How do I make 7 Pack leaf springs?

[doityourself]

Hey all I hear so much about people using 7 pack leaf springs on their corolla's and I want to know how it is done.

Thanks in advance,

Dale Jeffree.

[oldcorollas]

7 pack? weird....

anyway.. if you add leaves to a pack, you should understand which leaves do what.. and where the stiffen up the rate..

just adding a second main leaf with the spring cut off will make a big difference

[thechuckster]

i think old-school semi's would have 7+ leafs in rear springs...

From memory, old 'rollas and galants have 2 ...

[oldcorollas]

nah, there is main spring, and then 2 or 3 others.. 3 i think.. of different lengths...

[Billzilla]

In terms of making leaf springs work well as springs, the less leafs the better.
The more leafs there are, the more they rub together friction between them makes them sticky to move.
But the less leafs you have, the more the axle is likely to tramp.

So if you have the choice, use just one tapered leaf and locating arms to locate the diff housing.

[doityourself]

Could i use 2 main leafs one with the eyes reversed loops and the other with loops cut off, plus a 2 & 3 leaf?

[doityourself]

So how do I add a second main leaf, or should I talk to the guys from Indutrial Springs (aka Aurora Springs) ??

[Billzilla]

I'd be more tempted to use the stock springs, but with anti-tramp gadgets on them.

[30psi 4agte]

.
So if you have the choice, use just one tapered leaf and locating arms to locate the diff housing.

FWIW
This is the setup i have in my cortina ATM. It is by far one of the best things i have done. Besides shedding a shit load of weight it has made a big difference to the way the car handles.
I would recommend this to anyone not wanting to go the hole hog with a coil over setup.

[doityourself]

thanks fellas I have some universal tramp bars at home, I had them fitted for a weekend but encounted problems with speed humps at stock ride height.
If I lower the car 2 inches like I intend to do, the tramp bars will be 1/2 inch off the bitumen.
I will probably mod these to get a little more clearance.

Cheers Dale J

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

If your talking the typical slapper style tramp bar, then it isn't ideal for the street, not to mention not very legal.

Better alternative is to make your own Caltracs.

http://www.hotrodsandhemis.com/Traction.html

[doityourself]

I have a design of a slapper that should work.

It bolts to the bottom of the shocker plate and is secured by the U bolts on a 8mm thick plate. The tube would be 25mm square with a 3mm wall.

The angle cut would be reinforced from the bottom with 5mm flat bar

here is a quicky I did
modded tramp jpegv2.JPG

would this be suitable?

Whats the legal side, just out of curiosity?

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

Slapper bars arnt legal as under some braking situations they can "bend" enough to hit the road. which is not good.....

Also your slapper bars wont work, as they seem to be too thin. For an example, i bent 2"x1" GAL that my slapper bars are made out of.... Going to 2" square RHS.

Version 1:
http://lance.ugbox.net/Hilux/Modific...on/bendage.jpg

Version 2:
http://lance.ugbox.net/Hilux/Modific.../bendageV2.jpg

[doityourself]

I want to use something with a rather thick wall on the RHS, 3 or 5mm wall tube is very hard to bend. For instance the rod that hold the mandrel on our bender at work is 20mm dia with a 5mm thick wall. There has been a few times that I have crashed the bender and the rod has taken a beating but I don't think that the weight of the car is anything compared to 1500 PSI from the hydraulics.

BTW these style were what I was using but they are spaced from the bottom leaf too far and the RHS is too high

This is an example as I am without a decent digital camera
L-A-N-C-E tramps mod pic.JPG

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

But even with what your suggesting, your taking a lot of the meat out of the bar, and weakening it by doing that kind of cut. imho...

Unless you box it in after you've done the cut, i can see that working... .kinda.

[doityourself]

You've hit the nail on the head, boxing it is what I meant, sorry for not making myself clear, I have trouble trying to type at the rate my brain ticks over sometimes

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

only one way to find out....


In say all this, you've got a KE30 by the look of it, the caltracs are a better alternative....

Especially when it comes to suspension dynamics when the rear end is loaded up in comparison to slapper bars.

[doityourself]

yes true but I have had the slappers for some time now.

If I bend them, i'll try the Caltracs

[oldcorollas]

do you even need slapper bars on a 4K'd rolla?

i had an extra 2nd leaf (iirc, and maybe a main with eyes cut off?) and it never tramped... then again, it didn't grip so well either

adding the front half of the leaf, as mentioned before, is better than making a slapper bar.

even go so far as to add two extra main leaf front halves with the eyes cut off.... not going to tramp then (and if it does, your shocks are shit)

actually.. what is the problem you are having? spring windup? or shocks not controlling bounce?

[doityourself]

I have trouble with axle tramp, before you say its the shocks I am using Monroe GT Gas.
I want to fix this problem before doing my 3T conversion.
I know slapper bars are not the ultimate solution, I should try adding leaves.

Or then again maybe I should avoid doing standstills in the work car park.