leaf spring rebuild


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By iowa fords - 14 Years Ago
I have 2 questions  Both for a 1954 Mercury

I am ready to put my rear leaf springs back together, I have purchased the little rubber pillows to sit in the pockets and have sprayed a coat of paint on both sides. Should I put any lubricant between the springs?  Also can coil springs be power coated ?

Thanks  Tom

By Rono - 14 Years Ago
Tom;

I rebuilt the rear leaf springs in my 56 Customline which I think are pretty similar to your 54 Merc. You can also have the leaf springs re-arched (which I did on my 56 F-100) but I didn't have that done on the Customline.  In my opinion, I don't think that you need to lube between the individual leaves of the spring set. Also, regarding powder coating, remember that the steel needs to be heated to over 400 degrees in an oven for the powder coating process. I'm not sure if that would "un-temper" the steel, but I wouldn't want to chance it. Eastwood Company sells a ruberized undercoating that will flex without cracking that I have used in the past with good success.

Rono 

By Frankenstein57 - 14 Years Ago
When I was growing up I was around dirt track racers, and eventually raced myself. I saw top racers looking for an edge, that would clean the faces of the leaf springs and grease them. They would slip a bicycle inner tube over the spring to keep dirt out. There also was a roller bearing on the market that would slip between the leafs. I think it was called the wonderbar. I think I have some, it was a roller type bearing about an inch long cradled in a flat piece of rubber. This won't answer your question, but I think it was pretty cool.