leaf spring restoration

[otisringle]

well im gonna be getting some used 89 rear leaf springs to put on my blazer. They are a bit rusty but are suposed to be good otherwise. I need to know how to restore them and get the rust off of them. I dont have a way of getting a sand blaster so that rust removal option is not gonna happen.

I understand that using teflon in between the leaves is a good idea. I have them on my springs now, so I was wondering if I would still be able to use the ones I have now on the springs Im gonna be restoring. or would I need to buy new teflon strips.

I also need to get new bushings so..... greasable or non greaseable... or is there even a diffrence in performance.
Any help will be appreciated, thank you

 

[jekbrown]

here is what I do once I have the packs all taken apart and broken down into individual leafs....

1) use a pressure washer or (if you dont have one) just a hose w/ sprayer to get the big chunks of dirt off.

2) use a combination of a flapper wheel and wire wheel to get the rest of the crap off.

3) remove the stock bushing via the drill-n-chunk method.

3.5) Use a flapper to smooth out any burrs... also round the edges on the ends of each leaf.

4) wire wheel/sand some more

5) paint the thing with some good auto primer

6) rattle-can black paint 'em

7) new bushings installed with a lil grease

8) lay down sheets of UHMW-PE between each leaf (way better than teflon), using a center pin hole drilled in the middle of each sheet to hold it in there.

9) bolt the pack back together.

10) bolt 'em in your rig and 'get it'.

if you read my 52" spring writeup in the tech section, it talks about the gritty details of the above. At any rate, I doubt I'll ever buy a new pack of leaf springs again. Stock ones work fine, just have to swap 'em and hang 'em the right way.

I don't use greasable bushings... don't think it matters much to be honest.

j

 

[otisringle]

question answered... thank you