How to measure leaf springs

The wrong way to measure springs is eye to eye. You know, taking the tape and measuring the spring straight from one end to the other. Taking an accurate measurement on your leaf spring is very important because leaf springs can be larger and heavy in nature as well as costly to ship back and forth. Not to mention the downtime on your vehicle.

So it is very important to properly measure your leaf spring. Eye To Eye For an Eye to Eye style leaf spring, measure from the center bolt to the center of the eye in both directions along the arch. A lot of vehicle owners are initially confused about how to measure leaf springs.

The confusion stems from the common perception of length, which most people imagine would mean the distance between both eyes of a leaf spring set.

Spring rate is simply the force required to produce a unit deflection. If you actually have the physical spring, then just load it like it would be loaded in use, and measure the deflection. I should note that a leaf spring is typically not. Typically in these situations where the rubber bushing is encased within a metal sheath, you remove both the rubber and the sheath. To confirm this, look carefully at the new bushing.

It is the same spring with the same strength. It will sag the same as before. You might gain body lift adding more leaves to the springs or placing the axle under the spring. All that work for a couple of inches.

When you are looking to repair, replace or upgrade your leaf spring suspension, smart suppliers will ask you relevant questions about what suspension you currently have in your vehicle and what. If you are replacing a spring, getting the same length is important. To measure the free length, refer to letter “C” above. It is important that your trailer is unloaded when measuring the length. How do I measure the length of utility trailer springs , straight across or along the curve?

Measure the length of the trailer leaf spring. HOW TO MEASURE TRAILER LEAF SPRINGS. Match the existing spring according to its shape and type (double eye, slipper-open eye en slipper-hook en slipper-flat en or slipper-radius end), Length and Width. Count the number of leaves, each layer of spring metal is considered a leaf. Vince from sdtrucksprings.

This step by step tutorial will guide you through each step. To learn more about measuring a leaf spring, visit. There is a difference in measurement between the terms spring arch and spring camber. Both are a height measurement, and both are referenced from the center mounting surface. Arch is measured to the center of the end mounting eyes.

To determine the width, simply measure along the center of the top leaf. How do you measure the composite leaf springs ? Remove the old leaf springs. Take the spring off the shackle pin, and remove the shackle. Install replacement leaf springs.

Eye mounts with rubber bushings - measure I. Cross pin mounts - measure center-center of bolts and O. Stud Mounts - measure the length and O. Stud plate - measure center-center of bolts and O. They are commonly seen with 5lb. Besides supporting the weight of a vehicle, the leaf springs control the ride height and keep the tires in contact with the road. Springs also affect alignment angles and are the most important components in controlling the feel of a vehicles suspension system.

Although they are the oldest, they seem to be the least understood. Leaf springs are the oldest form of suspension in racing. Hand up if you have been broken down in the dessert with broken springs.

Only to find when the springs finally arrive, they don’t fit because you didn’t measure the springs correctly. They measure 8” to the bottom of spring pack including the overload to a string tied from center of eye bolt to eye bolt on 52” springs. And measure the total thickness of the leaf spring pack.

SPRING RATE is a measure of the force required to compress a spring. Learn to properly measure your compression, extension, and torsion springs before placing your order. To use, measure the width, length and thickness of each leaf in the spring pack, and enter the measurements into the converter.

For the Number of Leaves column, enter the number of leaves that match the width, length and thickness entered. Be sure to measure to the top of the main leaf and do not include pads or spacers. Properly measuring trailer springs for replacement is key to ordering the right parts the first time. Using the top leaf , measure the width of the spring along the center.

Leaf Spring Rubber Encased Bushings Eye. Most trailer springs are ¾ inches wide. Next, if the axle has spring leaf suspension, measure the length from the center of one spring seat to the center of the other. The spring seat is where the leaf spring is mounted.

Write down this measurement and note if the spring seats are on the top or bottom of the axle. It is not uncommon to have to replace your leaf springs due to corrosion by saltwater. Typically you will see the Leafs of the spring sweet as rust forms and the Clasp that holds the leafs together will bust, the leafs begin to curl back and flake away. How to measure a leaf spring.

The features to identify a leaf.