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Low Tech Leafspring question

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RoverDan

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
How much do the little short leaves at the bottom of a leaf spring really contribute to the overall spring rate and arc? I swapped out a broken front leaf spring for a brand new leaf spring last night. The problem is that the new spring pack is about 9/16" thicker than the old spring pack. The additional thickness is causing significant interference with the tie rod.

I'd like to reduce the thickness by pulling out the two bottom leaves on the spring pack.

BTW, this is on a Later Ser IIA with a salisbury front axle that is also spring over .

I know it will lower the ride height by the thickness of those two leaves, but I'm wondering what other consequences this will have. These bottom two leaves are pretty short and thin.
 
#2 ·
Generally, the last leaf or two are exclusively to help reduce spring wrap and over flexing. They have little effect on the spring rate. Removing them may or may not damage the pack over time. Most packs that contain large numbers of leaves are not as prone to needing these extra leaves. But if your pack only consist of 3-4 main leaves, it will almost certainly damage your leaf pack.
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
KC, thanks for the confirmation. That's pretty much what I was thinking as well. This is pretty much a stock rear 88" spring that I'm using on the front and it's got quite a few leaves in it so I think it should work fine for what I'm doing.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
Hey guys, thanks for the additional feedback. I'm pulling the bottom two. It's the only way it's going to fit without remaking my hi steer arms. I figured there may be some impact on longevity. I guess I'll be finding out first hand.
 
#10 ·
I actually found that pulling the bottom two helped settle the springs quicker so they'd get nice and flat. Probably not good for SUA but if you want to stay low with a SOA it works great. I think I eventually put the longer one back in.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
Hopefully I'll have the lower two pulled and the springs re installed this week. I'll see how it goes. The old springs I had in there were about 1 5/8 thick, the new ones are about 2 3/16 so there's quite a bit of difference.

As for pics thanks for the idea Bill. Here's a link to some pics from the Mid Atlantic Rally, mine is the ugly tan five door 109.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Defender162/MAR2009#
 
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