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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / 38 Leaf Spring Disassembly

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Posted By Discussion Topic: 38 Leaf Spring Disassembly -- page: 1 2 3     kubes40 07-07-2011 @ 6:59 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 3424 Joined: Oct 2009 Alan has offered great advice about the grease type. If you can reassemble the spring with the old rivets, go for it. I always like to use NOS springs to restore the correct ride height and handling characteristics. Even with NOS, I powder coat each leaf. ford38v8 07-07-2011 @ 6:38 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2780 Joined: Oct 2009 John, the zerk and the depression along the length of the leaves was not one of Ford's better ideas. Lubricant pushed through the zerk will travel only as far as the closest exit and no further, leaving the extremities of the leaves dry. After cleanup and removal of burrs, use Fifth Wheel Grease from Castrol. This stuff is not a thin lubricant film, it's a thick waterproof ultra sticky stuff, specifically purpose formulated. Lather it on each leaf at assembly, and wipe off the excess later. You'll never have to lube your springs again. Alan john38coupe 07-07-2011 @ 6:00 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 130 Joined: Jan 2011 Should I replace the rivets while I have it apart?? The originals look structurly sound. kubes40 07-07-2011 @ 1:32 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 3424 Joined: Oct 2009 That sounds like the correct spring. Nacewicz sells a kit that replicates the rivets. Well worth the few bucks! john38coupe 07-06-2011 @ 7:29 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 130 Joined: Jan 2011 Yes, my springs do look like the photo displayed. If I said bolts I misspoke. On the #5 leaf its a button top rivet and the springs are all tapered. I did notice, quite a bit of lubricant between each spring and it looks like each leaf has a slightly visible hollow down the center of each leaf which allows the lubricant to path which was functional by what I saw. My car was driven till 1947, stored till 64 when I purchased it, stored to 2005 when I began disassembly......and it shows 96K. It was a lady owner. supereal 07-06-2011 @ 7:26 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 The problem with Teflon or other spring liners is that they increase the thickness of the assembled spring requiring the fabrication of new clips. The hollow center bolt with the grease fitting usually only lubed the center of the spring, and made an awful mess. Spraying any oil on the outside didn't do much better. If you have rough riding or noisy springs, only disassembly and thorough cleaning will produce lasting results. john38coupe 07-06-2011 @ 7:18 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 130 Joined: Jan 2011 Day 2 - I took the front spring apart this morning and used 2 c-clamps each side of the center bolt, placed a chain around placing the hook end tight over a link and felt safe at that point. I then tapped out the 3 inch center bolt and replaced it with a 7 inch one so I as the spring released itself, the bolt would be able to keep the leaves aligned/secured. I got rid of the chain as that was to prevent mishap while replacing the new center bolt then slowly eased off on the two c-clamps concurrently. It was quite simple and the 7 inch center bolt was the trick. In summary, disassembly of the springs was quite easy but getting them off the car was the most difficult part. My vehicle has 96,000 miles and the springs showed no ware at all. Possibly, they had been replaced years ago???? Speaking of lubrication, any opinion regarding the "Graphite Lube" that MAC'S sells on page 42? I would think that should be a durable lubricant. kubes40 07-06-2011 @ 7:14 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 3424 Joined: Oct 2009 Hi Dan, I couldn't agree with you more. The covers are pretty worthless other than they do look nice And, they were stock on all '40 Deluxe models. That zerk actually did okay IF one used the proper lubricant. Push grease through there just once and you were done. It (the grease) would cake and stop any future delivery of lubricant. No doubt you are aware the authentic lube was akin to STP oil treatment, a very thick oil more so than grease. Yep, I'm with you on this... covers? Pretty but in reality NOT a good design. Stroker 07-06-2011 @ 4:46 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Kube: I know you mainly are interested, and physically involved in the "wrapped" 40's springs. Do you have any thoughts on our older naked springs? The center-bolt "zerk" was obviously intended to help with the problem, but of course it didn't. The wrapped casing was also intended to contain lubricants, and keep out contaminants, but of course it didn't do that either. All cars that used leaf springs in the 50's, 60's 70's etc. did not have spring covers, which I would assume meant that their creators didn't think they'd last very long, or the engineers felt that they didn't do anything. Love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Dan kubes40 07-06-2011 @ 4:21 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 3424 Joined: Oct 2009 Your spring should look like the bottom one in this photo.

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