DIY Reverse Eye Leafs (1 Viewer)

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cruisermatt

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Does anyone have any experience with DIY reverse-eye leaf packs? I want to remove and flip a main leaf without touching the rest of the pack. I’ve read of some old school hot rod guys doing it successfully but can’t find any real accounts from anyone who’s done it on a truck that sees a lot of spring flex.
My only concerns are the life of that main leaf and the effects of the spring rate with the main leaf being forced and held in a opposite arch.

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The springs in question are these FJ62 rears I have mounted up front in a shackle reversal configuration. They are getting more flat so I guess it won’t be too much stress on the leaf to force it into a opposite arc? Looks like I’ll be flipping the mil-wrap leaf along with it too. I’ll just have to clearance the backside of my front hangers a little bit.


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Would you need to get these re-arched the other way to work better?
 
Would you need to get these re-arched the other way to work better?

Technically yes. What I am thinking of trying is just forcing the main leafs the other way without any re-arching. My hypothesis is that, with these springs at least, it's not enough of a difference in arc to be too much of a problem. A nice side benefit of having a inverted spring fight the rest of the pack might be an increase in spring stiffness which I want.
 
What are you trying to achieve?
 
I want to lower the front of my truck about 1.5" by converting these springs to reverse eye style.
 
I want to lower the front of my truck about 1.5" by converting these springs to reverse eye style.
Based on the second pic, the current arch is about 2" (?). When flipped over to put the eye down, you will gain the amount of lift from the arch minus the 1-1/2 from the flip, netting you about +1/2". Even when the springs settle, don't you end up where you are now?

Or am I not understanding how it would work?
 
Based on the second pic, the current arch is about 2" (?). When flipped over to put the eye down, you will gain the amount of lift from the arch minus the 1-1/2 from the flip, netting you about +1/2". Even when the springs settle, don't you end up where you are now?

Or am I not understanding how it would work?

Maybe just wait until I do it and it will make more sense. What I am hoping is the positive arch from the lower five leaves and the U-bolts and spring plate clamping the whole mess together is enough to net me a similar arch spring pack so that the only real change is the chassis lowering the diameter of the bushing eyelet.

@boots4 might be correct and I may have to re-arch them but what I am going to figure out is what happens when I don't re-arch them.
The whole other question is the long term effects on a leaf spring where the main leaf is re-arched or forced into an opposite arch by the U-bolts, on a truck that sees real loads and lots of travel. Sure, everyone is going to say it's not going to work, spring is going to break, etc, but I can't find any actual evidence so lets find out for real.
 
this is the pretty much the only good thread I have found on the subject other then a thread on Pirate where it is discussed briefly for a Jeep but never actually completed

 
I am definitely interested in your results. I am planning 60 springs SOA on my 40 and I know it will be taller than I want due to the existing arch in the used springs I have. If I can flatten them out some and flip the eye down, that would be great.
 
The military wrap second leaf would prove a challenge. Would have to take the second leaf and put it on top of the pack, so the wrap is facing the right way and still effective. You'd then need to put a new second leaf in below the main, and make sure it's not so long that it'll interfere with the spring eye when flexed flat, or inverted. The pics and docs you've got so far haven't shown this process on a pack with a military wrap, but that's what I think you'd have to do.

FWIW, the J6x leafs are really thin.
 
The military wrap second leaf would prove a challenge. Would have to take the second leaf and put it on top of the pack, so the wrap is facing the right way and still effective. You'd then need to put a new second leaf in below the main, and make sure it's not so long that it'll interfere with the spring eye when flexed flat, or inverted. The pics and docs you've got so far haven't shown this process on a pack with a military wrap, but that's what I think you'd have to do.

FWIW, the J6x leafs are really thin.

Yeah, the plan was to flip both the top two springs together. I guess you're right, it's probably not be good to loose the support of a full length leaf below the main leaf (it would be on top of the main leaf). Maybe I should just cut the mil-wap + and inch or so off and just leave that spring where it is? That way it would only be the one thin leaf that's inverted and it would be almost completely supported.
 
You could, but you really should retain the military wrap. It's a safety thing. Flip the top two leafs (mil wrap and main) to reverse the eyes, take a second mil-wrap leaf, cut the wraps off + an inch, and put that below the main. The mil wrap on top won't really help the pack much anymore, and the modified second leaf will support the inverted main.

I have a pair of worn out packs you can have the military wrap out of to do this. Pay for shipping and they're yours.
 
You could, but you really should retain the military wrap. It's a safety thing. Flip the top two leafs (mil wrap and main) to reverse the eyes, take a second mil-wrap leaf, cut the wraps off + an inch, and put that below the main. The mil wrap on top won't really help the pack much anymore, and the modified second leaf will support the inverted main.

I have a pair of worn out packs you can have the military wrap out of to do this. Pay for shipping and they're yours.

So I'd just be making my own add-a-leafs basically.
I've got a complete single used 62 pack here (the main leaf was broken on it's pair). I should be able to cut down both the mil-wrap and eyelet leafs from that one and get my pair off add-a-leafs that way. Thanks though

Was the add-a-leaf you added to your front (60 rear) setup thin like the rest of the 62 leaves? I don't want to negate the reverse-eye ride drop with more spring lift.
 
Was the add-a-leaf you added to your front (60 rear) setup thin like the rest of the 62 leaves? I don't want to negate the reverse-eye ride drop with more spring lift.

I don't think that the mil-wrap leaf on top of the main leaf will do much, if anything, for the spring rate of the pack.

The OME add-a-leaf I used is probably 50% thicker than the OEM toyota leafs.
 
I don't think that the mil-wrap leaf on top of the main leaf will do much, if anything, for the spring rate of the pack.

Agreed.
 
Maybe! But it seems no one has actually tried and shown results so why not find out for real?
 

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