How to improve the ride? I'm asking. (1 Viewer)

[GLTHFJ60]

One of the prime reasons why a leaf spring's ride is not as supple as a coil spring's ride is because of the internal friction in a leaf spring. I believe that this is the reason why various OE's have used single leaf, leaf springs in passenger cars. The leaves rubbing against each other as the suspension tries to move causes a delay in suspension reaction that the riders in the vehicle feel as a slight harshness. That friction also results in the springs being somewhat self-damping. This is evident by looking at the Bilstein valve-stacks generically recommended for leaf sprung vs. coil sprung vehicles.

The commonly swapped into Mini's (& other vehicles) GM 63" long leaf springs have a good trick that can be copied. They have tip sliders at each leave's tip. Nothing new there, lots of springs do that. What they do that I've not seen done anywhere else is they have thin steel shim spacers between the leaves at the center bolt. These shims are long enough to extend beyond the U-Bolts, but not much longer than that. This results in the leaves only touching each other at the tips. There are air gaps everywhere else. Putting these springs under the rear of my Mini forced me to slightly stiffen the shock valving. That spring swap is one of the top 3 suspension mods that I've made to that truck and I am considering trying to fit a set under my 60 once the engine swap is complete.

I didn't know the 63" springs had spacers between the leaves. Sounds exactly like parabolic springs, but with a standard leaf shape. That's coming up on my list of mods for my truck.

 

[oleblue62]

A new pair of seats or maybe even refoamed seats would help out with the feel quite a bit. Something with good support I imagine would improve the feel. At least for the passenger seat so your wife might be a bit more comfy.

 

[goldchaser]

A new pair of seats or maybe even refoamed seats would help out with the feel quite a bit. Something with good support I imagine would improve the feel. At least for the passenger seat so your wife might be a bit more comfy.

Seats are a big improvment,another thing i reckon is overlooked is body mounts,ive seen the front ones so worn the body is riding on the steel sleeves in the old mounts.
Ive rebuilt the body etc on mine,dakar or good springs with greasable shackles,new body mounts,good seats,tighten the steering up and you will be quite surprised at the drivability.
Mine has a bit more then that done(soundproofing etc) and it is such a nice truck to drive now its not funny,i reckon its a whole lot better then when it rolled off the showroom floor.

 

[alaska60]

I often thought of placing 1/16" or 1/32"UMHW between the leafs to see how it would ride........anyone ever tried this.
The 63 chevy spring seems to be a great mod. longer leaf = better flex = better ride!
why did they (toyota) make these springs so dang short anyway?........

 

[ntsqd]

I didn't know the 63" springs had spacers between the leaves. Sounds exactly like parabolic springs, but with a standard leaf shape. That's coming up on my list of mods for my truck.

Having never seen a set, but having read descriptions of them I've long wondered if they weren't set up this way. It is important to note that an increase in damping valving will be needed or the rig will sway uncomfortably. The sway is the biggest complaint that LR guys seem to have about a leaf spring set up like this. Para's are more commonly offered for LR's for some reason.

snip....
I often thought of placing 1/16" or 1/32"UMHW between the leafs to see how it would ride........anyone ever tried this.

Posies (street rod vendor) used to, and may still sell a PE liner specifically for doing this. I've read of some folks buying adhesive backed PE strip from McMaster to do this. There is a thread on the old Expo (may or may not be searchable) about using the MMC sourced PE and doing this. Might be worth pursuing, but my thinking is that air has even less friction.

 

[Wile E Coyote]

I didn't know the 63" springs had spacers between the leaves. Sounds exactly like parabolic springs, but with a standard leaf shape. That's coming up on my list of mods for my truck.

Those spacers on Chebbie spings are sheet metal thin, nothing more. Just enough to produce a gap. I agree that an air gap is best.
All the leaf ends have plastic interleaf pads, except for the overload leaf. They're quite easy to pop out and replace when worn (like less than a minute each). UHMW would work, but frankly the almost 15 year old springs I scab from junkyards have 75% of those pads still very serviceable. I keep a dab of multipurpose grease on each pad.

 

[Tinker]

Speedway used to offer polyethylene stripping to go between the leaves on old American vehicles: I did it to my '56 F100 when I had the springs re-arched. It did make the ride bouncier, but it's been so long I doubt they've lasted.

Didn't notice if anyone else pointed this out but Dakars have sliders near the tips of the leaves.

 

[ntsqd]

Speedway used to offer polyethylene stripping to go between the leaves on old American vehicles: I did it to my '56 F100 when I had the springs re-arched. It did make the ride bouncier, but it's been so long I doubt they've lasted.

Didn't notice if anyone else pointed this out but Dakars have sliders near the tips of the leaves.

I've thought about making shims like those in the GM 63's for my Dakars.

 

[djawahir]

Also, maybe changing out the body bushings for polyurethane ones may help lessen the vibration from the chassis. Something to think about!

 

[lehiguy]

Also, maybe changing out the body bushings for polyurethane ones may help lessen the vibration from the chassis. Something to think about!

This may have the opposite effect of what you're trying to achieve. Rubber is a better isolator of vibration than polyurethane.

 

[ntsqd]

This may have the opposite effect of what you're trying to achieve. Rubber is a better isolator of vibration than polyurethane.

X eleventeen!

 

[lovetoski]

What they do that I've not seen done anywhere else is they have thin steel shim spacers between the leaves at the center bolt. These shims are long enough to extend beyond the U-Bolts, but not much longer than that. This results in the leaves only touching each other at the tips. There are air gaps everywhere else.

At face value this seems like an easy mod. Thin guage sheet steel, cut to the width of the springs, slightly longer than the u-bolts, inserted inbetween the leaves...

Am I missing something? Any reason not to give this a try?

 

[VTCDN]

Body mount bushings , 4 center from middle are NLA last time i looked.

I got front 2, firewall 2, 4 nla ones.. rears 4 .

Haven't figured the rest or whats next.

52201-35021 CUSHION SUB-ASSY,
52201-25020 CUSHION SUB-ASSY,

is what i could order.

VT

 

[lcwizard]

It does help. They are incorporated into the Mohave springs that Man-A-Fre is
building. They ride incredibly well

At face value this seems like an easy mod. Thin guage sheet steel, cut to the width of the springs, slightly longer than the u-bolts, inserted inbetween the leaves...

Am I missing something? Any reason not to give this a try?

 

[djawahir]

This may have the opposite effect of what you're trying to achieve. Rubber is a better isolator of vibration than polyurethane.

Do you mean rubber that hasn't been dry-rotted and cracked and hardened from sitting in the elements for 20 years or so?

 

[LZ_Pan]

bilstein or koni shocks together with proper aftermarket seats like recaro will transform your 60's ride beyond recognition.

 

[Lekker]

Regarding the scale of 1 to 10, for me there are two sets of numbers. When doing normal on-road driving (80% of the time - daily driver) the 60 is at 8.5 (80 series coils being 10), but when off road (not serious comp rock crawling etc), I reckon about 6.

 

[lcolon]

The improvement in my 83 60 was dramatic when I switched to OME.... Much better and great ride!

 

[jgordon]

I'm assuming that you're looking for better all-around driveability, more of a daily driver friendly vehicle. The mods I did were OME medium suspension with new shocks and 33 inch bfgs. The difference was night and day from the clapped out, rusty stock suspension, worthless shocks and small rubber. The benefit of larger tires is that you can air them down a bit and the ride is even smoother, at the expense of a bit of fuel economy.

The other thing that I and many here have done is to pull the carpets, clean the metal and install a sound deadener like damplifier pro. Makes a huge difference in road noise and overall comfort/fatigue in driving. The only other thing I'd do given the money is a new set of door seals to cut down on the wind noise.

 

[BlueHZT60]

Been there done that with everything suggested in the thread. OME is the way to go. New window seals, Cascade Foam product sound deadeners, recaro seats.

New steering box, or rebuilt, new door rubber and clean up my OME suspension and put all new wear parts in and maybe a shackle reversal up front.