One of our regulars today said you can re-arch a spring on the press at home. Support with blocks and work it evenly in several places? I know we have covered reversing springs in the same manner but does anyone have any input on this?
I think that's covered in the "Most painful ways to have your head torn off your body" chapter in one of Boyds books. Spring dearching is cheap. Plastic surgeory and the ICU arent. Just an opinion from a guy with all 10 fingers still.
My shop used to be next door to a spring shop. When you de arch a spring, you dissamble it into individual leafs, lay each leaf across a pair of blocks (with the ends of the leaf lower then the center) and press down on the leaf between the blocks. The pressure point must go all the way across the leaf at a 90 degree angle to the leafs length. He starts at one end of the leaf and presses very little at any one point as he moves across the entire length of the leaf, moving about the distance between the blocks with each press, ending on the other end. I do not know how much pressure he puts on the leaf because it is a powered press, but I could see the ends of the leaf move a little (change maybe an inch while under pressure) with each press. He does this with each leaf in each spring pack. He is careful not to put too much pressure at any one point, sometimes he will make a couple of passes over each leaf. The corisponding (gee I wish I could spell) leafs in each spring pack must have the same arch. Once all the leafs have the desired arch, they are assembled with new center bolts and tie clamps. BTW, if you wanted to put more arch into the springs, you would place the individual leafs on the blocks with the ends of the leaf above the center. Hope this makes sense. Gene
i did it the armstrong way, i reversed a model A spring a few weeks back using a couple pound hammer, the kind with a Vee shaped point going cross the back face of the hammer, similar to the press's arbor, and the trusty bench vise. only about a half hour of pounding.
If I wanted to lift the rear of my car to give it a more aggressive stance, could I simply remove the rear leafs and arch them with a heavy hammer? If I add arch, the length would shorten, right? Or could I just pull the leafs apart before mounting them together? My car sits level, but the leaf springs are looking crusty. I wanted to remove them and paint them anyways. If I gained somewhere between 1" - 2" it would be nice
And why would you want to lift the rear? Most of us are looking to get lower............... My issue is a 348 on a soring that is a little to flat.
very easy. I did it the other day. take the spring pack apart, lay the first leaf on the floor on its edge, mark the curve on the floor with chalk. now get two sections of railway track, or another heavy section, set them about six inches apart, lay the spring across, whack with a BFH ,move the spring a few inches, whack again,evenly along the spring. check the curvature now against the chalk line on the floor .Say its got two inches more curve at the ends, just try and match this amount for all the other leaves. the pack should be touching on the ends when reasssembled, and need an inch or two of squishing with TWO clamps(to be safe) to re install the centrebolt. you kinda have to do it a few times to be a able to judge the amount of lift given by so much extra arch. its not hard( or too dangerous ) if you put some thought in. if you cop a leaf in the forehead though, its your own stupid fault and i never said nuthin!!
Mart of Old Rusty fame posted a really neat, simple device for this--I thought it was in Tech, but I don't see it. Anyone save that post in electronic format??
It was called the Mart-O-Matic. If nobody else has it,maybe Mart will post it again. All your doing is bending a piece of steel beyond it's yield point,not splitting Atoms.
I had a spring with a slight kink in it and I put it in a vice and worked it out cold. I asked on here first to be sure it was OK to attempt. It was easy and the shape held. Not really related I guess but another thing I tried recently which was a BAD idea was I cut and welded a couple of extra pieces of leaf spring to use as a bracket. When I tried to drill a 1/2" hole in them it was next to impossible?? it was wierd. I was using cutting oil and the correct speed and tried several different bits, even a brand new one. It was like the metal was hardening as I drilled? I could drill small consecutive holes up to about 5/16 but it got harder each time and that last bit would not go. Never did figure it out so I scrapped the leafs and went to mild steel and the same bits worked fine.
I hope I am not offending anywone by Hijacking this thread. I want to raise the rear end to get a more agressive stance. The rear leaf springs are good, but I want about one inch more. Here is my car in driveway that had a slight uphill slope. The car appears to sit close to level, which means it has a very slight agressive stance. (On a level slope the rear is barely above level) The car's body lines make the slope of the car look deceiving. The hood slants down towards the front bumper and the trunk slants down toward the rear bumper sort of like a bell curve... a really flat bell curve. Maybe you can see what I mean. My Car: This is an example of one with what I think is too much... Kinda Redneck eh? After I sell my 63, I am buying a 64 that I will need to adjust the ride height on as well. I want it to look like this: Once I get the 64 I will start playing with the front suspension, but for now baby steps.
I would leave the rear alone and concentrate on the front springs. If you want more of a rake, look inot dropped spindles, lowered coils or chopping the front spring. Re-arched leafs usually ride like crap and tend to straighten out a lot more quickly thus you will be repeating the procedure in a few months. The pics of the cars above clearly illustrates the wheel in front closer to the wheel opening indicatinfg that the front was lowered, not raised in the back. The cantilever effect will raise the rear end automatically. If you must however, It is a pretty simple process. Take the leaf pack apart and bend each leaf a little in the center. the ghetto way of doing it would be to lay the spring on some block of wood underneath something heavy (like a truck or car) and use a bottle jack to slowly press the center to the ground. Do this with each leaf and re-assemble the pack. It should be good for abbout 1-2 inches. BTW, dangerous as hell, use at your own risk
That 64 is definately lowered in the front and is bad-ass. Do you think that other 63 (the one without the trim) is lowered in the front as well? It looked to me that he just installed a leaf spring kit or did something with the rear springs. If you look at the front bumper it is pretty close to the same height as mine. My car is 'now a 390 sitting on springs for a 289 motor. It sat lower after the motor swap; about 2 inches? I am guessing. - I dunno tho
I have an aluminum spacer already. Maybe I could get longer bolts and add a bigger one? I am really new to all this. I was at Auto Zone and they have several different leaf spring helper designs. They look as if you simply jack the car up and mount them onto the springs without removing anything. They mount at different positions depending on how much resistance you want. There is another guy at my college with a 63 and he used some of these type helpers. They work, but they look like arse. (very visible from a distance) like on this site http://gmocart2.gmotion.com/store/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=superiorautomotive&Category_Code=spring_suspension Maybe I should go get some 3" spacers and U-bolts instead. yep. Good Idea, thanks!
I am sorry but jacking that car up is GAY.If you really want stance, ditch the equal sized tires all the way around and get some "rubber rake" Lets get back to my question, no a spacer wont work, the spring is maxed and had very little travel.
Wouldn't you agree that the picture of that 64 sits nicely? Someone else pointed out that lowering the front end would achieve what I want to do. I was thinkng in order to get that forward slanted look, it would be easier to raise the rear rather than lower the front. However, I am all about learning how to do it correctly. Tman, can you help me with what I need to lower the front end? Someone said dropped spindles. Diff front coils? I have no idea man. You're so right, the front end has to come down, that is really what I want. I just didn't realize that is what needs to be done until you all explained some things.
I would look at 195s for the front and a 225 or 235 for the rear. I dont know Galaxies well enough to recommend a spindle, Tuch does though, PM him.
"If I gained somewhere between 1" - 2" it would be nice" I think we've all thought that at one time or another...
So, Tman, what is it exactly you want to do? One time you say its gay to lift the back end, then you want to rearch the springs, then you want to add a spacer????? Maybe I'm just confused? Tell me what kind of car you have, what has been done and what you want to accomplish. I may be able to help out a little. Gene
man, i don't know where these guys are getting the idea working wiht leaves is dangerous, coil springs will fuck you up when removing them, but there ain't much to working with leaf springs that a c-clamp won't take care of as far as safety. just don't go removing the center bolt without clamping the spring and you should be golden.
when you mentioned the little travel Trent -I thought thats all there is on most old ford springs! mine is a spring behind with the 348motor...its a speedway stock A frt spring with standard eye/ not reversed.My crossmember is about same as a stock A crossmember....the spring will never hit the bottom of frame and its not "knotched" above the leaf spring either.
Man, some of you folk really dont read do you? Kenny,I would feel better with my setup if I had ordered my spring non-reversed. It will be fine, I need to tweak things a bit. That is common on fresh cars. And you are correct on the travel issue, there NEVER is much! However, my spring is close to the end of its usefull travel, that will make for a harsh ride, I will break the car in for a bit then adjust accordingly. ray, yer right, coil are way more scary. I always use 2 c clamps on leaf packs when I take em apart. I am holding off on posting pics til I am driving it in a few days.
I did a tech article about this many months ago. I was pretty much told that this was a dangerous idea and that people are gonna die, and maybe even cause the end of the universe, by hammering on a spring at home. I guess you are supposed to pay someone else to hammer on it. It's safer that way or something?
Hmmmm...couldn't find the Mart-O-Mat on Mart's sight...has anybody seen Mart lately?? Maybe messing with undead springs did him in too??? Guess I better leave my springs just like God, Henry, and seventy years of gravity intended... Seriously, Mart's rig was a simple rig to use in a big vise for this job, one I will be using because I am a suburbanite and hours of serious pounding and cursing is apt to land me in the slammer...It was basically three upright pieces of bar stock, two on one side and one on the other of the vise, to allow smooth bending across a leaf. I have it on paper, but not in any form can post.
Ok, I don't know how to private message Tuch about my car. I feel dumb for thinking that a bigger block would raise the rear end. The blocks installed on the car are actually lowering blocks... DUH!~ Anyways I can put some bigger 3-4" blocks and slam this thing down in the rear. Or flatten out the springs as you all have said. All that is pointless without changing the front suspension. I am still looking for some drop spindles. Any suggestions on where to find some and what "(inch) I should go for? I am guessing a two or three inch drop on those spindles you suggested, TMAN? Please Advise! - I will need them for a 63 or 64 Ford Galaxie. The spindles will end up on the 64. Many parts are 60-64 ford galaxie, but I am not sure about aftermarket drop spindles. I posted a picture of the 63 just so you all could see what I was talking about when I said I wanted to raise the rear. Forget all that. I get the "bigger picture" now and think I understand suspensions somewhat better now thanks to a chilton's that I found. Basically I want to be able to drive the car... but I want it slammed too. I am want air bags all around. No side to side, just front and back. I can't afford to get everything at once and don't want to piece together a poorly planned suspension starting with the wrong spindles. What needs to be my first concern? Do I need to decide on what size wheels, then tires? There has to be a logical hierarchy when considering a complete suspension overhaul on one of these things. I am not sure If I am getting a set of keystone wheels with the car or not; so would wheel size be a major factor concerning what to do with the suspension? "Tire Rake" was mentioned but I would think that would be a final tweak to achieve exactly what I want only after the whole setup has been altered. I guess tire rake would have been fine for the 63, but I am probably going to hang on to this 64 for awhile and want it "pimped out" - No I'm not a hoodrat. Sorry for writing a freakin book. - Man I love you guys for helping me!
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