I remember bringing my Dad's 69 Camaro to a spring shop to stop the
squeeking and they put pads between the leaves which were heavily greased.
RRoyces have used leather boots on the leaf springs for years to prevent
contamination, well when they did use leafs.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary McCormick" <svgkm@halley.ca.essd.northgrum.com>
To: "Ofarrell, Fergus" <Ofarrell.Fergus@hitco.com>
Cc: "'roadster.netlist'" <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 1:20 PM
Subject: Re: reply: rear comp spring trick?
> Well, since you asked...
>
> That trick with the leaf springs sounds like a pretty clever idea to me.
The load that
> bends a leaf spring has to overcome not only the designed-in stiffness of
the material,
> but also the friction between the leaves. As static friction is, in nearly
all cases,
> higher than kinetic friction (teflon being a notable exception), there is
a momentary
> "stiction" as the sliding action at the leaf-leaf interface transitions
from the higher
> initial friction value to the lower friction regime as the relative
velocity of the two
> leaves increases. Greasing the leaves (and protecting them from
contamination w/the tape)
> seems like it would do just as this old-time hot rodder said - allow the
leaves to work
> more easily against each other, yielding a smoother suspension feel..
>
> It's worth protecting leaf springs from dirt and grit in any case, to
reduce wear. I have
> seen ads in "Classic & Sportscar", an excellent British classic car
magazine that I read
> every month, for boots (made of leather, as I recall) that fit over leaf
springs for
> protection against the elements. Something a bit more flexible and more
"high tech", such
> as a rubber or neoprene-type material might work even better than a
leather boot or
> electrical tape. There's a great spring refurb service idea here -
recurve, lubricate and
> dip in a curing rubber to coat and protect the leaf group and keep the
lubricant in, dirt
> out!
>
> Gary McCormick
> San Jose, CA
>
> "Ofarrell, Fergus" wrote:
>
> > ref: Gordon's message below
> > Last weekend I was at the Pomona HotRod Swap Meet, (buy blemished Grant
> > steering wheels for 1/2 price) and stopped next to a really sweet
looking
> > Ford T-bucket style roadster. The guy had a leaf spring looking
arrangement
> > running across the front from side to side. (rather than one on each
side)
> > In poaching the conversation/talk going on, someone asked him why the
leafs
> > were taped up with what looked like electrical tape / black duct tape.
> > He said that an old street rodder (maybe he said dirt tracker) trick
was to
> > separate the leafs, and grease them up so they slid on each other
easier,
> > then put them back together, and tape the outside to keep the grease
from
> > leaking out (and feeling sticky and picking up dust). He said then you
got
> > the stiff (less bottom out) spring rate and ride height, but a smoother
> > feel. The science makes sense to me but I'd be curious as to what
others
> > (Gary McCormick?) think of this concept. (bending springs the same way,
but
> > reduced frictional resistance on initial force application)
> > BTW: this guy was old enough to know the tricks of this era, and while
the
> > rod was shiny, it wasn't a real modern rod, had '39 Ford front drums
> > ________________
> > From: "Gordon Glasgow" <gsglasgow@home.com>
> > Subject: RE: Rear springs
> > I haven't tried the 1600 springs yet (I've considered it) but I have run
the
> > comp springs for a long time and I assure you they are very stiff. I
> > wouldn't run comp rears without also installing comp fronts. Some of the
> > racers even said the comp rears were too stiff for racing purposes!
> > Gordon Glasgow
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