VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 Spring wear

I noticed on my 28 that the small dampening spring that is on the top of the springs is wearing a hole in the top of the spring. There is a pocket about 2mm deep in the top of the spring, How much is ok? Max

OZMAX,

I had a simular condition with the first 1928 I restored. You should carefully inspect the other leaf ends of each spring (both front and rear springs) for simular wear. The resulting three side wear sections at the end of each leaf restrictes the spring leafs from sliding atop each other during ride travel, making the ride stiff.

My solution to your problem was to disassemble each spring assembly. In the areas where the three sided wear patterns occured in the top surface of the leaf, I used a die grinder and carefully smoothed out the sharp corners. On the ends of the companion leafs that caused the wear to occur, I used a dics sander and chamfered the sharp square cornered edges into a radius.

The pockets in my leaf springs were equal in depth to yours. You asked, "How much (wear) is ok"? I don't know the answer to that question but ideally, "None". Under limited usage, I've experienced no problems with the vehicle in the spring areas over the past eight years.

Ozmax and oldie.

Same here.

I think I will place a extra spring blade under the longest blade.



Arvid

http://chevroletnorge.com

Thanks Arvid and Oldie sounds like I need to do a bit of work with die grinder but I can use the springs. That's a good idea Arvid I will see if I can get a leaf to put on top to stop any future wear. Ozmax

Ozmax
Get rid of that main leaf with the wear in it, put in one that hasn't any wear then get them reset. I've seen these springs break off at the groove and I have apiece hanging in my garage to show people. Imagine if this happened at speed. Don't put a band-aid on the problem, fix it properly
Chris

Thanks Chris what you say makes sence I don't want any suprises on the road. Where would I find springs in good condition?

Ozmax,
Yes,I agree with Chris.
The answer is to get new main leaves made, and also chamfer the over-riding snubber leaves so that they will not gouge into the new ones.
Of course in better quality vehicles individual leaves were tapered and often also wrapped in protective gators to avoid these issues as well as give a smooth ride. Alas we do not all own Bentleys or Vauxhalls.
I had new main leaves made for my '25 eons ago, and also for my '34 Terraplane by Austral Spring Works in Melbourne. They have long since gone, but a quick check in the phone book should find a spring works that can do the job.These days their work is mainly for trucks and trailers. It really is not complicated, especially if you have a good pattern for them.
I was lucky because Austral had all the specs on-hand and simply made them to order by just knowing the car year and model. No sample needed, the finished items just arrived within a week on my doorstep 300 miles away.
For the Terraplane they made the whole front spring, all 9 leaves. 7 were cracked or broken on each side, so I replaced the lot. Not worth the risk having a front spring let go.
It was not expensive at the time ($40 per spring assembly in 1980) but I do not know what it is worth now.
Unless you can get good originals, don't muck around and get new ones made. The old ones do not have age on their side, and fatigue of the metal is real, especially the main leaf.
Happy bouncing.
Geoff.