Needle Bearings in leaf springs?

I was reading a thread that referenced using needle bearings in the leaf spring instead of using teflon ends or sliders. I understand this is an old trick, but I want to know how they did it. Was it as simple as putting the needles on the ends and bolting the spring pack together? Where do they need to be located? Any periodic greasing, etc? Any info, please. I am putting a 37 front spring on the back of my 32 and I want to try this.

Can this also be done on the front spring?

 

Back in the dark ages I was still a pup and the little pages was the prefered read of the day ,,,,I installed needle bearings sandwiched in the leaf springs of my 40 Ford,,,,,I also tried screen wire and axle grease,,,

The main reason the bearings were used is to stop the springs from digging into each other and to try and smooth up the ride,,,,,

I put the bearings within a coupe of inches of the end of each spring pack,,,healed in place with bearing grease until the spring was back together.

I do remember using hose clamps around each end to hold everything in line the way Henry intended the springs to be and not twist to the side.

They make spring clamps now,,,and maybe they were available then ,,but, at that time I couldn't afford them if they were!

The spring seemed to ride better ,,,or at least that's the way I remember! HRP

 

how about some old school tech:

if you want to make your leafsprings ride really stiff: just leave them out in the rain so they get really rusty, and bolt them together (lots of friction and not a lot of movement).

now, if you want your springs to ride super smooth try this: dis***emble the springs and clean them real good. (if you need too grind down all the rough spots so every thing has a very smooth sliding surface. Then get some emery cloth and polish both sides of each spring till they are really smooth, the smoother the better. do not paint the individal leafs. before you re***amble the springs, put some oil on each side of the springs that will be in contact with each other. Then bolt them together.

to keep it really old looking, you can wrap the springs in cord (sisal for the pre-30's look), tape if you want the 30's and later look. Now for the really messy part...soak the cord in oil, this will keep the springs lubed and working very smoothly.

If you want to remove leaves from the spring for a lower or softer ride, start by removing the second from the largest 1st, then alternate with the second from the smallest.

 

Anyone else come across using bearings in their springs?

 

I pulled 1/2 of the leafs out of the front springs on my 51 F1 last week. I tried pulling the second longest from under the main leaf out but the spring sagged down at the point where the main leaf met the third leaf out to the shackles. I put the second leaf back in and proceded to remove 4 leafs from the rest of the stack. I also installed the plastic between the leafs. The truck rides like a totally different truck, I'm really happy with the way it turned out. It tends to wonder a little more now, but I can deal with that till I get to a point where I can do a complete frontend rebuild.

 

HotrodPrimer the only one? I was hoping some of the older rodders would be familiar with this. Maybe I'll just have to go off what HotRod said and give it a whirl.

 

My 1929 chevrolet maintenance manual says dis***emble the springs, clean the rust and apply oil, re***emble. Lot's of times, they were wrapped with canvas. Another post explains wrapping with cord or tape. After driving in the rain, or dust, renew the lubricant, as needed. Late '40's GM springs, with the metal cover, had grease in them. I don't know where you would get the covers except fabricating yourself. I'm sure I could make them if I needed a smoother ride. The modern way, like on a car I used to have('87 Chrysler), had a teflon ****on near the end of each leaf, slid back and forth as the spring flexed. Smooth ride.

 

Speedway has teflon strips in a roll with an edge (to keep them from working out the sides) in several different spring widths. Along with the cleaning and smoothing you cut to length and place it between the leaves.

 

the only drawback I could see is that as with any ball or needle bearing the load is concentrated to a very small area, where with leaf on leaf the area of load can be over several square inches, now with the needle bearing in place the load is only in an area that is of a very small fraction of an inch...concentrating stresses in the leaf may not be such a good thing.. even the teflon ****ons cover a much larger area.

another may be that they could walk out of alignment creating uneven stresses or even shattering between the leaves... or spitting out

 

http://www.mikes-afordable.com/page/MFP/CTGY/1059 has covers for both front and rear that have oiled strips of felt, which is probably what I'm going to end up using. I just did my front spring and noticed during the initial cleaning that the old grease had caked dry, so hoping that oil under covers might do the trick. The rear spring I just got was about the same, but it had been redone and painted sometime in the not too distant as the metal where the paint wore off was still free of rust, but the grease was still caked up.

 

Soda, this is how we did it when I was a kid. Take a small round file and file a small groove in the end of each spring for the needle bearing to fit in but still make contact with the leaf below it. This will keep the bearing from moving around and getting sideways. Grease the hell out of things and wrap the spring pack with electrical tape.
Also did the porch screen strips and grease as well, but all my cars were usually lowered so far they rode like **** anyway.
Mick