Spring clamps (1 Viewer)

[woytovich]

Leave alone or straighten the last bend that is on top of the spring pack? Currently these are feeling like pretty stiff springs although I don't have the 40 all loaded with hard top/winch etc etc. These are new, not used, springs.
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[woytovich]

Just saw this picture in another thread and I think the answer for me is that I am going to straighten or cut those clamps so that they do not hold the top of the spring.

 

[subzali]

I'd leave it

 

[Mark W]

Opening them up will give you better droop. As tight as your look, you *might* improve over all spring flex due to reduced friction between the leaves.

The bent spring pictured would have been with the clamps removed too BTW. That bend is from an impact or load to the axle or the front of the spring. We have bent them this way winching out of bogs with the axle lodged against a clay shelf or trapped under the root mat as well as from hard impacts against banks or obstructions while under power. That spring might have bent differently, but it likely would have bent.

We have been opening up the clamps on OEM and aftermarket springs for over 20 years and have never had a problem from doing so.


Mark...

 

[woytovich]

Mark W,
Any suggested method for opening them up?
Thanks,
the other Mark W

 

[Mark W]

it is easier to do than describe... i use a "wonderbar" (A flat prybar with a '90 degree bend at one end.)

I use the straight end to lift each side of each clamp a little. The use the bent end to lift the clamp upward while I hammer at the corner. The will flatten and straighten the corner bend of the clamp without bending the rest of it. Upward pressure lifting the end of the clamp while you hammer down at the corner until there is no longer a corner, just the clamp sticking straight up (It winds up as a big "U" shape under and on both sides of the spring, without curling down over the top of the spring pack.


Mark...

 

[subzali]

Mark (OP), you said that the springs were stiff. I doubt that opening up the clamps will make much difference there. Like Alaska Mark said, you'll get increased droop if you open it up, so maybe have better flex, but that's about it. So it just seemed like a little bit of work that won't really affect the symptom you described.

 

[woytovich]

Got it...

Better to do this on the truck or off?

If "off", do you put the spring into a vice to hold it?

Do you ever use heat on the clamp? (bad for the spring steel I imagine)

 

[woytovich]

Mark (OP), you said that the springs were stiff. I doubt that opening up the clamps will make much difference there. Like Alaska Mark said, you'll get increased droop if you open it up, so maybe have better flex, but that's about it. So it just seemed like a little bit of work that won't really affect the symptom you described.

Well the truck will get wheeled some so added droop is always a good thing... and as far as the stiffness I'll have to wait and see after it is fully outfitted. These are the springs once known as "Dar" springs. Named for a guy a hundred years ago that was selling them via the Land Cruiser Mail List (Mark will remember). They appear to be heavy duty springs. It may call for a leaf-ectomy later on... but not now.

 

[Mark W]

Mark... when the s[prings are on the rig... and when they are compressed... how close do the ends of those leave come to the spring clamps pictured?

I have seen aftermarket springs where the ends of the leaves hit the clamp when the spring flattened under compression. Made for a TERRIBLE ride. I had a guy sell me a set for almost nothing many years ago because he was disgusted with the ride. A month later he went for a ride with me after I had noticed and corrected the problem and installed them on my own rig. He was pissed!

Mark...

 

[Mark W]

I almost always do it off the rig. A lot easier to get the access you need. I don't use a vice. Just do it on the floor and stand/kneel on them as needed to keep them from moving. And no need for heat. it all bends very easily once you figure out the right approach.

Mark...

 

[woytovich]

First, pics of the clamps on a rear spring. Note that this is with an Aqualu tub, no hard top, no roll bar, no jump seats... no anything in the rear... just the tub. I will CERTAINLY keep an eye on the ends of the leafs once weight is on the truck and I get a chance to compress a corner.