leaf springs are shifting (1 Viewer)

[leonard_nemoy]

You guys were right, the popping noise was my leaf springs shifting. Is this a serious problem or not, and how do I go about fixing it. All of the front suspension is stock but I have extreme shackles from sor coming soon. I am on a tight budget so I don't want to replace the springs if I have I can avoid it. 88 fj62

 

[60wag]

I've had leaf spring creak/shift/pop on several different suspensions ranging from stock to OME to POS locally made springs. My theory is that when the springs have a lot of friction between them, they don't shift until the stress really builds up and then they jump making a loud noise. Shoving some grease between the ends of the longer leaves seems to help a bit. The springs still shift but they move with less stress and don't shift as abruptly making less noise when doing it.

Jack up the front end of the truck by the frame letting the front axle droop. Shove a screwdriver between the leaves to open a gap and shoot some grease in there with a grease gun. Also make sure the ubolts are properly torqued.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

I jacked it up and sprayed wd40 in the springs but it didn't do much. I am going to use grease tomorrow

 

[ridgerunner]

Proper way to do it would be to take off the leafs, pull them apart, grind down any ridges made by friction, paint them, slip plate them, and put them back in with new bushings. Make sure your spring clamps are tight enough on the sides, but not so much that they wear into the spring (or viceversa).

 

[lovetoski]

I used my grease gun and slathered a bunch of grease in between the tips of the leaves. Worked great, all quiet. Then after a few weeks of rain, the grease got washed out and they pop again. However, even after months of rain, the popping is less severe than before greasing. So, greasing helps, but isn't perfect, and isn't permanent. Maybe the dissambly/grinding process would be a good thing to try...

 

[sl33py]

I have also seen the anti-friction inserts - maybe those would help?... Anyone used them?

Look like some sort of sticker/insert iirc.