Leaf Spring Clamps, homebrew?

selarep · Oct 27, 2007

I'm looking for a DIY for leaf spring clamps if there is one. I called autozone and kragen and they have ONE clamp both in stock and they are different sizes. so I need to brew something up myself....
By the looks of it, this is a basic kit:

this turns into:

So is that it? Any one have any measurements of how far the holes should be? or bolt length?

91Limited · Oct 27, 2007

There's a cheap and easy way mentioned in the Rock Lizard Budget Boost page.

hope that helps

selarep · Oct 27, 2007

91Limited said:
There's a cheap and easy way mentioned in the Rock Lizard Budget Boost page.

hope that helps

Yup, just found it. Thanks

Rock Lizard said:
To make the leaf spring clamps, I needed to make a trip to the local hardware store, where I picked up four 3.5" x 5/16" Grade 8 bolts, four 5/16" nuts, eight 5/16" washers, and a 4' long piece of flat steel bar 3/16" thick and 1" wide. To make the spring clamps, I cut four 7" long pieces, found the center of each piece and made a line 1.25" to the left and right of the center (totaling 2.5" for the width of the leaf springs). I marked a spot 3/16" from each end of each of the 7" long pieces in the center, where I drilled 5/16" holes for the bolts. After drilling the holes, I made a 90* bend at the two lines that I marked 1.25" from the center of the pieces. After finishing this, I painted the clamps to prevent rust, and here is the finished product:

selarep · Oct 27, 2007

Here's a quick diagram.

chrslefty · Oct 27, 2007

are thoes just gonna clamp on ? or is there some way to attach them to the spring its self ?

selarep · Oct 28, 2007

Did you not read the thread? Can you see the bolts?

beakie · Oct 28, 2007

I think what he is asking it how do the clamps attach to the leafs. seeing the ones that came on my pack there should be a hole in the bottom that rivets to the leaf, and the bolt seen in the picture should be on top, keeping the leafs its attached to from seperating too far from those above it, while still allowing some gap for flexing.

So to attach, I would drill a hole to match the end of of a lower leaf and rivet the clamp to it. where the rivet comes thru, use a platic spacer which will also allow the above leaf to slide easier.

Hypoid · Oct 28, 2007

I used the Rock Lizzard recipe, drilled the holes a little further out, left the clamps loose. They rattle a little on the road, but keep the leafs from splaying out. Right now the shocks limit droop in the rear, not the spring.

Maverickj1 · Oct 28, 2007

...After drilling the holes, I made a 90* bend at the two lines that I marked 1.25" from the center of the pieces.

I hate it when people write tutorials and state what they did like it's totally easy. "Yeah, I just made a precise bend in a peice of 1/8" steel and it solved all my problems." If you can make those easily (I couldn't) go for it.
Mine looked exactly like your original picture and worked really well. I made them in my driveway with a cheap angle grinder and a drill press, both from HF. Measure approx. 2.25" between the holes.

By the way, How necessary are the spring clamps? My MJ leafs have the stock "clamps" but there's no bolt in the top. I was told that you just want to stop the leafs from moving from side to side. Is that true?

hillbillyhell · Oct 28, 2007

Maverickj1 said:
By the way, How necessary are the spring clamps? My MJ leafs have the stock "clamps" but there's no bolt in the top. I was told that you just want to stop the leafs from moving from side to side. Is that true?

That is correct, they're mostly to line the pack up and keep it that way.

selarep · Oct 28, 2007

Maverickj1 said:
I hate it when people write tutorials and state what they did like it's totally easy. "Yeah, I just made a precise bend in a peice of 1/8" steel and it solved all my problems." If you can make those easily (I couldn't) go for it.
Mine looked exactly like your original picture and worked really well. I made them in my driveway with a cheap angle grinder and a drill press, both from HF. Measure approx. 2.25" between the holes.

...What? Whats with the attitude? Mine came out exactly like i said they should be. It was one of the easiest things I've made. I was easy to bend, with 3 swings from a BFH. i had a perfect 90* bend as stated.

beakie · Oct 28, 2007

hillbillyhell said:
That is correct, they're mostly to line the pack up and keep it that way.

actually I think the point of leaving the clamps with a gap on top is to allow the leafs to seperate when flexing.
If all the clamps are tight it won't allow the leafs to move independently of each other, limiting flex.

chrslefty · Oct 28, 2007

beakie said:
I think what he is asking it how do the clamps attach to the leafs. seeing the ones that came on my pack there should be a hole in the bottom that rivets to the leaf, and the bolt seen in the picture should be on top, keeping the leafs its attached to from seperating too far from those above it, while still allowing some gap for flexing.

So to attach, I would drill a hole to match the end of of a lower leaf and rivet the clamp to it. where the rivet comes thru, use a platic spacer which will also allow the above leaf to slide easier.

thanks that is what i was getting at !!

on that note what type of rivets would be used ?

sorry to hijack but it sort of pretains to the subject!

Maverickj1 · Oct 28, 2007

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to have an attitude. It's just that I tried to do it that way and I couldn't get them to bend straight at all.
I'm glad it worked for you, I was just joking that some things that are easy for some are not so easy for others, and it can be frustrating when something that should be easy doesn't work for you. :doh:

Hypoid · Oct 28, 2007

Multiply that by the time lost and waste of material...yeah, I get ya. It does take practice to master some of this crap, no matter how easy it appears.

hillbillyhell · Oct 28, 2007

beakie said:
actually I think the point of leaving the clamps with a gap on top is to allow the leafs to seperate when flexing.
If all the clamps are tight it won't allow the leafs to move independently of each other, limiting flex.

No shit. "Line the pack up" has nothing to do with "clamp the pack tight"

sean883 · Oct 28, 2007

If you can wait a couple days for shipping i would order from this place.

http://www.huskyspring.com/

selarep · Oct 28, 2007

not bad, i wonder what the lift is on those big packs?

jeepboy381 · Oct 29, 2007

Huge heavy duty zipties!

muddeprived · Nov 8, 2007

I'm in the process of building these clamps. I noticed it says on the write-up to drill 5/16" holes at each end (3/16" away from the edge) but there's no room to drill a 5/16" hole that is 3/16" from the edge (center). Is that the wrong measurement (3/16")? I'm gonna do 1/2" down instead.

Leaf Spring Clamps, homebrew?

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