Homemade Leaf Spring rebuilding/re-arching

R Q

R Q

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 4, 2005
Location
Charlotte
I've never taken apart a set of leaf springs. My fronts are too stiff and arched wrong. All of the custom shops aren't custom shops anymore, they just want to sell you a set that they order. To send mine out to the original supplier would cost just as much as buying a new set.
SO, I'm thinking of taking mine apart and bending them individually to flatten them out a bit.
Any tips, comments, etc.,?
 
too stiff? you might just want to take out one leaf to soften it up, you'll lose some lift though. You could then re-arch the remaining leaves to gain the height back. I re-arched a pair of XJ rears to put more lift in, used a harbor freight shop press. Laid each leaf in the press and pushed down a bit, then moved the leaf a few inches and pushed it down again. Started on one end, worked all the way to the other end, did this for each leaf.
 
did you check with Salem on the northside of charlotte?
 
same here. We revarch the all the time with a press. We always seem to over arch them.The only real advice i could give is get rid of the factory pin and use a grade 8 bolt. Just grind the head to suit your needs.
 
Im needing to DE-arch more than anything. I checked with Spring Service & Alignment, Salem is no longer in Charlotte. I'm going to take them apart and de-arch them I guess. Worst I could do is screw them up and then have to buy some more...
 
I did have a shop [closed now] arch springs for me once. Should have been 2.5-3'', turned out 5", with NO give. Made them redo the job. That being said; new springs do have to go through a break-in period. They will soften, & settle, some! Last Old man E-Mue set I installed, sat higher in the rear, till I took the bottom overload, out. Several years later, the rear got to sagging, & I put the overloads back in.
 
Easiest start is to just take apart the leaf pack and remove a middle leaf, put it back together. Go for a ride and see how it works.
There is gonna be a lot of trial and error in this...
 
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