Have any of you rigorously cleaned your leaf springs (taken the pack apart) and greased, oiled or put liners in them? How is the ride afterwards?

I ask because I really oiled up my new front springs before putting them in, and while they seem to work smoothly, I also notice that the shocks are now overwhelmed and in general, there is not enough damping. I'm thinking that the rust and dirt in the spring pack may serve a useful function, like a friction damper on the older units.

 

I'm having the same issue with brand new springs. They came with a bit of grease on them, but because UPS threw them over my fence and filled them with sand for me I had to take them apart and totally clean them out including the lubrication. I bought some liners that I intend to put it but I'm afraid it might make it "too smooth" since even without the lube it isn't stiff. I'd like to see what others have to say about using the liners.

 

I should add, when I had my springs into a local spring shop that does almost exclusively large trucks, I asked the owner what oil/grease to use. He got agitated, it was clearly a sore point with him. He said it was the biggest waste of time and money and that it did no good. Keep in mind he works mostly on heavier stuff than ours, and also that in NM, anything remotely wet with oil quickly attracts a lot of sand.

 

The size and the stiffness are proportional
The only springs that I ever saw that I thought would work with regular oil were rope wrapped and the rope was oiled witch kept the springs lubed.
The rope was about 1/4 in and was wrapped very tightly.
As I write this I can feel the dirt/grit rubbing away in the springs - Ich.

 

I used dry silicone spray after I had each leaf individually powder coated. I have not driven it yet so I can't say how it worked.

 

It's not the size and stiffness that matter....
...its the motion of the ocea......

Uh, oops. Wrong saying

Grease them?? You mean you're supposed to grease things on these old trucks?? I know my fronts are greased because their previous owner cleaned and lubed them (thanks Ross)

Bobby

 

I removed my rear springs ,cleaned ,as well as removed every other one and then installed with the poly liners.Yes I noticed a differance.Not only smoother but much quieter, of course with that change I also updated the shocks,which had fallen down when I removed the lower support.The fronts were beyond hope and had to be replaced along with the shocks

 

Just my .02... If the guy got agitated, he's an A$$-Clown. Why would somebody be rude to an honest question from a person who obviously knows a lot about trucks.

I have cleaned, chamfered and used silicone with good success. Not the only way to go but it worked for me. California is easy on the suspension.

 

I guess I would say he wan't really rude to me, he's just a crotchety (sp?) old man like many of us. Seemed like a sore point for whatever reason.

I spent a week out in SoCal over Mem. Day, yes your roads are easy on the kidneys. Bobby and I live in Rio Rancho, home of the 4" pavement crack every 30 ft. Asphalt laid upon sand shrinks pretty predictably.

I'm beginning to wonder if my shocks are just junk? Red Ryders, less than a thousand miles on them.

 

plan on chamfering the edges , rounding the ends , and running poly liner on mine { started on the spare fronts , one of about 100 different things i've started and got nowhere with ! } as i have a friend who did this and have rode in his and it is much smoother and quiter . he , like i am also removed some springs to lower it . i'm also considering using the rear leaves from a 55 i parted as to me in my mind , and a couple guy's agree , that a longer spring would ride better and if i was inclined { IM NOT ! it's getting lowered and it's life as a truck is over } carry a larger load .

 

Ross,

The city actually came in and fixed the cracks on High Resort. Now instead of being 4" cracks they are 2". I'm not sure whats worse, our regularly spaced 4" cracks or "speed humps"

Shocks are cheap, toss on another set and see what happens.

Bobby

 

we got the same problem here fella's but it's from the cold then heat . only our's isnt usually cracks , there potholes . not bad { the worst i have ever seen is in detroit !! think my old ih cabover is in one there still ! } and big places where it'll buckle up . has a tendency to screw things up . my work truck is going to aligned for the second time this year as some of the roads i travel are that rough . change 'em and see what happens .......

 

Pardon my asking, but why?

 

It allows more dirt and grit to work it's way between the leaves (or is it leafs?).

 

It's like valve grinding compound. Eventually, everything is lapped in.....

As I reall I think Bobby demonstrated his county road repair with that busted spring some months ago....