The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Leaf Spring Maintenance

What do you recommend for leaf spring maintenance, if any? I've read about teflon leaf spring liners, lubrication, power washing, and just running them as they are. The '47 rides fine, but aside from bushing and shackle repair/lubrication, I really haven't done anything with the leaf springs. Any thoughts or recommendations?

"I've read about teflon leaf spring liners, lubrication, . . ."
If it rides fine, leave well enough alone?

Why not just doing : " . . power washing, and just running them as they are." ?

Not really "maintenance" but for anyone who's never changed their truck's original springs I would suggest jacking up your truck by the frame perhaps once a year because you might discover something really important. see pic...

For the sake of reference I'll go ahead and post before and after pics of what new springs should look like as far as the amount of curve they should have. Knew mine were pretty worn because she seemed to bottom out too much too often and also felt like they needed to exhibit a bit more bow than being flat horizontal as the worn ones were.

Well, a closer inspection is certainly in order. I've got to grease the shackles anyway. A good power washin' couldn't hurt either........

Thanks for sharing!

Also check for end wear:

https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1003272/Searchpage/1/Main/148333/Words/"leaf+spring+wear"/Search/true/leaf-spring-wear.html#Post1003272

I was able to grease the shackles and inspect the leaf springs on the '47 this morning. I found two broken leafs on the right front. Should leaf springs be replaced as a pair, front and rear?

Generally a good idea to replace in pairs, so as not to introduce a lean into the truck. Older springs have probably sagged a bit. Not essential however.

Okay, thanks Kevin. Based on some old photos, the springs were likely broke when I purchased the truck and definitely when I replaced the king pins in 2016. It hasn't gotten any worse, but I guess I'll be shopping for some new front springs in the near future.......

If you can find two good used springs to replace the broken ones I think you'd be okay. Just replace the U-bolts with new and recheck there torque after a few hundred miles.

Mike B

Tagging onto Mike's suggestion, see if you can find used ones out of someone's scrap pile instead of some that's been supporting the weight of a truck for 70 years.

A local spring shop may be able to replace just the broken pieces, it would be worth letting them look at it.

Thanks Joe!

I'll have to check into that........ Apparently, it was a viable option according to the 1947 Truck Shop Manual.

I also had a busted spring like Skooter's. I have new springs now but it still "rides like a truck."
.

So I have some options:

1. Do nothing and drive it.
2. Buy a used spring. jerryschevyparts
3. Fix the broken leafs for about $65.00. Midwest Frame and Axle, Iowa City, IA
4. Purchase two new spring stacks $290.10 plus tax. St. Louis Spring Company

Any thoughts or recommendations one way or the other?

$290 sounds like a good deal to me. I'm embarrassed to have paid much more than that for my new springs.
Concerning used springs, don't think it's been mentioned in this thread how the edge of smaller leafs tend to wear a line into the longer leaf above it on old springs. Dunno if that's necessarily a problem, but i felt it was another good reason to buy new.

New spring packs should come with new shackle and pin bushings...how are your existing bushings and pins? If $65 fixes it why spend more. Either way you should replace the U-bolts with new...there are shops on-line that make then and ship them to you...I just got 4 for my Willys project...custom made for about $8 each.

Mike B

Thanks for the input. The bushings and pins on the '47 are only 4 years old. The springs are a little noisy, maybe a good power washing would alleviate some of that. I'm not 73 years old, but I'm a little noisy too!

If you are going to separate the leaf pack while repairing the spring why not add the Teflon liners? I bought the liners from Speedway Motors, they are cut, trim and fit, supposed to help with the spring movement and noise.

Put a 50 pound bag of sand in the bed near the tailgate and see if it quiets down. These trucks were designed to ride best with a load in the bed.
I use my '50 3100 to pull a fairly heavy boat and trailer. It is absolutely amazing how that tongue weight on the back of the truck improves the ride quality of this truck.
I am going to determine exactly what that tongue weight is so that I can add that amount of weight to the underside of the bed in the back to see if it gives me the same ride quality and quietness.

I replaced my main leafs (front springs) on the spring packs because of warn eyes. While I had them apart, I installed the spring liners. The smaller springs do wear a raised edge on the adjacent spring. I ground them down flush, wire brushed the leafs down, gave them a quick semi gloss black paint job before reassembling them.

It cost me $160 for two new main leafs, $50 for the liners and $10 for two new center bolts required because of the additional thickness of the liners. One thing I didn’t think of was two the old U-bolts were not long enough due to the thickness of the spring pack. That was an additional $30.

It took me a few hours a day for about three days to complete. I did save money but it was allot of work. Now I’m committed (due to the liners) to doing the same on the rear. I really not looking forward to that.

That being said, The front end is allot quieter and they look awesome!

Yep! A heavy load lessens the percentage of unsprung weight and allows the suspension to do its job.

I remember the first time my dad, bro, and myself put a full load of firewood in the back, must've been winter of 82/83, she rode like a Cadillac!! Kinda sorta

Nice Mine didn't look that good afterwards.

Have heard you can spray them with oil, let it seep in the leaves to quiet down. Also heard the oil could make them too boingy, whatever that means.

The subject of lubricating leaf springs has been debated for years. Oil or grease will attract debris from the road and will cause premature wear. Some recommend disassembling, greasing then wrapping the springs in friction tape, leather or some other means of keeping the road dirt out.

Eaton Spring states that the steel in the spring was changed in the fifties and the new steel is not compatible with grease. Here is their article on lubricating springs.

With all of the controversy, I though it best to use the liners.

I started out with stock springs that were worn. I took them all apart and ground the steps down and rounded the edges of the shorter springs. Once they were all smoothed out, I painted each leaf then added grease and assembled. It felt better and was quieter. Some time later I replaced the whole assembly with two new spring packs thinking the ride would be better and safer. Safer it was, smoother it was not! I called to make sure I got the right springs it road so hard. I pulled the front springs back out to add the teflon liners. The liner was big help, it road much better and stayed quite. Five or six years later I pulled the springs again to remove every other leaf starting at the bottom. I went from 7 to 5 on the front and 9 down to 5 on the rear. The ride improved again and it stayed for years this way. I started to worry about the reduced spring pack so I called Detroit spring and talked about the ride and safety. I ended up buying custom made spring just for the weight of my truck and couldn't be happier with them. It was a lot of money but cheaper then buying something else and starting over.

As for grease and oiling of the leaves, it does help for a few months, then fades away. Mine were heavily greased, but after a year or so, rust was back and all the grease was gone other then what was on the outside covered in dirt! My new springs have the teflon buttons on the ends, this lets them slide but also lets the dirt and water out due to the gaps.