Rebuilt Leaf Springs Keeping Their Shape ?

[Brooks G.]

A month or so ago I posted a thread to this forum concerning having leaf springs rebuilt. At that time it was recommended to have the Eaton Spring Co. to do this service. I now have the springs removed from the chassis and am ready to have something done with them. To my dismay I have heard through two sources that rebuilt springs won't last and after a while they will start sagging again. I know that re-arching can be done by hammering the cold metal to shape. The service I am looking at having done is shot peening, re-arching, and re-heat treating. I am wondering if others on this forum have had this type of service done to their leaf springs and what their experience has been afterward. The service I am talking about is not cheap by any means. I don't want to have this done and two or three years down the road my '56 is sagging in the rear. Please tell me your experience. Thanks in advance.

Brooks Glover Jr. (2141)

[John H.]

Re: Rebuilt Leaf Springs Keeping Their Shape ?

Brooks -

Leaf spring steel (4160 or 5160), after processing into a finished spring leaf and after many years of use, has a "memory"; if it's just mechanically re-arched without heat-treating, annealing, and shot-peening, it will eventually return to the same shape it had when it was removed, and will "sag" just like it did before.

Since grooved spring-grade steel strip stock isn't available from the mills (and hasn't been for decades), a good plan would be to have Eaton re-process them; they have all the facilities to do that, exactly as they were done originally (heat, form, oil quench, anneal, and shot-peen). The other alternative is non-grooved reproduction springs - functional, but not correct configuration.

[Brooks G.]

Re: Rebuilt Leaf Springs Keeping Their Shape ?

John, thanks for your reply to my post. My car has the original springs as they are grooved and have been on there for the past 42 years that I have owned it. I am still planning to have the Eaton Spring Co. to restore them but I have heard through a couple of sources that this will not last. I was just wondering what our members have experienced after having the service done. Hopefully if they are heat treated properly, they will keep their correct arc and not sag in a couple of years.