Making leaf springs better.

[donsrods]

I'm sure we all know about Posies Super Slide springs, where they insert a teflon (I think) button into little pockets on the end of each leaf so the leaves slide on one another without metal to metal contact. I have a Super slide on my '27 and also my Son Dan is using them front and rear on his '29.

But what if you have conventional springs like the ones Speedway and others sell that are not Posies? On the front of my '23 I bought just such a spring because it was when I was trying to build the car for under $ 3000. (Long story, don't ask and no, I didn't make it :lol However, I found a solution, and it works really well.

Chassis Engineering sells buttons that you can insert into a hole you drill in the end of the leaves and it becomes locked in there and keeps the metal from touching one another. I think it was a 5/16 hole I had to drill in each one, and I did burn up a few drill bits because spring steel is hard stuff. (Glad I have a Drill Doctor) But once I got the holes drilled it was a simple matter to insert one of the plastic buttons into each hole and then reassemble the spring.

I also like it because it keeps the paint from getting scratched off of my spring leaves as the car bounces up and down. Oh, BTW, you drill each hole so that the leaf directly on top covers up the hole and it never shows.

Here are some pictures of how I did mine. The first picture is a button slipped into a freshly drilled hole, and the second picture shows how you really can't see the buttons when the spring is assembled. Just thought this might come in handy for someone else on here.

I think the buttons are only like a buck each and come in several sizes for various spring widths.

Don

 

[flatheadgary]

most shops sell a roll of nylon webbing that goes between the springs too. there are no holes to drill except the center one through the nylon.

 

[donsrods]

most shops sell a roll of nylon webbing that goes between the springs too. there are no holes to drill except the center one through the nylon.

Yep, I even have two rolls of the stuff Speedway sells, but I didn't like the way it bunched up and was visible on the face of the spring. I threw it up on the shelf for a car someday that I don't care too much about the appearance of.

Don

 

[LumenAl]

Yep, I even have two rolls of the stuff Speedway sells, but I didn't like the way it bunched up and was visible on the face of the spring. I threw it up on the shelf for a car someday that I don't care too much about the appearance of.

Don

Hence we discover why Don didn't build it for $3,000 as planned... it's that dang anal gene that blows all our budgets!

:lol:

 

[LumenAl]

... Chassis Engineering sells buttons that you can insert into a hole you drill in the end of the leaves and it becomes locked in there and keeps the metal from touching one another. ...
Don

Don, I tried doing a search on these at Chassis Engineering and can't find them... what are they actually called?

 

["The Bat" out of hell]

Buttons added to a spring will add a small incress in ark,lifting the car higher,mostly can be a good thing,but if higher is not what you fig on,you should know before hand. A smooth moving spring dose help ride and handeling.

 

[donsrods]

Al,apparently there are two Chassis Engineering companies. I just called one I got from Google and they were in Florida, didn't know what I was talking about. But the one at 319-643-2655 carries them as two part numbers:

AU-2060..............1 3/4 size.............$ 1.00 each

AU-2061..............2 1/4 size.............$ 1.00 each

They call them "button sliders."

Don

 

[LumenAl]

Al,apparently there are two Chassis Engineering companies. I just called one I got from Google and they were in Florida, didn't know what I was talking about. But the one at 319-643-2655 carries them as two part numbers:

AU-2060..............1 3/4 size.............$ 1.00 each

AU-2061..............2 1/4 size.............$ 1.00 each

They call them "button sliders."

Don

Cool! thanks for the information and for letting me know I'm not losing it... well... yet anyway!

 

[GAB]

I saw kind of an interesting way to make a leaf spring work freely years ago. It was on the front of a "T" flatbed truck. No shocks on it and you could bounce the front like a basketball. What was the secret? The owner had taken some needle bearing rollers and some stiff grease (wheel bearing) and put one under the end of each leaf. The grease kept the bearings from falling out when the front was raised too far. The rollers were only about 1/16" in diameter and maybe 1" long.

Simple, cheap, and effective...what more can you ask for!

 

[LumenAl]

...Simple, cheap, and effective...what more can you ask for!

Not much! Great idea as usual... how ya been?

 

[GAB]

Been just fine....real busy pumping out parts. Thanks for asking!

 

[Youngster]

This is one from way back. An old dirt track racer told me about this in the late '60's. He claimed they would put needle bearings from a U-joint in between the leaves on the right side only. The thought was as the spring would flex, the right side would move more transferring the weight to the left causing the left tire to dig in on curves. I tried this on one of my first T's. It really lets the spring work, each leaf independent of the next one. Hydraulic shocks are a must with this kind of system.

Ron