Leaf spring building

[mick whittingham]

The leaf springs for the Series 1 car are very good, they look really neat.
I'm just wondering if anyone has experienced any migration of the leaves during running though.
Full size springs have a central bolt through each leaf from top to bottom. This not only prevents the leaves from being able to shuffle back and forth but also provides a positive location into the sprung seat so that the axle and spring remain in alignment. Clamp brackets prevent the leaves from pivoting around the central bolt and coming out of alignment, which some builders have already replicated on their models.
I'm just wondering if the spring leaves stay put in operation or if it's worth drilling each leaf for a centre bolt.
Any thoughts greatly appreciated.
Mick.

[Adrian Harris]

I haven't started the Series 1 yet but the leaf springs on the US halftrack and the Quad can suffer from the leaves creeping.

I used a tungsten carbide tipped drill to slowly drill through the leaves and then fitted an M2 (I think) bolt to keep them aligned.

Adrian.

[michael hilton]

Good morning each, I used the same method as Adrian with my leaf springs, stops ''crabbing''. Then I wrapped the leaf springs in the thin black tape used for flower arrangement's,,,Mick

[mick whittingham]

Adrian, thank you, that's what I was thinking. Having replaced many truck springs in my youth I was worried the model would suffer similar problems.
Drilling them would be the next problem. A carbide bit seems sensible so I will give it a try.
I was toying with the idea of putting a layer of ptfe cloth on each spring leaf to ease interleaf friction. But the loading may not make this necessary.
Mick

[Charles A Stewart]

Evening folks.

Hope all is well with everyone.

On the subject in hand I too thought, "what's to stop the leaf springs moving about"

I made brackets just like the real one, though I like the idea of Adrian's and may well copy that. To date my springs haven't moved, the chassis has only been round the assault course two or three times so far.

We'll keep an eye on them there springs.

Home made brackets & a something BA bolt ( I forget what size I used.

Good to see more S1's on the forum.

Charles

[Robert Reid]

viewtopic.php?t=8023&start=15

Set up my Ghost chassis the same way with U-bolts.

I'll be doing the same with the Land Rover.

Cheers!

RPR

[Chris Hall]

It’s a bit different with the Quad, as there’s a centre clamp that bolts the spring to the axle.

I’ve cheated a bit by putting cable ties around the quarter points to stop the leaves flaring. They’re painted and well hidden !

All the best,

Chris

[mick whittingham]

After lots of thought and advice about making holes in spring steel I opted to try a punch and die.

I bought a cheap pneumatic hole punch panel crimping machine off ebay. It was set up to punch 5mm diameter holes for spot welding body panels.

I stripped the head and made a new punch and die for a 2.1mm bore hole.

Worked brilliantly, holes punched right through the hardened steel in seconds.

Well worth the effort of making the punch and die set.

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[mick whittingham]

The punch worked really well and I used an M2 x 12mm bolt to secure the springs together.

I will be making strap clamps for them to stop any twisting out of the leaves.

Have to bear in mind there are two different methods of making these clamps; either simply bent round the leaves or a U shaped clamp with a bolt across the top. Obviously both types riveted to one leaf.

[mick whittingham]

Once I developed a system for measuring and marking the leaves it took me about four minutes a spring to punch the holes in the leaves.
Much quicker and more accurate than drilling.

On to the leaf clamps now,

[mick whittingham]

I looked at the leaf clamps this morning, deciding to make the later version with folded steel straps rather than the bolted U shaped straps.
Using galvanised 0.7mm steel sheet I cut the strips and drilled them 1.6mm.
I had some copper rivets left over from the Centurion build and used these to secure each strap to the relevant leaf.
Folding each strap round the leaves was a simple job and the results look fine.
I did debur ever leaf edge with a scotch brite wheel as they were quite sharp from the shearing process, I didn't want friction to be an issue.

[Tim Carr]

Very Nice work on a common item. Nice job.

Later Tim