Leaf spring advice.

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As I was refilling my differential I noticed my leaf springs are turn somewhat is this a normal thing to happen or do I need some work done?

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Originally Posted by Chris142
I put a hose clamp on mine to stop that.


+2
 
You will need to loosen the u bolts, shock and take the load off the spring to shift it back in place. Once you do that, replace the missing leaf spring clamp, set the car back in the ground and tighten up the u bolts and shock. Radiator hose clamps as mentioned won't pull that spring back in place and hold it there for any length of time.
 
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I'm not saying it's the correct way to do it, but I got my buddy home 100's of miles away with much worse springs, using nothing but a large dead-blow and TONS of duct tape in his old F250. It do recall it taking a long time to bang the leaf spring back into place, but it did work.
 
Why beat the snot out of the spring and tape it up like that, that's laughable. I am sure he is looking for a long term repair.
 
Haha! It WAS a short-term repair for a couple of no-nothing, broke-[censored] college grads. We were on our way home from college. He dropped me off in the mid-Atlantic, on his way south. He couldn't stay long enough for a better repair and just needed something good enough. We had already made it a few hundred miles to my home without the spring getting any worse, so the 20 minutes spent banging it back into place and then duct-taping it for SOME measure of safety seemed better than doing nothing at all.

My point, is that banging it wasn't that big of a deal. The duct tape was purely anecdote to complete the story, not as an offer of a permanent fix.
 
Meh, nothing wrong with beating it back into position. There is no benefit to loosening the u-bolts and shocks, but you might want a squirt of oil over and under that leaf to help ease the process. Be pushing with one hand while using the other to hit it closer to center, 1/3rd to 1/2 way out, not all the way out on the end which the spring will just absorb more.

I would not touch the U-bolts unless necessary because you just might find they don't come loose then you need to replace them, money wasted if you can move it while leaving them alone, unless they're already at the next stage of rust where they're about to fall off and so should be replaced anyway.
 
Just for giggles, see how close a spring shop is to you. Go and ask.

There's a big, old, busy-as-the-dickens one in Hackensack.

I wonder if they'd do that job while the customer waited.
 
Originally Posted by Dave9
Meh, nothing wrong with beating it back into position. There is no benefit to loosening the u-bolts and shocks, but you might want a squirt of oil over and under that leaf to help ease the process. Be pushing with one hand while using the other to hit it closer to center, 1/3rd to 1/2 way out, not all the way out on the end which the spring will just absorb more.

I would not touch the U-bolts unless necessary because you just might find they don't come loose then you need to replace them, money wasted if you can move it while leaving them alone, unless they're already at the next stage of rust where they're about to fall off and so should be replaced anyway.

I agree with this. Also, the oil could help - big time.

How about jacking the vehicle UP before realigning the Springs ?
That may take some weight off them to make the job easier.

And then add NEW Spring Brackets.
 
Get spring clamps from a spring shop for it. Advance sells them but they are $27 a set. The same exact spring clip from my local spring shop was $1.53.

Also, when the springs in my Cherokee start to fan out like that, it's from the u bolts stretching or backing off.
 
Originally Posted by MasterSolenoid
Originally Posted by Dave9
Meh, nothing wrong with beating it back into position. There is no benefit to loosening the u-bolts and shocks, but you might want a squirt of oil over and under that leaf to help ease the process. Be pushing with one hand while using the other to hit it closer to center, 1/3rd to 1/2 way out, not all the way out on the end which the spring will just absorb more.

I would not touch the U-bolts unless necessary because you just might find they don't come loose then you need to replace them, money wasted if you can move it while leaving them alone, unless they're already at the next stage of rust where they're about to fall off and so should be replaced anyway.

I agree with this. Also, the oil could help - big time.

How about jacking the vehicle UP before realigning the Springs ?
That may take some weight off them to make the job easier.

And then add NEW Spring Brackets.

I wouldn't take a vehicle to any shop which has to rely on beating the heck out of something to get it in place. I had no problem loosening mine after 28 years of winters in Ohio. That's the difference between a Pro and a back yard mechanic.
 
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