[Randy in ca]

Originally Posted by M2M

......... With these two facts in mind, let me ask you 2 questions:

1. Of the ten leaves in a Tudor spring isn't the main leaf the most important one as far as forming the arch (and height) and supplying the flex to the spring?

2. If the answer to question 1 is "yes"; wouldn't adding a new main leaf be better than not adding one? As far as matching leaves, in such a scenario 9 of the 10 leaves are already matched, with all of them sitting on the new main leaf.

There’s no doubt that the shape and condition of the leaves above the main leaf has a definite effect on the overall shape and performance of the spring assembly. Each leaf moving from bottom to top should have a tighter curvature. That means that every time you add/clamp another leaf above, more curvature should be forced into the leaves below and the main leaf spring eyes become closer together. By example, all rear main leaves should have the same eye-to-eye distance when loose, but by the time they’re assembled those springs with 2 or 3 more leaves should measure up to 2” shorter eye-to-eye due the additional force applied by the curvature of the additional top leaves. The Roadster spring, with the least number of leaves, should have the flattest appearance when assembled as well as the largest eye-to-eye distance. An old catalogue I have shows the assembled Roadster rear spring eye-to-eye dimension as being 40" to 40-3/16" while those for other models range from 37-7/8" to 39-11/16" eye-to-eye when assembled.