Graphite paint for leaf springs.....where to get it?? Goatman??

Ok, I've heard reference to painting leaf springs with graphite paint and other methods of lubricating the leafs. I just got a new set of RE 4.5" leafs and want to do this right. I am prepared to completely dismantle the pack and paint each leaf completely, but I have a problem. I can't find any sort of 'graphite paint." I tried the parts store and Home Depot and no one had ever heard of such a thing. Anyone got any tips for me??

Ary

Have you tried a heavy duty equipment store that carries stuff for tractors and such. That's where I got mine from. Do the RE leafs come with poly liners in between each leaf? If not I suggest picking up some of that too.

The RE leafs have the poly pads at the tips of most of the leafs. Only the smallest bottom two leafs don't come with the pads on the tips.

I'm trying to think of where there's a Heavy Equipment center around here. Living in a resort community makes finding such things difficult.

Ary

Safari Ary said:

I'm trying to think of where there's a Heavy Equipment center around here. Living in a resort community makes finding such things difficult.

Ary

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You're kidding me right? Suffolk is 25mins away.....

Hell even Norfolk I would think would have some type of Tractor Supply equipment places.

Industrial Revolution owns you.

Fawk off, in Blackburg the Tractor Supply was around the corner

I'm just building new packs for my Jeep right now. I used this stuff to paint the leafs, my local industrial paint store carries it. I am also using a product similar to this to run between my leaf springs. I am counting on the whole thing being flexy and slippery.
Beej.

just go get urself some OME spring packs with the teflon pads and grease fittings in each leaf. thats what i run and boy do they flex and give a nice ride

Ya Ary, just use the OME 7" lift spring pack, you dork..........

Go find your local Auto transporter company. They use graphite...both in a spray can and in gallon buckets you slather on with a brush. They buy this stuff by the pallet! I bet they would sell you some. They use it to lube up the sides of the trucks.

Safari Ary said:

The RE leafs have the poly pads at the tips of most of the leafs. Only the smallest bottom two leafs don't come with the pads on the tips.

I'm trying to think of where there's a Heavy Equipment center around here. Living in a resort community makes finding such things difficult.

Ary

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I've never used the graphite paint, but it sounds like a good idea. I use full length plastic liner that any spring shop either has or can get. There are two kinds, one with an edge and one without. I use the stuff with an edge on the top and bottom leaves, otherwise the no edge stuff will gradually work it's way out the sides since there aren't spring clamps to hold it in. The flat stuff works good for the middle where the clamps can hold it in.

Another thing you can do when the leaf has a good pad on the end is to put a short piece of liner in the center of the leaf, about as long as the spring plate, which crates a space between the leafs and reduces friction unless it gets filled up with mud and rust. I found that my MJ leaves came this way from the factory, and I did this on a couple of leaves in my current pack.

Keep in mind that adding full length liners can reduce the effective spring rate of your pack, since friction is elliminated. But, you gain a slight amount of lift with the thickness of all the liners. I've had 10 leaf packs with full length liners on every leaf that rode like coil springs, but still handled extra weight very well. It's possible that this would work so well that you might want to add an additional leaf to your new RE spring pack. At least it's not hard to do, so a little experimenting can get you just what you want.

Have fun,

I am using a combination of RE 4.5" leafs, slip coat (graphite paint) and polyethylene sheet that I cut down to the size of the leafs. It improved the ride dramatically. I would recommend the paint and polyethylene (Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMW)) to everyone.

lol i ud jut have to use shackles and blocks to get the OME packs to work. LMAO but seriously why not borrow some of there ideas and use pads and put grease fittings at the end of each leaf. they flex good and they just have regular flavor paint on them

Well, since I was running out of time yesterday and I have to drive back to Washington today for work, I went ahead and installed them without any "mods". Experienced the whole broken off nut in the frame rail ordeal and all in all had a great time putting them in

My first question is why are RE's springs so freakin short eye to eye? Sitting with about 100lbs of tools in the back the shackle is still angled with the bottom towards the front of the jeep(i.e. the wrong way). I flexed the Jeep up in my yard a little and with the leafs almost completely flat the shackle is just nearing the vertical mark. This is very frustrating as it was one of the many reasons I got rid of my Rusty's leafs. I know the springs will break-in and settle, but looking at it now, there's no way they'll settle enough to give me a good shackle angle. Maybe I'll have to do the shackle box mod ala Crash and use a shorter shackle to stay at the same height.

BTW, I do plan to pick up some of that liner stuff and the paint and give it a try. I'll do full lengths since I encounter a good bit of mud/water around here that would fill the leafs up quick. Thanks everyone.

Ary

Beej said:

I'm just building new packs for my Jeep right now. I used this stuff to paint the leafs, my local industrial paint store carries it. I am also using a product similar to this to run between my leaf springs. I am counting on the whole thing being flexy and slippery.
Beej.

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Follow up to my post above. I assembled the leaf packs this morning, and that graphite paint chipped and flaked right off in several areas with only minor handling. I used their instructions and followed them to a T, so I can't understand why it would chip off (I prepared the surfaces exactly as they said I should). But I thought I would warn others who are planning to use this product. I'm going to try it again, but if it continues to chip this easily, what's the point?
Beej.

Beej said:

Follow up to my post above. I assembled the leaf packs this morning, and that graphite paint chipped and flaked right off in several areas with only minor handling. I used their instructions and followed them to a T, so I can't understand why it would chip off (I prepared the surfaces exactly as they said I should). But I thought I would warn others who are planning to use this product. I'm going to try it again, but if it continues to chip this easily, what's the point?
Beej.

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I used the same exact stuff and haven't had any problems

BornAgainXJer said:

I used the same exact stuff and haven't had any problems

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Yeah, I must have screwed something up, wouldn't be the first time. I'm going to go out and grind it all off a little later and do it again. It sure seemed like a quality product at first!
Beej.

Beej said:

Yeah, I must have screwed something up, wouldn't be the first time. I'm going to go out and grind it all off a little later and do it again. It sure seemed like a quality product at first!
Beej.

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Thats the stuff we used on our transport trucks and it was tough as hell. In fact we never preped anything just slatherd in on and it stuck. In fact it would cause problems because sometimes they would put in on too thick and the racks wouldn't slide right. It took some heave grinding to get the crap off.

Beej said:

Yeah, I must have screwed something up, wouldn't be the first time. I'm going to go out and grind it all off a little later and do it again. It sure seemed like a quality product at first!
Beej.

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I did lot's of of thin coats at about 90* 0% humidity and like a few hours between coats.

Turns out I handled the leafs with an oily glove after carefully prepping and cleaning them. I'm such a genius. The paint is flaking off in all of these finger-shaped areas. I'm doing them again, I think I will try the several thin coats thing. Good thing I don't have to install these any time soon.
Beej.

You can get "Slip Coat" from any Case Equipment dealer, they use it on tractors and scrapers and stuff.