Teflon spring leaf liners... yes or no?

[Bassman/NZ]

What does the Barn think of liners? I have my rear spring apart at the moment, and I wonder whether to use them.

[Brian]

Yeah..Nah! A spring actually needs the inherent friction developed between each leaf to function properly. I tried teflon between all spring leaves about 30 odd years ago, certainly makes for a limosine smooth ride, but the car will actually handle better with the stock set up. Obviously, I no longer run the teflon.

[texas webb]

Are you using any lube between the leaves?

[TJ]

I use the Teflon and like it. Never had any problems. You do need to taper the ends of the leaves so they don't bite into the Teflon.

[Lawrie]

Pull the spring apart,cover each leaf with grease,then assemble it and wrap it in DENSO tape,
lawrie

[Pete]

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Originally Posted by Bassman/NZ

What does the Barn think of liners? I have my rear spring apart at the moment, and I wonder whether to use them.

It depends on what you want for a "ride" and handling.
If you want it to be like it was from the factory, stop reading right here.

You can have a soft comfortable ride and still have excellent cornering ability.
It's not just bolt on stuff though. After you do the following to the spring and get it adjusted to the rate you want, unless you have access to a shock dyno it is quite q bit of trial work to get the shocks right for the intended ride and handling. I use sprint car shocks because they are available used in almost unlimited combinations of compression/rebound.

Here's what to do to the spring.

You can clean the spring several ways depending on what you have for equipment. Glass beading is probably easiest. Wire buffer wheel works also. Beading will not affect the curve of the spring.
Then inspect the top of all the leaves for grooving.
If grooved, grind and taper the tops of all the leaves for the last 3 inches.
The number of leaves you use will depend on the final weight of the car
and the "ride" you want. On a typical early Ford it is possible to get a
100 lb. per inch spring rate. Have the shocks disconnected when checking spring rates.
After figuring out the final configuration, disassemble the spring and Parkerize the leaves.
Then spray them with Molykote or Sliplate, a dry film lubricant.
When re-assembling use 1/16 UHMW plastic between the leaves. This is the same as Teflon but about 1/3 the price.
After complete assembly including the clips wrap it with black vinyl electrical tape from the eyes to just short of the U bolts. This keeps dirt out. Some people like the fabric covers. You need something to keep dirt out.
If you use a reversed eye main leaf, be sure the second leaf is short enough that there is no way it can bottom on the eye when at full compression.
Sometimes the original spring clips will not reach over the spring after the UHMW is added.
It is a simple matter to fabricate ones that will.
The inside top of the cross member where the spring seats, usually has a radius.
BE SURE the top leaf of the spring has a radius to match. a sharp corner on the spring leaf can cause a cracked cross member.
I use moly filled Delrin shackle bushings (home made) because they have almost no friction and they never wear out.

[GEOFFNZ]

Teflon works for me as does grease for a soft ride.It is always a balance between ride and body roll. Cheers

[poweredbylincoln]

Use slip plate for tractors, its graphite and works good!!

[Old Henry]

Yes. I put them between my leaves 7 years ago and no squeaks and rides nice.

[Old Henry]

Originally Posted by Brian

Yeah..Nah! A spring actually needs the inherent friction developed between each leaf to function properly.

That doesn't make much sense when Ford put three grease fittings on the spring to force grease between the leaves every 1-5,000 miles.

[Walt Dupont--Me.]

Originally Posted by Lawrie

Pull the spring apart,cover each leaf with grease,then assemble it and wrap it in DENSO tape,
lawrie

Hey lawrie, that sounds good. What is DENSO tape? Walt

[JWL]

I used the Teflon buttons/discs on the front spring of my 40. It seemed very much better initially but seemed to become more rigid as time/mileage added up. However, it has remained quiet and comfortable. I would do it again.

[woodiewagon46]

When I had my springs apart, I coated between each leaf with Never-Seize, the silver stuff used on nuts and bolts to ease in removal. I couldn't be happier with the results! It really allows the springs to slide without and binding.

[Lawrie]

Walt,denso tape is a wax covered tape that they use to cover and protect cables etc that are under water or ground,
I tried to post a link,but it didn't work,
Look up Denso tape on Google,
its good stuff and been around for years.
Lawrie

[Kurt in NJ]

Originally Posted by Old Henry

That doesn't make much sense when Ford put three grease fittings on the spring to force grease between the leaves every 1-5,000 miles.

They may be grease fittings, but the fittings are for spring lube ---original spring lube was closer to thin oil, --about 77% ice machine oil (10 wt)20% talc, and little ground asbestos ---I used some brake dust, and I have used graphite, the instructions say to mix before each use, and to have a dedicated "grease gun" for the lube ---I too greased the 46 I had, but later the 39 got this mixture and it rode wonderful