Button Sliders...

39portlander

39portlander

Well-known member
C.E. inc has button sliders pg. 75. When I POR 15 and re-shackle my front/rear springs, I thought this might be an improvement. Any one use this product? Pro's/con's, any input would be great. If it matters, my vehicle is a 39 1/2 ton. Thank's:D
 
I had Holllywood Spring and axle )one of their last jobs) rebuild a '35 rear spring for my roadster. They narrowed,removed some leaves, and reversed the eyes but did not install the buttons. A few months of driving netted me a shattered spring eye which looked as though they overheated the spring when forming the eye. Since they closed their doors, I used another spring shop to make a new main leaf. While I was there, I asked about the buttons and he recommended using the on the longer leafs. I had him punch holes and install the buttons while he reassembled the spring. It made a huge difference in my ride with them inserted. He also recommended NOT installing any type of liner between the springs because he had seem many fail at the center bolt after that modification. I have since talked to other spring shops, including Eaton spring and got the same answer, Buttons on the long leafs and never any liners anywhere. So, those guys are the experts and I followed their advise and am very happy with the buttons.
 
When you start punching holes or drilling dimples in a spring leaf for buttons, you are asking for trouble down the line.
You may be able to get away with it for a long time on a light car or a spring that is lightly loaded but eventually it will fail due to the stress risers created.
If a spring with full length liners fails at the centerbolt area, it was not put together right or was not installed properly. The liners are only used on the first 3 leaves.
 
I used them on the front of my 40. I put them in all the leafs except the main and the last 2. I don't have the car on the road yet but with the body on and the engine/trans in it sure moves smoothly. I used flat liners in my last 40 and they worked well but tended to squeeze out after 15k miles. Trim the excess button off even with the top of the spring as you assemble the spring.
 
stock setup? Those old trucks are like a lumber wagons with all those springs! what a fine ride in my opinion! Whatever you do it'll never ride like a Cadillac. But everything you do is an improvement.

Why por15? once off the truck, clean and paint. Should last you awhile.

Again, my opinion.
 
Thank's for all the input guy's. This is why this web site is so valuble to first time retofreaks like me!!

My truck does have a lot of springs, an extra 4tier @ the rear. I'm having Palmer Spring in Portland fab the broken mid front and rear springs I had. I'm por15ing them cause It seals up the 70 years of rust and looks nice when done.

I will use sliders on the first few leaves, again thanks for the input:D
 
I installed the C.E. buttons on 4 leaves and removed a couple or the top leaves on my 40 Ford. That was ten years ago and many thousands of miles. Neither me nor my car are light weights with a total of 3680 lbs. The buttons make for a noticably different ride from the spring with no buttons. I suggest polishing the small areas where the buttons will ride on the leaf below them. Paint will act as an abrasive and increase friction coefficient reducing effectiveness of the buttons.
 
JWL said:
I installed the C.E. buttons on 4 leaves and removed a couple or the top leaves on my 40 Ford. That was ten years ago and many thousands of miles. Neither me nor my car are light weights with a total of 3680 lbs. The buttons make for a noticably different ride from the spring with no buttons. I suggest polishing the small areas where the buttons will ride on the leaf below them. Paint will act as an abrasive and increase friction coefficient reducing effectiveness of the buttons.
Click to expand...
after I POR15 my leafs, I will clean up the area were the sliders (slide). Good tip JWL, thanks:D
 
I put some posies super sliders in my 36 pickup and I rides like a magic carpet(I was going to say a cadidillac by we speak fords here good luck with the springs Chris
 
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