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Painting leafsprings anyone???

SuperchargedRS

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So I am up at the place where I am going to start painting/fabbing the truck.

DOES ANYONE KNOW THE BEST METHOD TO PAINT LEAFSPRINGS?

Shoud I take them apart?
Will POR15 work well on them?


Thanks,
-SuperchargedRS
 

CGarbee

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Re: RE: Painting leafsprings anyone???

Don't paint them with POR or similar products. The material is too brittle for this application and will pop off when the springs slide... Just use a decent "regular" primer that matches your paint (it's still chip and crack at the leaf interfaces, but along a thin line since a) the paint is more flexible than POR and b) the paint layer is thiner...
 

Jones

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If you have the time and the inclination, a good idea is to take the springs apart, checking for and smoothing out any "steps" worn into the leaf surfaces where the tip of the next smaller leaf works against it. Then a dab of anti-seize compound at that point will make for a noticably smoother ride.
Next option would be to soak the springs in gear lube, let them drain off, wipe off any remaining excess with a rag then paint or wrap them. Yeah, the lube will continue to work it's way out and get on the paint but that's the way our trucks are done.
 

gimpyrobb

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Over on the m715zone, one of our guys took the spring pack apart and painted the individual leafs(that doesn't look right) with some kind of teflon impregnated paint from a tractor supply store. He said it made a noticeable differance in ride quality. I don't see how it could if the paint totally dried. On the other hand, I have seen where people say not to grease the spring pack cause it holds grit in and destroys the springs. Just thought I would tell you more info to confuse. :)
 

cranetruck

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Painting leaf springs is okay, lubing is not. Leaf springs have a damping factor as a result of the friction between the leaves, that's one reason there are no shocks in the rear on the deuce.
Fewer leaves means less damping and shocks need to be added.
 

SuperchargedRS

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The springs seem to have a type of coating on them from the factory... Should I paint them...ARE THEY A RUSTable ITEM???

Also POR is very flexable, go to any store that sells it and the tend to have a thin piece of metal that is painted in POR15, you can bend away at it and nothing happens.

So should I paint em? I am talking them out anyway to put new bushings in, are they a item that will rust on me?

Thanks
 

acetomatoco

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If you are a user, use a spray can on the edges before each show so they look nice... If you are a purist you probably don't drive your truck, so you can take them all apart and have a field day...and don't forget the windex for the mirrors underneath...
 

rpgdeity

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Hello, I'm one of the guys from the M-715 zone that took apart my leaf springs and painted them. I was in search of a little more suspension flex. I took apart the packs, wire brushed each leaf down to bare metal and spray painted them with Slip Plate. It is a paint with graphite in it, and I found it at my local John Deere store. Another member used the brush on type, but I was able to find the spray can type (the spray can type is Slip Plate, just branded underneath the John Deere name) and it worked really well. Fairly cheap as well, I think the spray cans were like $4-5 per can and I did all 4 spring packs with 3 cans (I really layed the stuff on there too). It dries very quickly (it has a ton of solvents in it and you can actually see it dry before your eyes). Once it dries it has a dark grey color and it is very slick. I've had it out in the mud and rain and it hasn't come off yet. Take a garden hose to it and the mud comes off like the springs were Teflon, lol. I also took out a leaf from each spring pack and replaced all the bushings too while I was at it.
 

CCATLETT1984

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if you want to reduce friction then the best thing to do is to dismantle the spring pack and place teflon strips inbetween each leaf. this will prevent any binding. I would reccomend to anyone working on the springs on a truck put new bushings in the spring eyes, get polyurathane bushings they will last much longer and give less deflection before the spring starts to act.
 

SuperchargedRS

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rpgdeity said:
Hello, I'm one of the guys from the M-715 zone that took apart my leaf springs and painted them. I was in search of a little more suspension flex. I took apart the packs, wire brushed each leaf down to bare metal and spray painted them with Slip Plate. It is a paint with graphite in it, and I found it at my local John Deere store. Another member used the brush on type, but I was able to find the spray can type (the spray can type is Slip Plate, just branded underneath the John Deere name) and it worked really well. Fairly cheap as well, I think the spray cans were like $4-5 per can and I did all 4 spring packs with 3 cans (I really layed the stuff on there too). It dries very quickly (it has a ton of solvents in it and you can actually see it dry before your eyes). Once it dries it has a dark grey color and it is very slick. I've had it out in the mud and rain and it hasn't come off yet. Take a garden hose to it and the mud comes off like the springs were Teflon, lol. I also took out a leaf from each spring pack and replaced all the bushings too while I was at it.

I will look into that paint sounds good.



--few questions--

** All I have to do to strip the springs is to remove the clamp in the middle...right???????

**Where would one get teflon strips?

**Is that John Deer paint intended for this usage?





side note: Why would you want to put hard azz poly bushings in a truck, I am not making this a street truck, I got the rubber ones as they have MORE deflection and give to them, you loose what the range rover people call the magic carpet ride if you put a bunch of hard bushings in a truck you want to ride soft and flex (or at least that was my take on it), also I have noticed that if one rubs glicerine jel into all the rubber on a truck the stuff lasts a VERY long time.
 

AJMBLAZER

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Poly bushings last longer and require far less maintenance.

As CCatlet said, poly also deflects less so your suspension has to flex and work, not the suspension moves some and the spring bushings move some too. A good ride from rubber bushings is sorta like a good ride from old shocks...it bounces all over the place but doesn't really jar you at all.
 

SuperchargedRS

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SuperchargedRS said:
--few questions--

** All I have to do to strip the springs is to remove the clamp in the middle...right???????

**Where would one get teflon strips?

**Is that John Deer paint intended for this usage?
for the whole poly vs. rubber thing here is a good article
http://toyota.off-road.com/toyota/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=428813

Does anyone know the answers to my 3 questions??
** All I have to do to strip the springs is to remove the clamp in the middle...right???????

**Where would one get teflon strips?

**Is that John Deer paint intended for this usage?

Thanks,
SuperchargedRS
 

rpgdeity

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To answer your questions: (Note: I am not very familiar with the CUCV, although I am assuming several things are common no matter what vehicle your working on. For specific items you'll have to ask someone who is more familiar with the CUCV)

-To remove your leaf springs, you will have to undo the u-bolts and take off the top plate. Then undo whatever connects the two ends (one is fixed, one has the shackle) in order to remove the whole spring pack. Then there is a "bolt" that holds the spring pack together that you need to take apart. One end is not hex, rather it is round to serve as a locating pin when the spring pack sits on the axle perch. Then you can work on each individual leaf. Make note as to how they are stacked, and in which direction. Sometimes spring packs are non-symetrical.

-The Slip Plate, and the stuff labled under the John Deere name, don't say on the can "can be used for automotive leaf spring lubrication", but it eludes to it. It says the graphite lubricant paint can be used on any machinery or metal assembly that has surface to surface contact, i.e. car hinges, tail gate bolts, chains, wire rope, shovels, etc. I think its a great use for painting the leaf packs.

-I don't like to use Teflon plates in between spring packs. First off you have to drill the leafs (spring steel is NOT fun to drilll, lol), then you have to buy some teflon and fix it in between. These will wear out and/or fall out. Second, the contact surface area is only as big as the peice of Teflon you put in, with the Slip Plate, the entire surface area of the spring is acting as a friction modifier. Even if you did decide to put some plastic plates between your springs, I wouldn't suggest using Teflon. Teflon is very slick due to the fact that it self sheds its molecular structure. Due to this property it is also very maleable and basically, will wear away rather quickly. When in a dusty and dirty enviornment (like what offroad rigs are in) Teflon will also collect material and imbed it in to itself, now you have an abrasive surface, not a slick one. I don't like using it for bushings and bearings when I don't have to. Something like UHMW or a harder ABS plastic would be a better fit. UHMW has a very low coefficent of friction (its very slick) and it does not plasticate (deform) as much as Teflon. There are other plastics out there more well suited for this application. I work with many types of plastics such as Teflon, UHMW, Delrin, and Rulon where I work. Personally, its just my opinion, I don't like the idea of Teflon or any type of wear plates between the springs. I just don't like them.

If your going to paint your springs, then you might as well just paint them with the graphite lubricant. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I have not ran my packs long enough to judge the wear rate of the paint lubricant, but if it did wear all you would have to do is spread the leafs apart a little bit while they are still on the vehicle, and shoot a little more graphite paint in there.

I don't know what the CUCV suspension is like, but I can tell you that the M-715 springs are FIRM. I mean like suspension movement of maybe 2 inches at full load, with a max articulation of 4 inches, lol. So for me, I needed every amount of reduction in surface friction I could find, let alone the removal of one spring to ease the spring rate. If you just want your springs to not rust, then you probably don't want to spend all this work and time doing what I did. I hope this helps.
 
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