ESPO leaf springs flattened?

[bigdog56e]

andyb,
        i am getting my front coils from Eaton when I get to that project. Think their leaf springs are quite pricey, but you get what you pay for.
                                                                                                           Eddie

[Shin-X]

ESPO told me that they are made 50 at a time...whether or not that means they get them made for them in 50's or what, I dont know.

Again, Im just taking 2 leafs out of my old ones and shoving them in my new ones and we will see how that works out.

[IowaEagle]

50 at a time kinda of makes me wonder if they are Eagle specific?

[bigdog56e]

  Doug,
         I agree with you, twenty five sets of springs is a bit of inventory to carry for one application.
                                                                                                 Eddie

[Shin-X]

Well they are basically a phone-in operation that orders their parts from warehouses and are drop-shipped to the customer, so technically if you have one manufacturer providing the springs for many companies its really not a high number.

Its possible that the few places that sell the cheap springs all have the same manufacturer...I believe there was 3 places mentioned.

[jim]

ESPO told me that they are made 50 at a time...whether or not that means they get them made for them in 50's or what, I dont know.

Again, Im just taking 2 leafs out of my old ones and shoving them in my new ones and we will see how that works out.

I would really like to know how to go about doing that.  I will appreciate tips and pictures if possible.

[Route 66 Rambler]

I measured leaf springs on a Cherokee today, very quickly, they are very close to the 52 inch length mentioned above.  The bolts and bushings seem to be bigger or heavier than the Eagle. 

It shouldn't be hard to work with, and Terra used to make a pair of swivel shackles that I used on my Cherokee that would give some real articulation on the trail.  There was enough axle movement available to warrant longer brake lines.  And a retaining pin could be snapped on to lock them  into a rigid road configuration.   When they were pinned up, you couldn't tell any difference from the stock mountings.  I don't remember what they cost, and I don't know if Terra is even still around, or if they still make them.  Those or another shackle could be used to mount a set of Jeep springs more easily, perhaps.  This Terra system didn't add any significant lift, just provided extra travel, mostly in the downward swing, and only while un-pinned.

But the length of the springs is close enough to be worth a closer look.  Maybe remove a spring from a Cherokee leaf pack if it's too stiff.
mike

[Gil-SX4]

I've seeing the shackles you are referring to they are call the Revolver I think.

[Shin-X]

ESPO told me that they are made 50 at a time...whether or not that means they get them made for them in 50's or what, I dont know.

Again, Im just taking 2 leafs out of my old ones and shoving them in my new ones and we will see how that works out.

I would really like to know how to go about doing that.  I will appreciate tips and pictures if possible.

Sorry Jim, I wont be doing it myself...My mechanic will be doing it for me. He says hes done it a lot before. Not sure what all is involved. My own mechanical abilities range somewhere between none and limited.

[Route 66 Rambler]

Revolver was the name.

If these spring applications are compatible with each other, maybe the two sets of leaves could be combined in some manner for soft initial travel, and progressively stiffer rates, like two Eagle leafs and a Cherokee one, or something.

[bigdog56e]

  Shin-x,
          I was thinking along those lines. My thoughts were to get a set of Cherokee springs and disassemble them and use all but the main leaf, leave the Eagle main leaf in place, add Cherokee leaves until you get the ride and height you want. It can be done without removing Eagle main leaf, jack the car up by frame, let the axle droop, remove the u bolts, clamp leaves together with a heavy duty c-clamp, remove spring center bolt, release the c-clamp,, remove the leaves, then slide the Cherokee leaves in place, align the center bolt hole, clamp the leaves back together with c-clamp, install the center bolt and ubolts, depending on the thickness of the Cherokke springs, you may have to get longer ubolts. I did a ford pickup like this one time, I got another set of springs, cut the eyes off main leaf, and used the entire spring along with the main leaf on the truck, gave it more load capacity.
                                                                                                                      Eddie

[jim]

Shin-X, your thread has turned into a general discussion about sagging springs and remedies, more than ESPO springs.
Wouild you prefer this to move to a new thread?

In the meantime, one of my concerns with combining springs is knowing which leaf to add .
I saw Eddie's post about how to decide how many.  I suppose his method would work when combining Eagle springs.

[Shin-X]

No I dont mind, this is all relevant information in my books so its good its all here.....if you dont get ESPO springs you need to know what else works and doesnt as well.

I talked to my mechanic today and what we are going to do is take the two longest leafs out of my current springs, cut the ends off so the first ends up being about 2 inches shorter then the biggest one, then the next under that.

So it will go new spring (with the eyelets and such)
old spring with eyelets cut off, two inches shorter than the first one.
then the rest of the new ones and one of the old ones, with one of them cut down a bit so they arent the same length.

So it should hold the rear end up and also lift it up to the same height as my front end.

Sorry, Unfortunately I am not good at explaining this as he is the one who knows what hes talking about and im just trying to explain it back the way I understood it. 

[jim]

Thanks.  I think it will be quite clear when I take the time to cipher it out.
Do you know how he plans to cut the leaf?  I wonder if a torch would destroy the temper?

[Jurjen]

Yup, a torch will destroy the temper, an angle grinder does the job in two minutes.