Quarter Elliptical springs, where to buy?

[Dirtyrat]

Where have you guys bought quarter elliptical springs or ?

I'm digging the look of the double quarter ellipticals off the sides of the frame rails...

I did search the forum, but I didn't see much, only a few threads.

 

[dmw56]

The Dude you can get them from Speedway Motors or make them yourself.

 

[Dirtyrat]

The Dude you can get them from Speedway Motors or make them yourself.

Yea, I see they are like $89 a piece... a little steep in my book. So any lower buck ideas are welcome

Looks like you can just make a solid bolt through mount off the axle for each, and it becomes your complete suspension minus shocks =)

 

[Dirtyrat]

No one has any other ideas?

 

[dmw56]

Poisie's has sets for $350

 

[bob w]

Here's the rear of a '35 International I built. The bottom bar could just as well be another quarter elliptic spring. I cut some semi-elliptic springs in half to make mine.

 

[gonegonzo]

I'm gathering parts for my new frame now . It's a back burner project but , I have 2 almost new front springs off of a 51 Chevy pickup . My intent is to cut them off aprox. 2'' behind the center . I'll then have to build a mounting box to mount them to the frame .

Gonzo

 

[gonegonzo]

That back burner is becoming a reality now .

As I mentioned my idea in the above reply , I've been thinking that there should be an eye on both ends for any adjustment for heath from side to side .

What are the groups opinions here ? I'm green when it gets this deep and only want to do it once .

Dirty Rat , what did you end up doing ?

Thx ,
Gonzo

 

[Dirtyrat]

That back burner is becoming a reality now .

As I mentioned my idea in the above reply , I've been thinking that there should be an eye on both ends for any adjustment for heath from side to side .

What are the groups opinions here ? I'm green when it gets this deep and only want to do it once .

Dirty Rat , what did you end up doing ?

Thx ,
Gonzo

I ended up buying a set from speedway, cheaper than posies by far, so far they are working nicely, probably about 300 or so miles on them.

 

[robert akers]

cutting spring

how could you cut the spring without hurting it? heat[torch] not good ? grind it {again heat] saw it ? what will work? thanks robert

 

[echnidna]

hacksaw will do it but use hss blades, done that a few times in the olden days

but these days i'd be lazy and use a grinder, reckon a 100mm x 1mm disc would produce the least heat.

 

[JBailey]

A horizontal band saw would probably be best, in my opinion anyhow.

 

[zzrodder]

how could you cut the spring without hurting it? heat[torch] not good ? grind it {again heat] saw it ? what will work? thanks robert

Band saw or cutoff wheel - any heat generated by cutting with a cutoff wheel is going to be concentrated right at the cut where the leafs are stacked together and clamped so it won't hurt them at all.

 

[smallfoot]

I believe an angle grinder with a .045" cutting disk will do it as fast as anything and not create enough heat to spoil the temper in any section of the spring. You can buy several of those for the price of a single hss bandsaw blade. Where you would be cutting the spring off would be behind the center bolt and probably wouldn't affect anything out front as far as heat goes.

 

[Neto]

If you are concerned about heat, just cut them a bit at a time, or keep a small stream of oil running on the cut. (I haven't tried the latter, but I once made a firing spring for an old Winchester repeater rifle out of a leaf spring. I did it by grinding a bit at a time, holding the piece in my bare hands. When it got too hot to hold, I put it down and let it cool. That spring has been in that gun now for over 30 years.)

Edit to add: If you cut just part way through across the top, you could break it, I would suppose, and then just grind a bit to clean it up at the break.

 

[donsrods]

My Son is running quarter eliptics on the back of his roadster pickup. He bought a Posies setup and scrapped everything but the springs and built his own mounts. Instead of using the spring for the lower locator bar, he used a four bar setup and then just added the springs into the setup. It rides really well, plants the tires on hard take offs, and has a lot of ride height adjustment built in.

Don

 

[JBailey]

The thing you have to keep in mind with leaf springs is, the hotter you get them the harder the steel will become!

 

[gonegonzo]

Keep the cut cool with water pump lubricant mixed with water .

Gonzo

 

[gonegonzo]

OK , we can cut the springs successfully but my question still remains unanswered .

What options can be taken as to the elimination of the spring eye on the cut off end ? As seen with Posies spring , it has an eye on each end for mounting and also as a fulcrum for adjustment .

Am I over thinking this ?

Gonzo

 

[donsrods]

At first I didn't understand your question, but now I do. The Posies spring is unique in that it actually does have an eye on both ends. The eye on the cut off end is there so that the spring can pivot on the special bracket they have with their kit to allow some adjustment in ride height. But that method is unique to Posies.

Most guys who do not buy the Posies setup (maybe the Speedway one is the same but I didn't look at that one) simply have a spring with a chopped off end a couple of inches past the center bolt. Those setups clamp directly and firmly to the frame and have NO adjustment ability. If they want adjustment, most people put the other end (the one with the eye still remaining) in a bracket that has multiple holes so you can move that end up or down on the axle to change ride height.

My Son did use the Posies spring but built his own mounts because he felt the one they gave with the kit was a little cumbersome and didn't fit his frame setup. Hope this helps.

Oh, BTW, you will want a panhard bar with your quarter eliptics because the rear will want to walk sideways if you don't have one.

Don