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I've tried searching the old board but had no luck. It's loads for a while and nothing comes up. I bought a full set of springs from VPW a while back and planned on removing some springs to soften the ride. Can anyone tell me what springs they've removed front and back? Also I remember somebody saying they painted their springs with something called slick plate (?) which reduces the friction between the springs but I've had no luck locating info on them. Also I would obviously have to replace the U-bolts but should I replace anything else in the process? My truck is really rusty, am I gonna snap off bolts trying to get the old springs unmounted and be screwed? Should I just buy all new replacements? Sorry this is so long any help is much appreciated.
Mike F.
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Mike,
If you can't find the paint stuff you can get rolls of teflon stuff that go between the leaves. Check with a local spring shop. It should smooth out the suspension action a bit.
Chris
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I've heard that the strips have a tendancy to work themselves out, do you use em?
Mike
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Nah, my springs are lubed with rust. I always thought the strips sounded like a good idea but the only info I've heard is from the folks that sell them.
Chris
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I searched the oldest board, the original Yahoo one for newer folks, and found the following info which is probably the definitive info as far as I am concerned.
First from TmanII, an excellent mechanic and fabricator who's trucks are first rate without question. He built the tan truck for Chad that many have seen on Trucks on TV...this was before the Rockwells were added...Tman did that too...:
"In the front I removed only 1, the second from the bottom. On the rear I removed the second and third spring from the bottom. When I built Chads truck I did the same , however Chad wanted to remove one more in the rear. He wound up wrapping the axle and bending the rear springs with three removed. Yes as I have stated earlier, it greatly decreases the carring capicity of the truck. You can't have everything. If your front springs are in really good condition you might remove 2, as they soften up from use then reinstall one."
Willie in Texas, who has built one monster of a truck listed the following for the reworking of the leaf springs and also where he got the stuff to do it...also he lists poly bushings for the cab mounts that work...included below are the contents of 2 posts with the info he gave:
"I have all the spring packs rebuilt with teflon liners and polyurethane bushings using ample amounts of graphite paint,I also removed one leaf from the front and 2 from the rear."
"I bought my polyurethane bushings from http://www.ESPO.com for a Jeep J truck but I had to modify 2 of them on a lathe to make them all fit perfectly but these modifications could be made on a bench grinder with a little patience. You may ask ESPO.com about the dimensions of the bushings for a Gladiator as these, I hear, fit correctly. ESPO.com also sells the teflon liner matierial for between the leafs of the springs. They also sell the polyurethane cab mounts for the civilian J truck that are about 1 inch to 1 1/2 inches thicker than the originals."
Hope that helps,
brute4c
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You can get Slip Plate at your local Ag store such as TSC. It is a grafite base paint and works OK on springs. Take the spring pack apart and give all the springs a couple of good coats and reassemble. Good luck.
Bill from Ohio
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I know you can get Slip-Plate at most John Deere dealers. If you can't find it easily I'll pick you some up and send it to ya.It wouldn't be a problem at all.Just let me know..........
-Ben
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Hey, so my brother stopped by his local TSC and picked up what he thought was slip plate but is actually this stuff. http://www.agspecialty.com/EZslide.htm He said when they rang it up it said slip plate, but obviously it's not. Does anyone think it will work the same? The can was only $25 which is cheaper than slip plate.
Thanks,
Mike
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Looks like its very similar, maybe even the same.If you got a gallon for that price then you got a really good deal.The stuff that I can get is Slip-Plate by Superior Graphite Co. It's a "Graphite dry film lubricant" 12oz spray can is $5.59, 1 quart is $12.95 and a gallon is $39.95.They might have a website where it's cheaper but I've always just got it locally. It says that each gallon covers approximately 200 square feet.I'd try yours and see, as long as it resist the same elements and has a similar bond strength.
Good Luck,
-Ben
