Spring Safety

[Tom Grz]

I just wanted to share a quick story about my recent experience as I was getting ready to remove the rear end from my 31 pickup. In preparation, I read a lot of the posts and articles about being careful with the springs, so my plan was to remove the u bolts, drop the rear and immediately put the u bolts back on the spring for safety. Before removing the u bolts, I decided to check the nut on the center bolt just to see if it was frozen. As soon as I put a little torque on the nut, the bolt snapped with a loud bang and the broken piece flew off, but the u bolts obviously kept the springs from going anywhere. Apparently, the nuts on the u bolts had loosened or were loosened a little by a previous owner, so the tension was mostly on the center bolt. Had I not tried to loosen the nut a little while the rear was still in the truck, it could have let loose while I was removing it from the truck. Looking at the broken bolt, it was obvious from the corrosion pattern that the bolt had developed a crack long ago thru half its diameter and was just waiting to let loose. So I guess if you have an original or older center bolt in your spring pack, it would be wise to replace it before removing the u bolts and dropping the rear.

[katy]

Thanks

[gdmn852]

I know a restorer that got his front teeth knocked out by the center bolt on front spring , can’t be too cautious with those, lucky it broke when It did. I like to use large c clamps on spring’s when I take them out.Glad you made it through without injury.

[Ray in La Mesa]

If you don't know it's history it's a good practice to assume that the center bolt is corroded & about ready to break & act accordingly like Tom did.

[Clem Clement]

I also check that t he "stirrup-shaped clamps that hold the springs inline are tight.

[Tom Endy]

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Never remove a Model A rear end without securing the spring with a proper spring spreader. Install the spreader, remove the shackles, drop the rear end out, collapse the spreader, and remove it. The spring is no longer lethal.

Tom Endy

[Planojc]

I've seen guys wrap a chain around the spring when removing the rear end.

[Ed in Maine]

I recently had to do some work on my rear end. After installing the spring spreader, I removed the spring shackles but left the spring in the car with the spring U-bolts in place on the rear spring crossmember. It made me feel a lot more comfortable looking at those heavy spring U-bolts holding everything. I will say when the time came to tap out the spring shackles, my blood pressure must have sky rocketed when making that final tap that disconnected the spring. Since the spreader had the load, the spring assembly did absolutely nothing. If you are not going to work on the spring itself, leave it in the car. Ed

[Terry, NJ]

The rear spring is quite possibly the most dangerous piece on the car. Somewhere there must be be someone who was killed by one. Every body (including me) Has a story tell. In a nut shell, don't try to make a spring spreader out of 3/4" sched. 40 water pipe. I did and it didn't work. THE SPRING WAS TOO STRONG! However, 1" has worked just fine with 1" ready rod adjusters. With my design, I don't believe all the tension can be removed so I just park the whole assy out of the way until it's ready to go back into the car. I also use chains as an insurance policy against something unforeseen .
Terry

[katy]

Originally Posted by Ed in Maine

If you are not going to work on the spring itself, leave it in the car. Ed

That's the way I do it.