Flipped springs and blocks

[aussiebogan_no1]

G'day Eveyone

I guarantee im going to feel like a complete dumb arse by the end of this

I have a monster hard time trying to get my head around how to flip the springs i was just reading ratbox description in trev 3 inch wanted add and i think i understand it but i just want to make sure what im thinking i correct and ask bout what i dont understand.

Well here we go:

So first you unbolt the U Bolts. than place a G clamp on the blue to the purple leaves. Than undo the centre pin. Is it what the red arrow is pointing to because there is just a piece of rubber sticking out(but i bet the centre pin is under the white rubber??) How is it undone? or if im wrong where is it??

Than take the green leaf and place it onto of the purple leave facing the opposite way to it was facing before. Than use a guide (e.g screwdriver?) to line up the holes clamp all the leaves and put the centre bolt back in. than bolt on the u bolts and all done yea



Sould you do one side at a time, do you need to jack up the car any think else i need to know or need to do??

I was also thinking of putting lowering blocks on and was wondering if i should do these straight after flipping the springs and put the blocks in with the longer u bolts.

Regards
Richard

[Devilrod]

G'day Well here we go:

So first you unbolt the U Bolts. than place a G clamp on the blue to the purple leaves.

Good so Far, providied the car is already up on jack stands and secure. Make sure you put the stands under the body not diff or springs. But you better have more than one clamp...

Than undo the centre pin. Is it what the red arrow is pointing to because there is just a piece of rubber sticking out(but i bet the centre pin is under the white rubber??) How is it undone? or if im wrong where is it??

It will become clearer once undone. The leaf pack sits on a rubber pad. The pin is under that rubber.

Than take the green leaf and place it onto of the purple leave facing the opposite way to it was facing before. Than use a guide (e.g screwdriver?) to line up the holes clamp all the leaves and put the centre bolt back in. than bolt on the u bolts and all done yea

Pretty much got it and yes it is a good time to put the blocks in and longer u bolts. Good luck and be careful.

[aussiebogan_no1]

G'day

Where is the best place to put the stands on the body??

Regards
Richard

[Thommo]

Where is the best place to put the stands on the body??

Put the stands under the subframe ahead of where
the front of the leaf springs are attached.

Be very careful your stands are seated nicely on the subframe,
& the stands are on flat level ground.

Best to have a mate help you position them as you slowly lower the car down.

Chock the front wheels to stop any movement.

Be careful when working under the car
not to pull or push spanners in the front to back direction
when undoing or tightening nuts & bolts.

Position the spanners so you have to
Pull down or push up.

Dont put the green leaf
in the bong before you work

All the best
Cheers Jeff

[Devilrod]

Dont put the green leaf
in the bong before you work

All the best
Cheers Jeff

That was Faaaaarken funny....

Oh and some very wise words on working safely under a car.

[aussiebogan_no1]

nice took me a sec to work it out.

we will see how i go with it all and i will post some pics

might try it out on the weekend

Regards
Richard

[oldnek]

Hey Thommo.

You killed it by putting in all that serious technical stuff in before the last comment. But excellent advise though.

Devilrod, you took the words right out of my mouth.
Great to get a laugh after a crappy day.

Richard, Nice presentation, you come up trumps in trying to explain in picture of what you don't understand, which makes it easier for all to inform of how it happens or works.
I don't want to put a dampener on you.
In a nut shell flippin springs is not a good thing to do. Springs have bias treated in them to form them as such (the Spring) it is curved for a reason, to have action in a bump situation regardless of how much weight is placed upon it, and carry load. If you invert the spring in no longer bumps, but rebounds and the weight transfer is no longer carried through to the shackles for them to work properly, so your shocks are in limbo cause they don't know whether to rebound, bump or move up or down in or out.( basically do not control spring oscilation and therefor do not work properly) The other area is the spring itself, will eventually lead to fatigue and fracture, reverse peening where the diff plates were mounted causing breakage.
I know there are plenty of rodders who actuall do this type of lowering, and even members on this site, but in the early days you had to use what you could get hold of, and parts for cars were to expensive, so this became the simple fix.
With todays ample supply of spring resetters and manufacturers, price has never been cheaper to lower your car or rod, so my advise would be not go down that path and get the job done right, 1st time Safest Time and cheapest time. (insurance wise)
A simple analogy would be to try and make a extension spring into a compression spring by stretching the crapper out of it. (looks like it will work but dosn't)

Regards John

[aussiebogan_no1]

Thanks john

How about blocks i know there not good either but are they safer or less danger to completely destroying something.

i gotta watch out even more cause i drive it everyday and there are to many holes on the roads to try to dodge em all

How much is reseting the springs and how much can they lower em

Regards
Richard

[yeprat1]

i just had mine reset 2 1/4 inches lower they cost me $300 i could have went lower but i want to see how they sit if it needs to be lower i can put in a small lowering block money well spent

[mrs ratbox]

if yor gunna get yor springs reset make sure they know how much lower you want yor car and that they will redo it if yor not happy, cause in my experiance and others on this site they very rarely turn out how you want them, i don't think it's real expensive to get them reset, while yor at it get them to reverse the eyes
i'm no expert, but as i've said before i've done the flipping thing many times and driven the cars regularly and long distances with no ill effects, other than some times too low, my currant van actually rides alot better with the leaf flipped
resetting is the correct way as long as it turns out the way you want it

[aussiebogan_no1]

reverse they eyes ??


i feel like a complete doofus

Regards
Richard

[Trev]

The eye's are on the top leaf or in your pic the pink spring, they are what attaches the spring to the chassis,
Trev .

[EK283]

Yes,
Reverse the eyes!

When you look at the spring side on, the round bits at each end where the bolts go through are above the main leaf or higher ( which ever description you choose ).
When you reverse the eyelets they then sit below the main leaf approx 1 inch from standard. Normally you have to get a new main leaf to do this. I will take some photos tomorrow so you will know what I am talking about.

Regards Greg

[oldnek]

[quote="ratbox"]if yor gunna get yor springs reset make sure they know how much lower you want yor car and that they will redo it if yor not happy, cause in my experiance and others on this site they very rarely turn out how you want them, i don't think it's real expensive to get them reset, while yor at it get them to reverse the eyes
i'm no expert, but as i've said before i've done the flipping thing many times and driven the cars regularly and long distances with no ill effects, other than some times too low, my currant van actually rides alot better with the leaf flipped.

Ratbox.

The reason being you have changed your roll centre height, which will make it ride better than STANDARD and thats what your comparing against. Plus your shock is travelling less so response time is faster to provide better dampening.
I'm not starting a on flipping springs debate of what you should or shouldn't do but just bringing the attention to other's of associated problems that arise from flipped leaves.
In the past I have come across a couple of scenarios where flipped leaves have caused problems, including to myself opting for the cheaper way.

1st. Vehicles loaded and travelling down the freeway doin 100kph wonders why it sways, after spending $$$$ on replacement front and rear shocks from other repairers to changing tyres to 4wheel alignment and chassis checks, Problem was the rear springs.

2nd. Excessive gap and waviness on upper leaf to 2nd leaf causing rapid wear on top leaf, leading to failure (cause collapsed spring drivers side)

3rd. Have encountered breakage on my own EH ute 20 years ago, luckily it was the rear section broke and jammed in between the rear shackle rivot, so I was able to get home.


Regards John