[60seriesguy]

I've been thinking (I know, not a good thing) about the sorry state of my OME's. The much vaunted springs are pretty darn rusty, the only rust on an otherwise clean Cruiser. When they articulate and even when lightly flexing they creak and groan, and it's obvious that there's rust in between the leaves, despite regular greasing.

I did a little SEARCH and came up with comments about taking the spring packs apart, cleaning up each leaf and painting them with SLIP PLATE or other similar graphite paint. I might try that, but I have a question:

In theory, less friction between each leaf in the springpack should result in better movement of each leaf independent of the others, which is a good thing. But would this decrease in friction lead to the springpack themselves flexing better? I guess what I want to know is whether the improvement will be mostly on the ride itself or if the springs will flex MORE now that there is less friction between the leaves?

Is this worth it? Keep in mind that I would have to do this during the weekend, outside in an apartment parking lot, with hand tools (except for a wire wheel on a grinder)...opinions, anyone?

Would it matter if I had the springpacks media-blasted instead? In the essence of time, this may be a better deal for me, even with the added cost....

Comments welcome, I've been trying to get motivated and restart some of my projects now that I have some time, but the budget is tight, I can't go nuts.

 

[BJ On Roids]

with less friction they will flex better, they will also make less or no noise

woody has a good writeup on his site when he did his 55 rear springs swap in

his site is:
www.ih8mud.com

also, you can buy plastic to stick between your leafs to make them work better, its really hard wearing stuff cant remember names or prices, but it was on a yank website i saw it, so one of these guys must know!!

 

[FIXXXXAH]

I ALSO WANT TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO HENRYS QUESTION. ITS ANOTHER THEORY VS REALITY THING. SURE, THEORETICALLY IT WILL FLEX BETTER, BUT IS THE FRICTION THAT IS RELEAVED REALLY ENOUGH TO STOP A 4000+ LBS LAND CRUISER FROM FLEXING THAT LAST INCH?


I COMPLETELY WIRE WHEELED AND GRAPHITE COATED MY FRONT PACKS, BUT MY REARS ARENT WORTH IT. I WOULD TELL YOU MY EXPERIENCES BUT I HAVE NO ENGINE

 

[Pin Head]

El oxido no es problemo amigo. No hay valor por sus trabajo tambien. Just mix up some 90 wt gear lube with some diesel fuel or paint thinner and spray the leaves once a year. Wipe off the outer surface with solvent if you don't like the dust sticking to it.

 

[fj40john]

I did mine with the Slip plate. I THOUGHT it was a paint...but apparently it is a topcoat as it has rusted off in the past 8 months. They were sandblasted beforehand, so I was painting bare metal. I would suggest using the a wire wheel or flap sander, and run the slip plate, AND the teflon strips. I am going to leave mine as is for a while as I have other things to deal with and my cruiser isnt that pretty anyway so rusty leaves dont bother me. Good luck.

 

[pismojim]

Try this:

Rally the Dog Shit out of it !!!

 

[crawlin'60]

Maybe you could take the spring packs apart and just replace the friction buttons between the pads. Dunno if your OME are like my Alcans but my leaves are drilled at the tips to take these things. BTW, my u-bolts beings loose and my fixed-end bushings being worn (year old mind you) were MY sources of noise. I got some MAF spline-hole bushings to keep more grease around the (greasable) pin than the regular ones can, and I think it helps. As for the rust, I got some neutralizer from the paint store that works nicely. I did a test where I painted with it a spot in the qtr panel of my project 40, and it's been outside in the rain and snow unpainted and stable (no new rust, or even a streak) for 6 yrs now . I'd say that doing the same to your leaf packs would likely work similarly. The stuff is SEM brand, #39304 Rust-Seal ten bucks IIRC for a quart bottle.
Y si eso no ayuda, entonces es hora de prender velas a tu santo favorito
Cheers,

 

[TRD]

friction is springs is a big deal but personally, i wouldn't bother if they are on the vehicle now and you have to go out of your way to do it. Just not worth it.


prove me wrong though :flipoff2:

 

[60seriesguy]

Yeah, the idea of taking the suckers apart is not something I'm enjoying. Screw it, then, another coat of old motor oil is what they get!

 

[seapotato]

you coul maybe cheat and do a partial lazy bastard fix.
if you don't have much in the way of spring clamps holding the leaves togeter, you can jack the frame up till the axle hangs, might separate the leaves enough you could get some of the crap outta there and grease the bejesus outta them...

I just greased my springs heavily when I put em in, and after a year, there's still lots in there, no creaks....

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

I took apart a a set of stock 60 springs that were "still in good shape" but were pretty whooped for exactly the same reason. Removed all rust, painted, greased. They showed no sign of dearching before I took them apart but 2-3 months after I took them apart they were absolute garbage. I think something about the SOA position of springs and u bolts (dearching position versus arching) quickly kills springs that were originally designed for SUA, especially on a 60 IMO! If you have some serious chatter and noise, it might be worth looking into. In two days you can probably have all four corners done taking your time.... What I would do if I were you is I would sell your OME for maybe $800 (even if they're whooped they're still worth some money), buy a set of CCOT ~1.5" springs link which are fairly thin (good for a SOA), and use your $200 for something else if you get $800 for 'em.

 

[76lcforty]

I was going to use either slip plate or some graphite based grease on my 55 springs for the rear of my 40 but I looked into it a little and changed my mind because no matter what you put in between the leaves wether it be paint or grease or whatever, it is eventually going to work its way out of there. plus the grease would be a dirty mess!

I ended up taking the packs completely apart and buffing all the rust off. then I punched (yes I have access to an iron worker (no drilling here!)) 7/16 holes in the ends of the leaves. The holes would later be used for snap in teflon pads. I bought round pads so that even if they spin in the holes (which they will) they wont stick out of the side of the springs. the pads were also 2" in diameter so they are the same as the width of the springs. then I painted each individual leaf with hammerite, snapped in the pads and put them back together. They look great and function well plus the teflon pads really improves the ride.

I have pictures of this if anyone is interested.

 

[GloNDark]

I cleaned my springs up when I did this last transformation. Pulled all the springs apart, cleaned them with a wire wheel on the makita grinder (USE SAFETY GOOGLES, AND WEAR PANTS! ) then I sprayed them with hammerrite black paint, and got some graphite sheet material from my father in-law to put between the springs. Re-assembled with new center pins and new rubber bushings.

Since then I have driven the cruiser on the street, the wash boards, the rocks and I gotta say it was worth the effort. The springs in my rig were noisy bastards, and now, FJ55 springs in the front and custom springs in the rear....not a creak/groan/squeak....VERY NICE!!!

Oh yeah, and they look killer now too. I ain't got the cleanest cruiser body in tow, but I tell you want the frame, suspension and underside of my beast rivals show cars. Atleast till I hit the muddy winter trails for the first time. Then.....who cares.

 

[76lcforty]

So GloNDark,

You are running 55 springs in the front of your cruiser? Are they front or rear springs? Did you have to extend the frame any to make it work? and Did you gain any wheelbase from it?

Oh and not to change the subject so, Yeah, what he said.

 

[cruiserman]

I don't know if the paint actually does make a big difference, but I think it would. During the SO on the rear of my 25, I wire wheeled and painted the springs with Hammerite, and it worked out very well. I did 3 coats.

It didn't take that long once the springs were off the rig .

I haven't driven the rig since, so I can't tell you what difference it makes . The springs sure look a lot better.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

I was going to use either slip plate or some graphite based grease on my 55 springs for the rear of my 40 but I looked into it a little and changed my mind because no matter what you put in between the leaves wether it be paint or grease or whatever, it is eventually going to work its way out of there. plus the grease would be a dirty mess!

I ended up taking the packs completely apart and buffing all the rust off. then I punched (yes I have access to an iron worker (no drilling here!)) 7/16 holes in the ends of the leaves. The holes would later be used for snap in teflon pads. I bought round pads so that even if they spin in the holes (which they will) they wont stick out of the side of the springs. the pads were also 2" in diameter so they are the same as the width of the springs. then I painted each individual leaf with hammerite, snapped in the pads and put them back together. They look great and function well plus the teflon pads really improves the ride.

I have pictures of this if anyone is interested.

I'd be interested in checking out the picts. Sounds like some of the teflon plugs that come in a few leaves of some springs I've seen. Don't remember which brand tho.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

OK, here they are. Thanks for sending those photos...!

Nice work!

 

[76lcforty]

BTW Those are FJ55 rear springs that are going on my 40. I had already taken a leaf out of the pack before these pictures (the second shortest). I am going to take another out to gain a little better flex and get them to sit just a little flater. Still not sure which one but it will be one of the longer ones.