Avoiding over torquing leaf springs

[BillBergman]

Originally I was not even going to use the leaf springs and bought the 3 & 4 link suspension. Now I decided to try the leafs for a while. I'd imagine this has been done and mentioned before but just in case not... Here's what I did. I used some of the parts from the 4 link to stop the leaf springs from being over torqued and bent.

 

[turbomini]

can you take a picture of the rig on its wheels with the spring compressed? and can you tell if there is any binding in the link to leaf when it is compressed? i have been thinking about making something like that,

 

[BillBergman]

No binding. I used an extra ball link as a stand off spacer on the leaf spring bracket. See pic #3

 

[northkona]

I was just reading about this in a recent Crawl magazine. Their solution to stop the fixed end of the spring binding and not flexing was to add another shackle to the chassis end of the link. The axle end of the link was a fixed and braced attachment, not a pivot.
You are definitely on the right track with this, post some results on how it performs. "thumbsup"

 

[BillBergman]

Yeah, that would leave in a little 3D axis movement assuming that's good?

 

[Rook82]

The reason for a shackle on the torque arm is due to the axle center line moves forward or back during articulation. When you compress the rear you will see the axle and tire move to the rear with the shackle in the stock location at the back. Having a shackle on the torque arm allows the link to move forward and back. But due to it's orientation, it keeps the axle from rotating. You may just get lucky and not have noticeable binding. Typically when it is done this way in a full size vehicle (both ends fixed) something breaks eventually or even right away. If it works then cool. If you find binding then maybe a shackle could be incorporated at the frame side some how. I have been meaning to get around to this as well. I like the flex of the single leaf, just the axle wrap is horrible. Hope it works out for you!"thumbsup"

 

[corey900rr]

That is pretty much a traction bar often seen on 1:1 pullers to keep the leaf springs from wrapping.

 

[THEmicroRR]

I installed the t-boxes and shooter shackles on mine for some more flex but noticed the same problem of twisting the leafs. Any ideas on this setup?

 

[BillBergman]

I installed the t-boxes and shooter shackles on mine for some more flex but noticed the same problem of twisting the leafs. Any ideas on this setup?

Using rods connected to the frame and axle like I did in the pictures above should stop the twisting.