Front Leaf Spring Center Bolt

TinCup

TinCup

Well-known member
I need to replace the center bolt in the front spring. I have been told that the head of the bolt goes on the bottom and the nut on top as well as the opposite. Does anyone have a picture of a correct installation or can confirm the correct installation.
 
couple C-clamps will hold it together while you remove the old bolt and install the new one. Of couse, now is the time to clean and grease the spring leafs also.
 
The correct instalation of the bolt is "square" bolt head on the top and the "square" nut on the bottom (no lockwasher used).

Reason for the "square" head...it is to position within the "square" of the front cross member so the bolt can not move!

Pluck
 
My recommendation is to leave the springs dry unless you have good shock absorbers. Excessive bouncing can occur if the leaves have been greased without using good shocks. The dry leaves act as a sort of shock absorber.
 
Tincup, I have several front springs that are still in original condition. All have the head of the bolt at the top, I've never seen an upside down bolt yet. The head of the bolt is square and fits into the square hole in the front cross member. The rear spring bolt is the same, a square headed bolt with the head at the top.
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
couple C-clamps will hold it together while you remove the old bolt and install the new one. Of couse, now is the time to clean and grease the spring leafs also.
Click to expand...

Tom, If I leave the spring in place and just remove the crank and the two u bolts can I just remove the old bolt and slip in a new one?
 
TinCup said:
Tom, If I leave the spring in place and just remove the crank and the two u bolts can I just remove the old bolt and slip in a new one?
Click to expand...

Yes, you can C-clamp the spring and replace the bolt.

For some reason the first paragraph didn't show up in my original post. Anyway if I had the front spring down and the bolt out, now would certainly be the time to clean and grease it. It sure makes the ride better. I like to grease the bottom of each leaf, then sprinkle on some powdered graphite, then wrap the spring with spring covers to keep the grease in and the dirt out. I also grind a small radius on the bottom of the ends so it doesn't dig into the next leaf down so easily. If there are wear ridges on the top side of the leafs I grind them out also.

I'm at Mike's house using his computer and I see I'm signed in under his name, but I am Tom Wesenberg
 
Thank you sir. I used to travel Minnesota for a dept. store chain back in the 80's. I went as far north as Mora and as far south as Sleepy Eye. While not much of a deer hunter I did manage to bag two over the course of 5 years with a Toyota Camry:).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top