Stepdown leaf springs

railknight

Is it advisable to actually grease the rear leaf springs between the leaves themselves on a Hudson stepdown besides the rear shackle bushings?  

Lance

You sure can. In fact there was a tool dealers used to do exactly that.  Largely it was to prevent squeaking .

Kdancy

I would use a dry type lube. Sand and dirt love grease to cling to----

railknight

Thanks "Lance" and "Kdancy" for your responses. I only brought up this question about lubricating the leaves themselves as this procedure was mentioned at our recent Chicago-Milwaukee annual tech session. 

The host of the event had a vintage tool that's used to spread the leaf springs, as the car's rear axle is hanging above the floor, to allow grease to be injected into the gap made by this tool.  Several of our members present mentioned how important it is to grease the leaf springs themselves. This was news to me having never done that before on any car I owned and therefore I thought I'd seek some additional information via this forum.  

Geoff

Before shock absorbers were common it was not recommended to grease the leaves, as it made them too flexible, and  the car would bounce and rebound badly.   Since all cars from the end of the vintage era are fitted with shock absorbers, some of them can be a bit "jolty" riding, and greasing the springs makes them  a bit softer.  From '40 onwards  Hudsons had coil springs which were bit softer than the leaf springs prior to that.   without shock absorbers the lack of friction in a greased leaf spring could cause excess flexing, leading to breakage.   I have a pair of springs off a 1950 Pacemaker which have metal sheathing around them,. but my '53 Hornet does not have this.  I assume the sheathing was both to keep the lubricant in and the dust out.  I fitted telescopic shockies to my '28 Essex which made it extremely stable, but also a bit harsh riding.  I have never greased the leaves, but perhaps should try it.  I have lever actions (double acting) on the front. 

m_mman

"I have a pair of springs off a 1950 Pacemaker which have metal sheathing around them,. but my '53 Hornet does not have this.  I assume the sheathing was both to keep the lubricant in and the dust out"

Yup they are called either "Spring Covers" or the slang name "Gaiters". 

Metal covers were seen in the later years of their use (late 40s early 50s) in the 1920s and 1930s they were leather that was cut and sewn to size and they were then laced in place. 

Pretty standard on luxury cars (CCCA Full Classics) they were also offered as accessories on lessor cars. (In the accessory catalog for the Ford Model A) 
In the world of judging big classics there is a point deduction for not having them. 

Lance

m_mman, the strange thing about stepdown springs is that there is no rhyme or reason as to which set of leaf springs your car would get.  Some cars got covers and some didn't. It just depended on what load of springs Eaton delivered to Hudson for their production lines.