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Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks  Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
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#78601 06/08/2007 11:40 PM | Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 37 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 37 | hi, just got back into working on the truck. i am trying to take apart my front leaf springs but there are tabs welded on the leafs in which are folded over the leaf springs. how do i get these apart. thanks for any advice, mike | | |
#78602 06/09/2007 12:17 AM | Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,464 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,464 | The tabs are soft and bendable. Just use a prybar or a hefty screwdriver and bend them away from the stack. I like to use a C clamp on the stack while I remove the center bolt. There is some built-up tension there than can "surprise" you otherwise. If they're real rusty, you may have to cut the center bolt off with a cut-off wheel. After the center bolt is removed, just slowly release the clamp and you should be good to go. | | |
#78603 06/09/2007 1:56 AM | Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 37 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 37 | thanks waldo53. i will try your method tommorow and i will succeed. thanks again for the advice. Mike | | |
#78604 06/09/2007 3:48 AM | Joined: Dec 2001 Posts: 14,522 Moderator: Welcome Centre, Southern Bolters, Legion Hall | | Moderator: Welcome Centre, Southern Bolters, Legion Hall Joined: Dec 2001 Posts: 14,522 | Please please please be very very careful. Some springs retain a lot more tension than other over worked springs and if something slips you could be in for a bad injury. Please be careful. Nuff said! | | |
#78605 06/09/2007 4:20 PM | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,746 | I use two c-clamps, one on either side of the center bolt, and release them about 1/2 turn at a time, alternately. Buy a new center bolt which will usually be several inches long, and use it to compress the leaves as you reassemble the spring pack. A little anti-sieze compound will help keep from stripping the thread as you tighten the nut on the center bolt. Once the spring is fully reassembled, cut off the excess length of center bolt and peen the end of the thread to keep the nut from backing off.
The fun part is doing all of the above on tractor-trailer springs designed to support a 40-ton rig! I'd disassemble/reassemble them in a hydraulic press!
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
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#78606 06/09/2007 10:15 PM | Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,464 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,464 | Just to add to what Hotrod says - on reassembly, I use a grade 5 bolt, it wont strip, AND, if your friendly hardware store doesn't have any round head bolts, use a hex-head bolt, and just grind the corners off to make it round, so it will fit in the line-up hole. Good luck and BE CAREFULL. | | |
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