I'm under the Comet to put the currently open header exhaust past the rear axle and -WTF- the rear axle front spring eye looks like a f$%^ing slipper spring! The spring eye on the right side is broken just where it starts wrapping back down around the rubber bushing. It only wraps 180 degrees aroud - more of a 'C' . I thought there was some ugly noises back there, the spring hits the front of the bushing hangar under compression. Now I don't think a butt welded broken leaf spring would work if it was on the flexing part, but I was thinking of trying to weld a piece to the end of the broken eye to stop it from moving forward when compressed ("flattened/stretched"?). Anyone got an idea how welding a spring would work - or be possible?. I don't think the temper would much matter where it's broken but I don't know what will happen when I put the arc to it. I got nothin to lose in this, I probably will have to replace the springs as a pair and other than the busted eye they are "in good shape". What a pain in the ass!. PICS: /\ Powerband
I fix springs every day and I have seen quite a few customer vehicles with welded springs. That does not mean it should be done. The only reason you should weld it is if it is the only way to get it to a shop to fix it. Spring steel can be welded to but it does not hold for long. The best thing to do would be to remove the spring and have a new leaf made.
First off what will happen is you will burn up those rubber bushings. Next, the spring would probably weld OK, but probably as soon as there is any load on the spring it will break next to the weld. I think its time to step up to a new set of springs. That being said, Years ago I worked for this old welder guy. He would always weld on springs and as far as I knew he never had a failer, unfortunately he did it so often it never seemed unusual, so I never learned his trick. One time he had a couple guys dressed in suits came in and had him weld a spring. After he was done they told him it would never hold. He insisted it would and suggested they prove him wrong. All I know is they spent all day trying to break the damn spring. When I went home they were still working at it. The next day I ask the old guy if they ever broke the spring, all he said was "what do you think?" Sometimes I wished I could turn back the clock to a certain point, for just a few hours, I would have done some things differently. Gene
^^^^listen to these guys! DO NOT WELD SPRING STEEL! It will weld up ok, but it will flex vs. mild steel in the weld, and viola a crack! If you have to weld a strap over it to get it to be fixed then ok, but you need to jack that bitch up and yank it!!
The heat from welding removes the spring temper, annealing the material in the heat affected zone. At that point,it is no longer a spring.Forcing it to flex will lead to failure. Figure if the spring is that Fucked up,it's time for new ones now, instead of getting stuck in the middle of BFE when it lets go for good.
The Jalopy Journal
