Does anyone have a drawing or pictures with dimensions on a homemade spreader for the Ford rear buggy spring? Its time to install a mono leaf. I spent an hour searching the hamb and only came up with a picture.
You just need a piece of pipe and the biggest threaded rods you can find...I've seen huge turnbuckles at the junkyard that would be perfect donors. You can live without one...when I was young, clueless, and poor I never missed the spreader I didn't own. The car and a small amount of weight will do the job. Add some safety chains to what I did as a teenager, and think safety all the time, as ANY Ford spring rigged out spread is a pretty good start on a highly effective weapons system. Removal for re-installation, stock spring: Cut a good knot-free 2X4 or some sort of metal equivalent to length of distance between inner sides of eyes plus maybe 3/4". With the 2X4, I angle cut ends so top of plank was longer than bottom, providing an edge that engaged eye. Metal pieces need a sort of blade ending to go into that pocket between eye and straight part of leaf. Load trunk with all your tools, useless friends, cement blocks, etc. til spring is long enough to insert your "spreader", then jack car up until spring shortens to grip the thing. At this point, you shoud have installed a secured wrap around chain at each end so the thing can't fly through you and the garage wall if something slips or fails. The spring/spreader assembly gets RESPECT. It contains enough energy to kill you effortlessly! With spring contracted against the device, you can now disassemble shackles and center U bolts and reallydamncarefully remove the spring and stash it somewhere safe. If you were going to reinstall same spring, you would just stickitbackinthere and screw everything back together...but you are going to a different, non-spread spring. So... affix new spring to crossmember and one side shackle. Put a jackstand or stout block under each end of spring with spring resting on something smooth like a bit of plywood. Lower car's weight under spring, then increase the weight as before til spring can easily meet shackle. Note that spring/spreader assembly is dangerous as hell even with proper pro tool, and both ends should be secured with a wrap of chain secured so it can't come off end. Handle it like a bottle of hydrazine! Reverse eye springs...I haven't messed with any, but suspect they could be adapted to normal spreaders by putting on a part shaped exactly like a Ford spring clamp, the kind that is a "U" of strap with a bolt across the open part. Obviously it should be bent from much stouter strap steel and have a good bolt. Use on at each end to provide purchase against eye on top and spreader on bottom. This is hypothetical...what do people do out there? I have real spreaders made by tool companies now...they are just better quality versions of the pipe and threaded rod bit. Ends have wedge shape to engage pocket of eye. People also use Porta-powers with the wedge end. All are exactly as potentially lethal as improvised ones, as ends slipping will be the source of any trouble. Again, use chains and commonsense.
On my Model A rear spring I install just the main leaf first and then use a long piece of threaded stock to install and compress the remaining leaves. Then I use clamps to hold the pack together just long enough to pull the threaded rod out and install the normal center bolt to hold it all together.
On a multi leaf spring, I've used the main leaf/threaded rod deal with success but I've also had the threads in the nut strip right out and had the nut almost imbed itself in my ceiling. Came off the rod like a bullet. I even had a back up nut on there and it came off too.
AC&R makes A-Model ones, which are fabricated and would be fairly easy to replicate. Obviously design would be shortened and straightened if not to be used on a Model A. An extra piece of tubing would be needed for a very short version for '28-34 fronts. http://www.partsformodelafords.com/store/category.cfm?Category=27&StartRow=11
You won't believe what I've been using for 30+ years... a turnbuckle yeah a turnbuckle that must have been used on a radio tower guide wire or something huge. One of my buddies found it and brought it over. I said we'll never use something that big until the need arose and we looked around the garage and the light bulb went off. Didn't have to modify it at all.
Here is a couple of shots of a spring spreader that I built to spread my Model A Spring. I always use a couple of clamps and threaded rod when assembling a spring, alternating between tightening the clamps and the threaded rod. That compressed spring contains a tremendous amount of energy so be very careful, and always use a new Grade 8 center bolt and nut. HemiDeuce.
Alot of great ideas. Thanks!! Something like this may work by adapting the u-shaped ends already designed and adding big fukin' grade eight bolts to cradle the reverse eye in place when spreading.
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