Greasing leaf springs?

[Citizen Rider]

Ive heard some people have put grease between the leafs to cut down on friction and whatnot. I bought some used 56's and they are old and semi rusty. I plan to pull them apart and wire wheel them down some.

Do you think putting some kind of grease between the springs would be worth it or just more time than good?

 

[MTBLAZER89]

Check out jekbrowns article on the front page. He mentions using the UMHVV plastic stuff between the leaves. You can buy it online in rolls and cut it to length.

 

[tRustyK5]

Use an epoxy enamel on the individual leafs, then replace the plastic tips. Most spring shops have a complete assortment of the various plastic tips that all the manufacturers used. I paid less than 50 cents each for new tips on my 57" F-150 springs and the epoxy enamel paint still looks like the day I painted them and it's been 5 years.

Greasing them will attract dust and dirt and then the leafs will be grinding against each other with an abrasive...

Rene

 

[jekbrown]

what tR said... unless you wanna go bling and go for the UHMW. I really like it in my leafs. Its a really cool material with lots of potential 4x4 uses. I talk all about it in my 52 spring swap tech article.

j

 

[Citizen Rider]

I would love to use the UHMW but i am on a tight time restraint as i am trying to get as much done as possible before school ends and autoshop is shut down for the summer...Maybe later.

 

[sarasotausmc]

I can't remember when, but I watched something on the DIY channel about a car restoration, where the guy packed all kinds of grease on the springs, and wrapped them in I think Saran wrap and drove the car around for a while. I bet if you went to www.diy.net you'd find it.

 

[tRustyK5]

Sounds like he was too lazy to remove the springs, separate them and do it right. Center bolts, new tips and paint aren't that big an investment IMO.

Rene

 

[blazinzuk]

Don't know how its going to work out yet but on my buddys we just used graphite impregnated paint. Truck hasn't been out on the road yet so we have no idea of the toughness of said paint but it seemed like a good idea at the time

 

[jekbrown]

i have heard some people like using the graphite paint... others who have tried it said it tended to crack/flake off once the springs start to flex and stuff. I dunno. Couldn't hurt either way.

j