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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Spring Spreader

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Spring Spreader     wmsteed 10-29-2009 @ 10:03 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 606 Joined: Oct 2009 In the past, from time to time the subject of how to safely remove the chassis springs from a pre '48 Ford/Merc has come up. I have responded to these questions, both on the old forum and via emails several times. In my email responses I attached pictures of the spreader I made from memory of the one I used when I worked at a Ford garage in the early 1950's. A couple of years ago I sent a written description with pictures of the spring spreader to Jerry Windle, Editor of the V8 Times, Jerry was going to publish the info in the Times, to date he has not done this. Since the New EFV-8 forum is now picture friendly I have attached a picture of the spreader to this topic. The pix should pretty well tell the whole story, however if a more detailed description is needed I will write one up and post same herein.... Bill 36 5 win delx cpe zeker8 10-29-2009 @ 10:29 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 22 Joined: Oct 2009 What size is the allthread, I assume it's allthread. Thanks Zeke oldford2 10-29-2009 @ 11:20 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 275 Joined: Oct 2009 I made one a couple of years ago from WMSTEED's plan. It is 3/4 threaded rod. I think he called for fine thread but it was hard to find so I used course thread and it worked fine. Makes changing shackles easy (once you get the *#@&* old studs out). Easy to make if you have a friend to do a little welding for the end plates. If not, I saw one the same idea except he heated the ends of the pipe and flattened and ground a spade end on them to fit where the spring starts it's return to make the eye. No welding involved. As always, be careful using it. John supereal 10-29-2009 @ 11:44 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 We used two different types of spring spreaders at the dealership. One, like Bill's, was threaded so it could be put between the eyes of the spring when it was out of the car, the other was a bar with flat ends that we inserted between the eyes. It held the spring as we lifted the body with a chain hoist. Today, with Chinese "port-a-power" tools so cheap, they make a good spreader, as well as being handy for other purposes. In any case, be careful with a spring that is under tension. 42wagon 10-29-2009 @ 4:13 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 584 Joined: Oct 2009 I made one out of a length of 3/4" all-thread, a length of 3/4" pipe and a nut and a couple of washers. I heated and flattened the ends to chisel points. Works great for all V8s with the spring behind the axle. For Model As and other cars with the spring over the axle you need a bar with a "U" in it to go over the banjo. I believe Macs and the other usual suspects sell these. Once again be very careful using any spring spreader as the spring has a surprising amount of tension in it. It is advisable to send the wife on a shopping trip as mine gets very nervous when the spring spreader is in use. ford38v8 10-29-2009 @ 4:41 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2736 Joined: Oct 2009 I used 1" Allthread, 1" schedule 80 black iron pipe, and 1" Connectors, instead of nuts. The Connectors are same as nuts, but are 2 1/2" long, providing plenty of thread to prevent galling. a couple of drops of oil and they turn easily under load. I cut the pipe ends at a 45º angle, and welded on a 2" section of 1 1/2" angle iron, giving the pipe an offset for clearance. With the Connectors on, hit the allthread with a spotweld at 8" from either end to prevent cranking all the way out. This makes a heavy tool, but this is one place that overkill makes a lot of sense. As it is heavy, a light chain looped at one end for safety while you install the other end comes in handy. Alan 42guy 10-29-2009 @ 7:37 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 108 Joined: Oct 2009 Like Alan,I also made mine of 1" Allthread. I had made one with 3/4" and had the spring spread. I was called away and didn't return for a couple of hrs. When I looked, I had a nice bow in the Allthread. Luckily nothing let go and I wasn't under there. I guess some of the junk you buy at the hardware stores is probably from China. For the 1" I went to an industrial bolt supply house. Lesson learned. wmsteed 10-30-2009 @ 10:17 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 606 Joined: Oct 2009 The spring spreader shown in my picture is made up according to the following: The pipe is 1" industrial grade black pipe as used in fire sprinklers. The threaded rod is 3/4" industrial grade, course thread. The nuts and washers are also industrial grade. The pipe portion is 15" long incl the end pieces. The threaded rod is approx 18" long. The double nuts in the center are to hold the shaft steady while the nut adjacent to the pipe is turned to extend the ends. I used adjusting nuts at both ends of the rod to equalize the tension on the rod. I configured the spreader so the main force of the spreader would be at the center point of the spring eye in lieu of against the flat part of the spring. If the vehicle is jacked up, to the point that the weight is barely off the tires, very little actual force is needed to expand the spring. It is visible from the pix that the spring in the spreader is a later model spring, "large eye"... If the spreader is used an the earlier "small eye" springs an adapter cut from a pipe section is inserted between the larger spreader opening and the small eye of the early spring. A few words of caution!!! Make sure the spreader is centered on the spring spring eye and well seated before you start expanding the spreader. If you try to use supplies from the local outlet store in lieu of industrial quality steel you could have problems. I made the spreader shown in the pix about twenty-five years ago. Bill 36 5 win delx cpe 42ford 10-30-2009 @ 1:34 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 104 Joined: Oct 2009 Here is a pic of the spring spreader I have. I can't read a name on it, but it is not a homemade one. It is quite heavy maybe 20 pounds Dick

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