The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Another leaf spring question?

I got my leaf springs off the truck ready to clean em up and paint. I got new spring eye pins, bushings, shackles, U-bolts, everything needed for installation. I also got new rebound clips to replace the old ones. They're about 1" wide x 1/4" u-shaped brackets used to clamp (3) leaf springs together at the ends of the leaf springs. They're held together on the leaf spring with a rivot in the center of each bracket and a bolt with a sleeve that goes through each leg of the bracket. To take the olds off, I had to cut off the heads of each rivot. The rest of the rivot stems are still in the leaf springs. How do I go about getting the rest of the rivot out. I don't want to us heat, fear of weakening the spring. I thought about leaving the remaining existing rivot stem there and attaching the new bracket to the hole in the new bracket then welding the rivot stem to the new bracket. I do have new rivots that were supplied with the brackets, but I'm afraid taking the old rivots out will damage the leaf spring to the point I can't install the new rivots.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
~Ron

Ron,

My guess is that you will need to disassemble the spring pack to R&R the new rivet and clamp.

This isn't hard but does require a new center bolt. Doesn't the new rivet have the nice round head OUT..where you will see it. The other end of the rivet will have to be heated and swaged flat so it doesn't ride on the other leaves.

We just did this on my sons Toyota, but it could be different on your rig.

Stuart

Stuat...All the leafs are disassembled. I forgot to mention the new center bolts as well. I'm wondering if I should heat what's left of the old rivots so I can remove em and replace with the new ones.

Ron,

Maybe I don't understand the whole deal. If you have the factory 'domed' head ground off, the rivet it should pound right out from that side with a punch.

A little localized heat will not affect the spring at all.

Stuart

You should be able to just knock that part right out like Stuart said, they heat them and press them in when new. To install the new ones, make a fixture out of some heavy metal to hold the rivit head when you beat on the new ones. I used a round headed carbide cutter in a heavy piece of 2"x2"x2" steel and just cut a halve round hole big enough for the rivit head to fit in. Then I installed the rivit, clamp, and spring, next I heated the rivit stem red hot and with a 5lb hammer smashed it in place. It was real easy to do, I also heated the spring clamps when I bent them over the spring pack. Joe

Well...I was able to knock out the old rivot stems out today. Wasn't too bad. Are the new rivot supossed to be loose in the holes? The existing holes in the leaf springs and the holes in the new hardware both measure 13/16" dia and the rivots measures 11/16" dia. Do I have the wrong rivots? Or should I do like Joe mentioned and just smash them into place?

~Ron

Rivets can be a little loose. I heat the whole rivet red hot and then buck it with an air hammer and an anvil on the other side. This causes them to swell up in the hole. If you just mushroom the end, you may as well use a bolt. This is why aluminum trailers and airplanes are built with buck rivets.

Crenwelge,
I do not understand your phrase "buck it with an air hammer"

Can you please tell me what this means?

Thanks,

Martin

bucking it is using an air hammer with a a cup shaped bit to fit over the rivet head. They can be bought from places like Byler Rivet in Dallas or you can make one by cutting off a broken chisel and making a concave to fit the rivet head. The anvil can be any solid piece of metal from an anvil to an old brake cam and using the cam as a pistol grip to hold it. I have about 30 aluminum trailers and we do all repairs ourselves. Of course aluminum rivets are soft enough that they do not need heating. Probably an easy "shade tree" way would be to find a piece of iron on which the assembly could be laid for an anvil. Then anything like an old carriage bolt could be ground concave to fit over the rivet head. Then put the red hot rivet in the hole with a pair of tongs and set or "buck" it by hitting the tool with a hammer. The purpose of buck rivets is to expand inside the hole and the part that sticks out really doesn't have to be "smushed" that much. It won't fall out. The strength is from the rivet filling the entire hole. On the spring clamps, it's probably not critical, but if you ever want to rivet a cross member with hot rivets, it is very important.

Thanks,

That makes sense.

Martin