model A bumper so with a few up dates it worked fine. Pic with spring main leaf is just about at reversed eye arch. Remember that you have to over bend and then check under full load as spring will take back about half of what you put in. Indicator at top let me stop bend at a certain point, bend spacing is 1" and top rollers are 2" apart.

 

I've used a shop press. Slow but works.

 

Guess I should ask you. Did you dearch the springs on my 54? Lol

 

No lol. Done a truck spring , reversed the eye.

 

Ok making sure I won't accidentally lay frame lol

 

I still have yet to hook up the shackles so I couldn't tell if rear had been lowered aside from the current 3" blocks

 

I used a roughly 100+ year old manual press to do the first set of reverse eye springs for the A if you want to root around in my build thread on that I’m sure I took a bunch of photos etc

 

I'll probably go ahead and pull trigger on horrible freight tube bender next pay day. Then probably hit up the old guy I got the 54 Chevy panels from a couple weeks ago for some springs

 

I thought that I had a photo of the one they had in the shop at Post Falls Idaho that they held one of Gene Winfields metal working cl***es in several years ago. Can't find it but it was a pretty simple setup with a bottle jack. You can do it with a sledge hammer, anvil and buddy crazy enough to hold the spring though.

 

Did mine on a harbor freight press

 

There it is . You can see the relocated pins, the new location, a guess, but seems to work. My “gauge” is visible as well. As mentioned, slow with a hand pump jack, but effective. The clamp is there in case a spring calls it quits.