Morocco - Problem with OME Leaf springs?
 

Hello,

We are in Zagora en route to South Africa. Have been on the pistes for a number of days, just done Chris Scotts M6 in Toyota HJ60.

However have just been at the mechanic (Mohamed Gordita) here who has pointed out that the top leaf of one of the rear heavy duty old man emu leaf springs is not running completely parallel to the other leaves. It does look slightly like the curve is inconsistent with the others and there is a noticeable very slim gap towards the spring mounting in the centre.

He has advised that this can cause the leaf to break on v rough pistes and he can straighten the leaf (with a hammer i think??)

Anyone know if this is a problem we should be concerned with, and if so is this a recognised fix? Cannot find anything on the internet about this.

Any ideas appreciated

Cheers

Andrew

Do these spring packs have an top overload leaf in them?
The mounting u-bolts should keep them aligned.
Are there spring clips near the ends?
Check that the u-bolts are tight, but not stripped from being overtightened.

Use Lone Rider's advice plus ;
Are these springs of the new parabolic kind or the older parallel [normal] kind ?
It's not a good idea to hammer on a spring , they can be "re-curved" in a press .
The centre of the spring will have a hole in it for the through bolt .It's also the weak point and if it has sarted to bend in this area is probably already knackered .Strip the spring down and make sure that the spring hasn't corroded in the area of the u bolt and filled with rust or sand or any other crap - which might cause the "gap" that you are seeing .

Replace it if it's all dodgy .You do carry spare main leaves don't you ?

OME Springs
 

Many thanks for the suggestions:

Got the springs off and called ARB who were really good (top marks for cust service). Turns out the 'Anti Inversion' shackles were incorrectly installed (!), so the spring has possibly inverted causing the gap. ARB said not too worry too much so we put the shackles on the right way round this morning.

Will keep Mohamed's hammer away from the springs but top marks to him too for spotting the issue in the first place.

Fingers crossed for the next rocky piste . . .

Cheers,

Andrew

hamered springs
 

I had my springs hammered back into shape in India, and it worked! and was certainly cheaper than new ones.

Some of the antics that "third world" machanics get up to are horrifying .
Anybody who hammers on springs is a nutcase .It is spring steel and shatters .
Pressing them is the correct thing to do to put the curve back in them .
Old springs will always sag eventually even after they have been pressed back into shape .

Yeah, but.....
If he heats it up sufficiently over a camel turd fire....:)

Who has replaced the batteries in their TV remote control?

It's real, it's live.... It's great stuff!

Bush mechanic
 

Few years ago we broke a mainspring near Mabuasehube, Botswana. We limped up to Maun with the axle chained to the chassis. Wife and two year old baby in the car. Got it replaced in Maun. Richard's Field Services. Open air. Chickens and goats wandering around in the dust. Chap selected an old spring from a rusting heap- two hours with angle grinder to get the right thickness and then shaped to the curve with a contraption utilising an inverted car jack. Then the torch and oil quench. Got it all on video for the grandchildren one day. After that I bought a Landcruiser...now I got a Tenere:cool4:

Well I have to admit that I've welded springs that have broken [ stainless welding rod and then peen the weld ] and they have held long enough for me to get to where I have to go .But it's not a good idea .

Here in the north of BC the shops that mend leaf springs don't supply you with factory springs , they make them from flat spring steel and press them to the curvature required and drill the centre bolts .
This is great because you can customise the curvature to what you want and you can have the second leaf made with a wrap around the main leaf eye .
This is a great advantage if you break the main leaf .

And - yep a jack can be made into a makeshift press .

I have never tried a camel dung fire - not many camels up here ,but lots of bullshit though - should keep me warm in winter - eh what !

hammering springs
 

Well maybe hammering springs is not correct but they do it everywhere in india and as they say when in Rome/Dehli. as it went I never had anymore problems with sagging springs and I kept the vehicle for a long time.

Early springs were made by heating a bar of steel and reshaping it by hammering adding charcoal to the surface, cooling, heating and hammering. When I've been fossicking around old farm wagons you can often see the hammer marks in steel surface that have survived from the late 1800s.

Blacksmiths were capable of welding metal by heating and hammering together - another lost art in the West.

I suspect that its only third world countries that still have the skills to make spring steel in a forge.

I also broke one off my main springs on the same trip, a local blacksmith got the nearest size and bent the eyes on the ends for me, a great piece of work. they were still on the van at least five years later. For sure you have to watch what the locals do but you can get a bad or a good job done anywhere in the world. you should not think that because you are in the third world as we in the west call it that there are no craftsmen or engineers. Maybe they are hard to find but they are there. A friend had a half shaft welded back together on a big maguirus truck, it never broke again!

Graeme

Both of my two brothers are blacksmith/farriers ,they apprenticed through the worshipful company of farriers.
Blacksmithing is not a lost art but these days most of the work is highly specialised ornamental metalwork.
One of my bros made a rose as a present for his wife .He took the flower and stem apart and duplicated every petal and leaf in steel .Then he reconstructed the flower on a steel stem ,not a weld was visible .
My youngest brother also makes ornamental ironwork and uses firewelding and riveting , he refuses to arc weld any piece.
There are many armourers who are constructing armour and swords using medieval methods of construction .
Metal working is alive and well in the developed world !

No offence intended ,but they do a lot of things in India that are not a good idea .
Even in Canada we have bush mechanics who can work wonders in "third world" conditions .We also have bush mechanics who have killed people with their incompetance .

I dont take offence as I am sure the people of india don't. I think that where ever you are there are good and bad, I am just relaying my experience. I saw my fair share of bad workmanship in india as well. do your brothers say you should not hammer springs back into shape? as I saw it going on everywhere.