Is this really rear spring wear?

gilitos

gilitos

Senior Member
Take a look at the indentations in the top of these rear spring leaves......I assume this is wear. Because they are so deep, my inclination is to replace the rear spring rather than disassemble and try to grind these out. I'm interested in your thoughts......
 

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If you taper the ends of the leafs of the new springs they will not dig into the leafs below them. This was done on early Model T's and high end cars. Ford decided to not do the taper to save a few pennies.
 
A slight bit of wear can be ground out, along with tapering the bottoms of the leaf on top. But I think those are too far worn to grind out. Eaton Detroit has a good rear replacement spring. You should disassemble the new spring and taper the undersides of the ends of the leafs. With a square edge like on the original Model A spring the end acts like a scraper and removes metal each time it travels across the leaf below it.
 
The wear was so uniform that it looked intentional. A new spring it is......!! Thanks for the comments.
 
gilitos said:
Wonder why Snyder's spring is $100 more than Detroit Eaton's? That's a big difference.
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Because they need to make something to help keep the doors open so that there is someone to sell all of the other A parts that Detroit Eaton does not sell for your A :rolleyes:
 
Hello, use extreme caution when working on the springs , you will want large heavy c clamps to hold it while removing the center bolt, a lot of tension on them, a friend of mine got some new front teeth from a flying center bolt. Remove the c clamps slowly to relieve the spring tension. Good luck.
 
I suggest you dismantle your new spring and add Poly Slide as per the instructions. It makes an amazing difference.
 
If you get new leaves made as I did for my A, make sure they are not to wide and will fit into the chassis cross member. I couldn't get imperial size leaves, only metric, so spent a bit of time on the linisher belt getting them narrow enough to fit. Thankfully it was only the main leaf I was replacing and not the whole stack.
 
gdmn852 said:
Hello, use extreme caution when working on the springs , you will want large heavy c clamps to hold it while removing the center bolt, a lot of tension on them, a friend of mine got some new front teeth from a flying center bolt. Remove the c clamps slowly to relieve the spring tension. Good luck.
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A long piece of threaded rod and couple nuts in place of the original bolt will keep the leaves from going directions you don't want. Lay the whole thing flat on your work bench and loosen the two c-clamps slightly, then run the nuts out till the c-clamps are again holding the leaves together, and repeat. Works well for reassembly too.
 
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