Front Biased Style Leaf Springs

[AtlantaSteve]

John,

First off, I know this is your sponsor forum, but I'm hoping you can give me some help, based on a comment I saw you once make on another forum that I have been thinking about ever since you said it.

On this other forum, you mentioned that there was no reason, that someone couldn't make a pack of Leaf Springs like the biased Maier Racing springs out of standard springs.

I have a set of stock leafs on my car, and a set of aftermarket 4.5 leaf reverse eye dropped springs on my shelf.

If I get the measurements of a set of maier springs, and use my angle grinder with cutoff wheels, do I have everything I need to do it? I'd basically just take the pack apart, cut all the leafs to the right size to match the maier pattern, and put the pack back together right?

Has anyone ever done this? If so, do you know the performance results?

Monkeystash has a set and is going to get me the measurements, that should be enough, right?

Thanks for any advice or guidance you can offer

Steve

 

[monkeystash]

Steve had asked me to take some measurements and some pictures of my Maier 165 Race springs, as he is considering making his own as noted above.

The top leaf is 22 1/2" long. As you can see, it's almost up against the bushing eyelet. Just about 3/8" gap.

The next leaf down is the main spring with bushing eyelets at both sides.

The 3rd leaf down is 46 1/2" long and sits about 3/8" from where the bushing eyelet starts to roll.

The 4th leaf down is 37 1/2" long and has 1 1/8" overlap gap on the 3rd leaf.

The 5th leaf down is 20 3/4" long and has a 1 1/8" overlap gap on the 4th leaf.

 

[Opentracker]

Yep - that's what you want, a supper stiff front half and all the spring to take place on the back half.

Here is some good reading about the mod.

http://forums.stangnet.com/544275-lowering-rear-car-w-o-blocks-long.html

I have yet to buy a new set of leaf springs for my cars. I can get any ride height and spring rate I want for free.

 

[AtlantaSteve]

Thanks, I have that thread bookmarked

If you don't mind I have a few questions:
1)Do you know if anyone has done this before (specifically cutting their leafs to mimic maier's) and if so, did the springs end up performing like Maier's?

2)Ryan's Springs seem to be mideyes...mine are reverse eye...I assume cutting springs will remove some of the structural rigidity, and cause the car to sit even lower still? Is doing this with Reverse Eye springs going to set my car in the weeds?

3)Finally, I have 4.5 leaf springs that I plan to cut up...I'm starting to think I have no reason to use my stock springs, as the 4.5 leaf springs have all the layers required to mimic the maier setup. I'm not missing anything right?

Thanks. I'm thinking I'll photograph every step and write-up a how-to for anyone looking to do this.

Steve

 

[Opentracker]

1) - Yes, I've done it. I have never tried the Maier springs but they look the same and work great.

2) - No. It will only sit in the weeds if you let it. What I do is cut the ends off the #1 spring in the used set and use that for the #2 spring in the set I'm going to use. Then build from there. It is a trial and error deal. I did the springs on my 66 4 times and it's still not right. With a reverse eye, don't put any springs on top in a neg. arch. A second long leaf with a normal pack under that and a half leaf on top should work well. That could be a starting point. There is little chance your going to nail it on the first try. Though one guy on stangnet did. :zip

3) - Nope, sounds good. Take them all apart, put them back together the way you think will work and give it a go. If it sit's too high or too low or the spring rate is wrong, do it again. It's fun with loud music and Pizza -N- BEER

FYI - the spring is longer in the back. Just turning them around will make the front half stiffer. Put a bolt-on spring clamp on the front half instead of those squeeze deals.

 

[AtlantaSteve]

Sweet! Well I'm gonna try it, and will take some pictures and put up some sort of article about my experiences. Be a lot better if the car was ready to drive, so I could say what I THOUGHT about them...but hey it is what it is...

Thanks for your help, John!

Steve

 

[sigtauenus]

I'm resurrecting this topic. Steve, did you ever get this project going and/or document it?

John, the springs I have on my car I bought new about 12 or 14 years ago and they have maybe 50-60,000 miles on them. At the time I was trying to overcome a seriously sagging rear end and a stock front suspension and stock rear leafs still sagged. I bought 1" lift rear springs and with the new front suspension the entire car sits high. I was going to buy a new set of springs but after reading the stangnet post I won't spend money on new springs again. I'm still reading up on this, but if I just want to lower the height of the car, I add inverted leafs to the top side of the spring? And adjust ride height based on which leafs I add from a used set and how many?

Also, on the variable rate front springs, any suggestions on how much coil to cut to get a certain amount of drop, or should I just cut say 1/4 coil at a time until I get the height that I want?

 

[Opentracker]

For the front, I would cut 1/4 coil at a time unless you want it dropped more than 1" then you could take 1/2 coil off first.

Setting ride height by rebuilding leafs is a trial and error method. It's free but it does take a lot of time. The amount the inverted leaf will lower the car depends on how much arch that spring has and how strong it is ( new vs old ) . As I said in the stangnet thread, I've done the springs in our '66 4 times and I'm still not happy with it. I would start with an inverted #3 leaf and see where that gets you.

I'll be doing this soon again myself. I just got a new track $lut and the rear end is too high. It's got 4.5 mid eye leafs on it but they need redoing to get the ride height and spring rate I want. It is fun work and very rewarding. There is no other way I know of to get the ride height changed by as little as 1/4" to 1/2" in the rear other than rebuilding the leafs. It's also possible to stiffen or lessen the spring rate with no change in ride height. It's all up to how much time you spend on it.

Hope this helps. You can always give me a call at 831 659 0688 .