All Things Leaf Springs from Barnes 4wd
I know, I know, I know… Everybody wants a linked rig, but the truth of the matter is a good leaf spring setup will outperform a linked rig with poor suspension geometry ever time. Leaf springs are simple, strong, somewhat tunable and just plain work. Another great thing is that there are so many OME leaf springs to choose from you have the 63” super flex Chevy springs to the Dodge Dakota Springs that give you killer departure angles and so many more that have great characteristics. And did I mention that you can set up a great leaf spring suspension for about half the cost of a 4 Link.
So here is a breakdown of some of the most durable leaf spring components that the industry has to offer.
First let’s talk about U-Bolts. The biggest misconception with U-bolts is that they are all the same; this could not be farther from the truth. We feel that U-Bolts are the most important component of a leaf spring suspension and this is why we are so meticulous about the specifications of our U-bolts. Our U-bolts are made from a cold drawn 1541 alloy that is stress relieved. This produces an alloy that is has grade 8 strength but not grade 8 hardness. The threads on our U-bolts are 5/8”-18 fine threads and are manufactured with a smooth rolled thread. The mating Hi-Nuts are hardened as well as the thick washers and are manufactured with sharp cut threads. When a U-Bolt is tightened the U-Bolt threads stretch as they mate with the Hi-Nuts. This insures proper tightness of the fastener is maintained. This stretching is not visible but a U-bolt should never be reused because removing the tall nut will cross thread the U-Bolt. Our U-bolts bolts have a torque spec of 150 foot pounds and should never be tightened with an impact gun.
Next you have the spring perches. Spring perches need to be ridged and made to fit your application. Like all of our products they are made with US steel and are Laser cut and then bent on a CNC press brake. The leaf spring perches are made from ¼” steel and are 7 ¾” long to help with axle wrap and have three holes for the center pin of your leaf springs. I know that these are a little long for a spring under application and most customers just cut about a 1” from each end. We currently offer these in eleven different sizes so you can find a leaf spring perch that will have the right axle diameter and the correct width for your leaf spring and we are adding more all the time.
Great leaf spring Perches have to have something strong to work with so when we designed our U-bolt plates we made sure that it had the BEEF. Our U-bolt plates are laser cut from 3/8” and then bent on each end to give you a supper rigid U-bolt plate. These U-bolt Plates have three leaf spring center pin locations to match our leaf spring perches and come in a verity of sizes to match your axle diameter and spring width and have slots to accept our 5/8” U bolts. We even have ½” thick U-bolt plates for Dana 60 kingpin applications.
Last edited:
