Front Spring Insulators

[h67st]

I went to put the front leaf springs on, since there's no weight on the chassis the springs won't squat down enough to line up the ends with the mounts. As you can see, the rubber insulator is cocked at an angle because of this. I'm used to working on springs that have shackles so they will swivel to line up. I even tried the old spring, it's the same way. Has anybody put front springs on that can give me some tips? When I put the engine in will the rubber settle into the right position?

[Freightrain]

Ugh, I remember repairing my LF spring a few years back and the torture I went through getting that insulator back in.  Granted I had the whole truck to push up on, but it was still a PITA.  Had to make sure I didn't cross thread the bolts or crack the castings!!

[Vladislav]

This was my way.

A couple of chain winches forced the axle beam to compress the springs.

[j hancock]

It will be better with the weight of the engine and trans in place.  I also have used a little layer of dish soap so the rubber can moved around a bit and settle into the box/cap as you tighten up the bolts.  I like using a hand ratchet to tighten in an X pattern.  If something isn't going correctly you will know it with hand tools.

[Freightrain]

1 hour ago, j hancock said:

 I like using a hand ratchet to tighten in an X pattern.  If something isn't going correctly you will know it with hand tools.

Yes, this is paramount!

[doubleclutchinweasel]

When  I changed the ones on mine, the truck was together.  Still, it was a pain because the spring was curled up (with no weight on it), and did not line up.  I put a small bottle jack between the frame and the tail end of the spring (near the rear mount).  As I let the jack supporting the frame down, I adjusted the small jack to bend/straighten the spring as needed.  Once it was in the seat, all was good.

 

Without the weight of the truck on it, Something like Vlad's rig, above, might work.  Pull the axle to the frame to simulate load, and still might need the other little jack like I used on mine.

 

Oh, and the dish soap is a must!  Slippery stuff.  Doesn't hurt the rubber.

[Vladislav]

In the asked task I'd put a bottle jack onto the top of the frame rail and make a lee of chain or tight stripe over the bottom of the spring and the jack top. Than lift the jack so it will pull the chain forsing the spring bottom to go up.

My chain winches were 1 ton so applying 2 of them to both the springs didn't put more than 1 ton of force to each spring. And I remember well I didn't seat the insulators by the clamp bolts. The rubbers were completely in their places so I just put the clamps and drove the bolts in.

[h67st]

I was planning to use caster shims under the spacer blocks; then I noticed one of my H models doesn't have shims in it. As I was looking at the spacer blocks, I happened to notice that one end is thicker than the other (2-1/8" one end, 2-1/4" other end). I guess I'll put the thicker end in front and once the truck is all together, see if the caster angle is good. I've never measured caster angle before...can I measure it by putting a level on the spring seat of the front axle?

[j hancock]

You can check caster using the flat of the axle.  Slight difference in degree/angle depending if the truck has power steering or not.

Some info for a B model which should work for you.

[h67st]

Thank you Jim!

[h67st]

I'm almost done sanding, getting ready to paint the chassis. I pulled it outside for the first time in over 2 years, I tried a shortcut to compress the front springs by pushing down on the front of the frame with my bucket tractor, not enough weight to compress the springs.

So I pushed it back inside and used Vlad and Jim's idea of chains and binders, that did the trick. The only problem was the rubber insulators wouldn't compress enough to put the caps on all the way so I had to whack away at them with a utility knife. They are Automann brand, I think one problem is the rubber compound is stiffer than the original insulators.

I finally got the steering box back from the rebuilder, he had to replace some parts with used ones he had on hand. Charged me $300, I thought that was really reasonable. The original pitman arm was well worn, thankfully I had a better one on one of my parts trucks.

[Vladislav]

Great to see the progress!

And would be also cool to see the painted chassis soon

[h67st]

I put a coat of primer on today, then top coated with red. The color is wrong in the photos, it's Mack 400 red. I sure do like it now!! It was a hassle to reach all the nooks and crannies, especially around the rear suspension--very hard to get the gun in and around things. I used Nason single stage urethane, it was easy to work with and covered well.

Edited October 1, 2020 by h67st

[terry]

Gonna look fantastic!👍    terry

[Vladislav]

Sexy

[Freightrain]

How may gallons to color it all??  Just curious.

[h67st]

I put just shy of one gallon on it; I didn't second coat everything because I was running out of time and patience but the first coat was heavy enough to cover well.