So I sometimes leave pirate and surf the local prerunner sites, and often I have heard a few people refer to spring prep's from Deaver. It sounds like some of these guys do it every race. What is it and why do I need it?

Seems to me like I could pit a fresh coat of paint on them (assuming no broken leaves) and they would be "prepped"

Convince me otherwise.

ive noticed it to, guess it depends on what deaver does. possible inspection to catch possible failure spots? its just something to throw out the like just rebuild by fox, king, swayaway, etc before each race.

there was a toyota guy on here (coyote ?) who raced class 7 with a solid axle toyota out of the hidesert who said he would have to have his nationals rebuilt after every race because of fatigue/sag. he switched to deaver and did have the problem anymore.

http://www.trailslesstraveled.com/article/deaver-custom-leaf-spring-tuning - some decent info here about a retune and comments regarding spring durabilty.

Not being critical or anything, but you would think that Deaver would have something better than a c-clamp for this. Hell that's how I do it.

http://www.trailslesstraveled.com/content/techarticles/43/5centerpinremoval.jpg

from what i have read and heard, they are a mom and pops type operation. leaf springs aint rocket science.

Most of the time a prep is really just an inspection. You take them all apart check carefully for cracks, wire wheel the rust and mud off, paint them and stick them back together with a new bolt. You will not see the cracks starting if you dont take them apart. We have gotten good consistent life out of all of our Deavers. Other Brands had bad quality control/materials.

Have you ever been to Deaver, it's lteraly just a red barn in the middle of Santa Ana and about 10 guys doing various leaf-spring related stuff, the C-clamp isn't shocking. In the Ford factory when they build leafs they probably have a hydralic press or something, but Deaver just isn't that high tech.

The prep depends on the condition of the leaf-pack. it starts as just a basic inspection for cracks, but can include replacing cracked or broken leafs and re-arching. On a toy like your f100 it's probably not worth it, but if a missing a cracked leaf durring prep could cost you a race, then it's worth the effort and money to get Deaver to inspect them.

You can also dissasemble the springs, sand the paint off, oil the leafs and reassemble them. The oil will have less friction. You can even go so far as to polish them. So you would dissasemble, clean, and re-oil them every race. But, that's really cutting in to your beer drinking time.

But, that's really cutting in to your beer drinking time.

The hell with that then!

I currently have the pack apart, and aside from some surface rust the pack looks fine to me. I figure some wire wheeling and some krylon and they will be fine. I just wanted some expert opinions.

I know that some teams do have to send them back for inspection/rearching/rebuilding after every race. Sometimes they will sag almost everytime out.

Jason :)

You can also dissasemble the springs, sand the paint off, oil the leafs and reassemble them. The oil will have less friction. You can even go so far as to polish them. So you would dissasemble, clean, and re-oil them every race. But, that's really cutting in to your beer drinking time.

I'm not sure that I would want to oil them as it might attract alot of dirt. I wonder if you pulled them apart and used a graphite powder to lubricate between each leaf if you would get better results. Any thoughts?

Have you ever been to Deaver, it's lteraly just a red barn in the middle of Santa Ana and about 10 guys doing various leaf-spring related stuff,.

I was suprised when I picked my Deavers up how small the place is. They do not make the majority of their springs in-house. My understanding is that the shop in Santa Ana is more used for R&D, and small one-off jobs. Large spring manufactures make the springs to Deavers' specifications.

I wonder if you pulled them apart and used a graphite powder to lubricate between each leaf if you would get better results. Any thoughts?


Sorry, thats what I meant. Any dry lube.

On my DD/weekend wheeler XJ, I get all the rust off, prime them, and then put a graphite farm implement paint on them to reduce friction.

I can't say I notice a big difference with that alone, but one of the big spring manufacturers (maybe Deaver) makes teflon liners with a lip on each side to go between leaves that seems to make a big difference in friction reduction.

I think it comes in 100' rolls, cut to fit.

HTH

Sorry, thats what I meant. Any dry lube.


I've been wondering....and it may just be a by-product of "big budget leaf spring racing" not exsisting.....but it seems like "high performance" leaf springs would be an excellent candidate for some fancy coatings/platings..

it would of course, have to be flexible enough to move w/ the surface of the spring....and strong enough not to wear off immediatly....but I'm sure there's 'something' that could be done to improve life and performance...

I'm pretty sure there are people using teflon impregnated coatings (like gun-kote) to "paint" their springs. Seems like a pretty decent idea if you didn't plan on taking them apart for a while.

Visiting Deaver and getting to watch Erik tune our leaf-packs was a really cool experience. I mean, most of their machines still run off of leather belts. The closest thing I'd seen to that was an old lathe my Grandpa has that was converted to run on an electric motor and had a 4-speed mounted under it so you could change speeds...

http://www.trailslesstraveled.com/content/techarticles/43/deaver_cvr_lrg.jpg

Their operation might be low-tech, but they're not lacking anything they need. I was AMAZED to learn what they could do with leafsprings. It take a double or triple-rate coil-over to match the progressive spring-rates they can build into a pair of leafsprings (sure coil-overs will do it with less friction, but it's still pretty cool). I really like leafsprings for their simplicity and if you spend the money on a set that's tuned right for your application, they're lightyears ahead of what most people would expect from leafsprings.

As far as coatings, Deaver puts teflon pads on some of their production springs because customers want them, but they take them out of all their race packs because rocks and crap just gets stuck in them and then gouges the springs. They also run them dry for the same reason (attracting dirt). Someone said something about there being a lack of big-budget leafpsring trucks out there; that's certainly true these days, but what about all the old class 8 trucks with 1/4 elliptical springs and shit. Those guys went ALL OUT and Deaver hasn't forgotten anything...

Someone said something about there being a lack of big-budget leafpsring trucks out there; that's certainly true these days, but what about all the old class 8 trucks with 1/4 elliptical springs and shit. Those guys went ALL OUT and Deaver hasn't forgotten anything...

True.....
BUT, I'm talking more along the lines of "modern" coatings.....there's some pretty cool stuff out there ($$$$) that....if you found the right one, would be a great application on leaf springs....

thats all I'm sayin'...

I'm sure you're right. There's probably something out there that would work pretty well and hasn't been tried yet.

titanium nitride, titanium carbo-nitride, aluminum titanium nitride, chrome nitride.

I have used UHMWPE tape between the leaves, low friction & low wear. Costs about $25 to do all 4 springs. You could feel the difference in the springs off the vehicle, not so sure when I was racing. I got mine about 4 years ago from an online hardware store, something Mccarthy I think.

Tim

What are some of the better paints to use? Durability is a top priority for me, and I dont know if the friction reducing paints will matter too much since my deavers already have the sliders built into the end of ech one.

Also, what are the best types of busings to use(performance and durability)? Stockers, poly, bronze?

Im deavering the back of an 03 f150, sees a lot of highway miles, but also sees some Texas type trails, and some more desert/prerunner type use.

I was suprised when I picked my Deavers up how small the place is. They do not make the majority of their springs in-house. My understanding is that the shop in Santa Ana is more used for R&D, and small one-off jobs. Large spring manufactures make the springs to Deavers' specifications.

Anyone know the name of the company that builds the majority of springs for Deaver?

Just curious.

Drew at Poly knew- he recognized the mfg name on the box. The label was under the Deaver Label on my coil spring box. I want to say it was back in NY. Can't remember for sure though.

Lots of spring manufactures around. Any good company will have multiple sources for the same product, I'm sure Deaver is no exception.

This is going to sound silly but your best bet is to sand or wire wheel the springs and then give them a couple good coats of house hold polish, ya get out your wifes pledge , it works and does not attract dust.

Drew at Poly knew- he recognized the mfg name on the box. The label was under the Deaver Label on my coil spring box. I want to say it was back in NY. Can't remember for sure though.

I'm pretty sure Triangle is the mfg.

The hell with that then!

I currently have the pack apart, and aside from some surface rust the pack looks fine to me. I figure some wire wheeling and some krylon and they will be fine. I just wanted some expert opinions.

National was much the same way with "prep". We got a set of race leafs from them and they de-arced after ONE race. When we called them, they said "we replace them after every race." Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!?!?!?!? We started disassembling them and rearcing them ourselves, and only used National if the main leaf bushing loops broke or something else major. It's a PITA, but leafs can work well.

Unless you see something obviously wrong, just wire wheel them and repaint every 6 months or so. Watch for the de-arcing, as it's gradual and sneaks up on you sometimes. Also, pay close attention to the main leaf right where the axle touches it. Most guys have enough axle wrap to make this area fatigue and break.

Also, pay close attention to the main leaf right where the axle touches it. Most guys have enough axle wrap to make this area fatigue and break.

Interesting. The leaf bends near there on my left main leaf. Hmm perhaps I should look into it.

I noticed while race prepping the Jeepspeed that my d-shaft and yoke had been rubbing eachother like I was getting some axle-wrap issues. (Running the Deaver rear springs.) Has anyone put a longer spring perch like the RE YJ spring-over kit on their race cars? I was thinking of having some 1/2" plate cut- maybe 8" long or so and weld it on top of the spring perch.

I noticed while race prepping the Jeepspeed that my d-shaft and yoke had been rubbing eachother like I was getting some axle-wrap issues. (Running the Deaver rear springs.) Has anyone put a longer spring perch like the RE YJ spring-over kit on their race cars? I was thinking of having some 1/2" plate cut- maybe 8" long or so and weld it on top of the spring perch.

I am using RE perch's, however the trruck has not moved under its own power in quite a while, so I cannot say if they work or not.