Leaf spring material

[Destroyer]

The only problem with shorter leaf packs is a decreased amount of flex. I generally made mine ~4" long or so, with two full length leaves, tied together near the ends with thin wire. Then I just added more leaves to stiffen them up. You may even want to try 3 long leaves, to prevent spring/axle wrap, which is what I always had problems with. Oh yeah- a cool way I found to make the eyes on the ends nice, was to weld a screw (the size you want to use to mount the springs with) and then tack the end of the spring steel onto it, so you can heat it up and bend it around the screw and get a nice tight wind.

[rockwerks]

I did alot of research on material for my new rig, (using one full length leaf spring. and found a lawn rake at Home depot that uses excellent spring steel that is black powder coated, 1/4" wide.

[Bknight]

ugh, double J i hate you, i just had to go to harbor freight and buy some too, >:@ it seems like it will work pretty good. going to have to make them like a real spring pack with a couple on the bottum. i havn't started mine yet, due to no time. but i'll get some pics once i do

[dieselfuel]

any updates on this guys? im looking at leaves on my upcoming scale truck.

[Double J]

I can't use them for my current build because they didn't have 1/4" they only had 3/16 so mine will have to wait a few weeks.

[jcsaxial]

Bringin up the dead! so whats the verdict on this, the rake or pull start from weedbeater?

[TacoCrawler]

...Spring Steel would be my choice

use a recoil spring from a weed wacker, chainsaw
or something similar that utilizes a pull start.
A lawnmower recoil spring may be too wide
to use as a scale leaf spring.
So be sure before looking to obtain.

A recoil spring could be ordered individually
if one uses the correct nomenclature.
and visits the proper business establishment.

Leaf springs are not designed to be flat...
and generally have some positive arch to them.
If they are flat...
the rig is either grossly over weight...
or the leaf pak is tired.

* the leaf paks on a 1:1 could look near flat
with the vehicle's static weight resting on them.
But even with the vehicles gross weight resting on them...
they should still have some positive arch remaining.

Each individual leaf in a pak when stacked...
needs to be able to slide/shift during leaf spring compression.

If it don't... then it will not function properly
nor compress as it should.
And would likely offer a harsh, bouncy ride.

Don't forget to utilize a spring hanger/shackle at the rear of each leaf pak.
This compensates for the increased spring pak length (travel) as the leaf pak is compressed.

It's not rocket science...
but building a proper leaf spring pak...
does require some understanding.

[wings_of_fire]

You cannot just pull out some spring steel out of some product and use it. The shape of a particular spring steel component is a combination of forming as well as heat treatment. Heat treatment is very important.

[TacoCrawler]

Originally Posted by wings_of_fire

You cannot just pull out some spring steel out of some product and use it. The shape of a particular spring steel component is a combination of forming as well as heat treatment. Heat treatment is very important.

A recoil spring comes pre-coiled...
so it will already have an arch tempered to it.

The weight support/flex of that arch will be dependent on thickness of the material.
If it where too thick... it may not compress the arch by the weight of the chassis...
So proper static ride height and compression of the leaf spring
would be dependent on how heavy the chassis is.

So yeah... you can.
but only if ya find a viable recoil spring.

Many recoil springs on lighter power machines
will have a recoil spring made of thinner material.
Individual leafs could be stacked if more weight support is needed.

I'd suppose a SS recoil spring arch could be altered...
But would require a knowledge of metallurgy and the processes of annealing.
And possibly a jig of some sorts to assure that when that process
occurs... that both leaf springs will end up having equal arches.

[jcsaxial]

So let me ask this. I'm wanting to get a taller lift on a tf2 and was thinking of doing longer springs w more arch. Either go this route which seems a little easier or block the axles, the height I'm Needin I don't think will look right, or figure a way to build longer hangers and extended shackle mounts.

I may have taken this thread off subject but it all sort of relates.

[TacoCrawler]

Originally Posted by jcsaxial

So let me ask this. I'm wanting to get a taller lift on a tf2 and was thinking of doing longer springs w more arch. Either go this route which seems a little easier or block the axles, the height I'm Needin I don't think will look right, or figure a way to build longer hangers and extended shackle mounts.

I may have taken this thread off subject but it all sort of relates.

You could do as many folk with 1:1 rigs do...

...install longer shackle plates at the rear of each leaf spring hanger.
but that may or may not obtain the lift you desire

lift blocks could be used as well.
but I would never put those on my 1:1 rig.
For an RC toy... no life would be harmed due to failure.
So no biggie IMO

But if it were mine... as I value added flex and articulation...
I would prefer the longer leaf paks, with the appropriate arch.

Realize that...
if you go with a longer leaf pak...
you may need to relocate the mounting perches
to work properly with a longer leaf pak.

[jcsaxial]

I'm familiar w link set ups but not leaf nor in 1:1. Forgive my ignorance but not sure if your saying add another shackle to the hanger or just extend the hanger and the shackle? I figured 1 each but not combined on the hanger side. I've been looking at different 1:1 rigs and it's hard to see the setup via videos while they are crawling/mudding! Lol.

And thank you for the tech!

[TacoCrawler]

Originally Posted by jcsaxial

I'm familiar w link set ups but not leaf nor in 1:1. Forgive my ignorance but not sure if your saying add another shackle to the hanger or just extend the hanger and the shackle? I figured 1 each but not combined on the hanger side. I've been looking at different 1:1 rigs and it's hard to see the setup via videos while they are crawling/mudding! Lol.

And thank you for the tech!

I'm saying...
utilize or make longer rear shackles (replace originals with longer)

The hangers or perches remain untouched

^ just one each per leaf pak
often there are two individual plates per each shackle.
other times... the shackle is a single welded component.
The later provides more strength... but may also offer less flex.

ie: Off Road Enthusiasts - Leaf Spring Tech: Shackle Length & Shackle Angle

[bob1961]

I used the fingers from an old leaf rake, you can see how I made mine in my thread....post number 3 starts how ....

my TT build thread........