getting some coils

[Packman5280]

so I'm going to buy some taller coils and i need a better way to keep them attached to the upper buckets. right now i have a piece of plate bolted through the coil, but it doesn't really hold it well enough, the coil is moving around and contacting the sides of the buckets. what do i need?

[Packman5280]

http://ballisticfabrication.3dcartstores.com/Coil-spring-retainer_p_32-1460.html

looks like i need this?

[Bill Potter]

If the springs are not "cupped" where they ride against the bucket the center bolt will carry the lateral forces and over time will fail.

What you need is something like the EB cups welded in place where the spring rides.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1973-1979-Ford-Truck-Coil-Spring-Retainer-Plates-Pads_W0QQitemZ280133889048QQcmdZViewItem

[Bill Potter]

Last thing you want is to be forced to drive home like this....

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t293/broncb2b/cap001.jpg

[Allen Cox]

You could always just weld in a cup, so that the spring sits around it and can't go anywhere side to side. Then use a Ford bolt plate to secure it. Quick, easy and reliable.

[theking]

I just welded my spring to the buckets.lol

[DamnHippie]

Welded the springs??? I was told by the folks at Denver Spring that you couldn't even powdercoat springs because baking it on is enough heat to ruin the properties of the spring steel. Getting it up to 2700+ degrees can't be good for it.

[Allen Cox]

Well, Denver Spring is full of crap if they're telling you that. All of the springs that we get are powdercoated. I hope that the 2700°+ that you're talking about is for the welding, because powdercoating only goes up to 300° or so. That's not enough to break down any suspension spring.

[Bill Potter]

I just welded my spring to the buckets.lol

Ewww! I wouldn't trust that. I'm not an engineer but spring steel is hardened by heating it up and rapidly cooling it down in a high carbon oil.

Welding on it (just once) will move it's molecular properties back towards mild steel. So I think what you now have is a spring with a few inches of milder steel where you welded it.

Also a coil spring twists as it compresses, welding the end of it will hamper the twisting and add more stress to the system....leading to a failure at some point, the question is when (and more importantly where you are at).

In the picture I posted they had a setup like Pacman has now. they had used grade 8 bolts but welded them to the frame (boxed frame only way to keep them from turning when they were tightened). The welding caused a weak point on the bolt and it broke (the picture is actually the second one that broke on the truck). Even an unwelded grade 8 bolt would have broken at some point with that design (just not likely during the life of the truck).

Also If you notice...the EB cups only hold the spring in place. They do not prevent the twisting action of the spring.

Another option is to emulate the TJ setup...I don't have a picture but they have springs that "float"; they are not attached to the bucket at all.

As for powder coating the springs....I suspect the ones Allen sees were engineered stiffer...then the powder coating process leaves them at the correct spring rate.

[Packman5280]

i am using the balistic fabrication buckets right now. they have a hole in the top, where i have a bolt going through to a piece of 1/4" plate that holds the top coil of the spring to the top of the bucket. The coils i have now have been cut down, so they do not have the pig tail on the top. I plan to get new coils, which will have the pig tail.

I'm thinking what allen said would be perfect, just weld the cup to the top of the bucket then use a retainer tab to keep it from bropping out. the cup (like the ones broncb2b posted) would hold the smaller pig tail part and keep the spring from moving side to side, and the tab would keep it from dropping out when i flex.

[DamnHippie]

Yes, all springs are powdercoated from the manufacturer, because the baking of the powdercoat is part of their tempering process in fabricating the springs. But using an aftermarket powdercoat oven that isn't at the right temperature, and the springs haven't just been heated and quenched to harden them (they're already tempered when you get them) all add up to ruining the spring characteristics. I'm just repeating what was explained to me, and the folks at Denver Spring are definitely not full of crap they totally know what they're doing down there.

And yes, of course I was talking about the welding heat. Welding heat is way above the crystalization temperature of steel (of course, that's how welding works) and will completely destroy hardening and tempering on any steel, although only locally.

[Ryan Gee]

I just welded my spring to the buckets.lol


Funny!!!! :roflmao:

[theking]

Welding on it (just once) will move it's molecular properties back towards mild steel

actually i think "mild" steel just refers to a steels carbon content and not it's heat treatment :p

I suspect the ones Allen sees were engineered stiffer...then the powder coating process leaves them at the correct spring rate.
heat treating will affect the yield strength of a steel but the modulus of elasticity (Young's modulus) is never affected. Thus, powdercoat all you want, your spring rate won't change.:cool: And yeah, don't weld your springs:crazy:

[bodyman909]

Form follows function...so if it works then I say Shut The Fuck Up.:D

[theking]

Just read the sign:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i186/kennylauter909/Pathfinder/IMG_1285.jpg

[Allen Cox]

I need to put that sign on the passenger's side of the truck...where the wife sits. :D

[itsme1738]

thay is 1 BAD ASS PATHY king

[theking]

I need to put that sign on the passenger's side of the truck...where the wife sits. :D

:roflmao: :bannana:

thay is 1 BAD ASS PATHY king
:cool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I43_nXS71Us

[itsme1738]

DAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM:hail: :hail: :hail: