Helper springs for Model A

T

Tombstone Luke

Member
I am looking for some helper springs for the '31 Model A Mail truck I will be buying. I already have one truck that has "factory" helpers on it. They are spring packs that are mounted to the frame rails and run perpendicular to the existing rear spring. They appear to be smaller versions of those found on larger AA trucks.
 

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About 15-18 years ago I worked on a Cabriolet that had been cut down into a truck.It had rear springs added like those.I'm pretty sure I posted pictures of them on here.I lost all my pictures when my house burned,but those pictures are swimming around in the ozone somewhere around here.As Brokenspoke says though,Why?? All added springs do on a restored,unladen vehicle is to make it ride like a riding lawnmower.
 
I am surprised that those auxiliary springs are cantilevered off of the frame rails. That is not a good structural practice, and it is especially not a good idea for 90+ year old frame rails. If it were my truck, I would change the attachment of the springs and locally box the the frame rails.
 

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I used to have a mail truck----incredibly heavy vehicles. I added some leaves (don't recall how many as this was about 50 years back). It did take care of the sagging and it did really handle pretty well.
 
Hello, I have wondered how long those trucks were used in mail service? Probably would pick up mail from the local train station and transfer it to the post office(s),so may not have gotten a lot of miles compared to a rural delivery route. Also considering this was during the 1930,s May have used them until didn’t run anymore.
 
My mail truck was sold by the Post Office at auction May 19, 1951 in San Diego, CA.
 

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I think what some of the posters were asking is: What is the reason you want the extra springs. If you give the REASON, there may be ideas that others have had that can be a help in the situation. Printed word can be misconstrued much easier than spoken word.
 
I have a pair of helper springs for an AA that you may be able to modify. I'll get some photos today, if interested.


Frank
 
If it were me personally and I wanted more weight carrying I would just add some of the shorter leaves from another spring pack. The shorter springs in a spring pack are essentially helper springs, the don’t do anything until there is enough load to flatten the spring pack and bring them into play. All that said, maybe you want the vintage look of period correct helper springs and it’s not about actual load carrying capability. I will pound the table all day long about “it’s your car you can do whatever you want with it”. That said however I do think that in this case the exact reason you want to do it might be helpful. The question would be “what do you want to accomplish by adding helper springs”? I’m guessing that it’s more about the appearance of a workhorse truck from “back in the day”.
 
eagle said:
I think what some of the posters were asking is: What is the reason you want the extra springs. If you give the REASON, there may be ideas that others have had that can be a help in the situation. Printed word can be misconstrued much easier than spoken word.
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I'm told that mail trucks are extremely top heavy and scary to drive; especially around corners and in cross winds. Since Model As didn't use sway bars, it occurs to me that a set of heavy duty helpers might keep it from swaying from side to side as much.

On my existing truck, the helpers are touching the axle all the time, so they're always in play. It's not as heavy as a mail truck, but it handles well.

Helpers certainly can't hurt, and if they do, I will simply remove them.
 
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