Thread: Oiling leafs

Originally Posted by series3

If I was to sandblast a set of leafs to remove the fair amount of rust buildup on them, would this significantly reduce thier strength and resistance? I.e is it not a good idea?

I advise against sand blasting as well - if you want to completely remove the rust, soak them in molasses solution.

Check out the "parabolic springs" thread on the S3 forum where much of this has been discussed before and has some beaut pics of Ben's Rover off-road,

Cheers Charlie

Originally Posted by isuzurover

It is a good idea to take them apart and give them a clean if you have the time.

Especially if the leaves are spreading - i.e. the spring pack becomes wider just after the clamped area.

I will take a picture of them as I think the springs aren't in bad condition just a bit of surface rust...they don't appear to be spreading they look really tight

this is the springs sorry not a great pic



the bottom one seems to look tight as does the top however noticed the top has a small gap towards the bottom....

I really dont want to have to split them unless I really really need to

There is a MoS2 lacquer available in aerosol cans. This is a magic product for lubing leaf springs.

Pull them apart, clean and degrease the leaves and coat the underside of each leaf except the bottom leaf with the lacquer, reassemble and paint.

Originally Posted by dullbird

this is the springs sorry not a great pic


the bottom one seems to look tight as does the top however noticed the top has a small gap towards the bottom....

I really dont want to have to split them unless I really really need to

They look in great condition. But if you have a spare 30 mins it is still worth taking them apart and removing the surface rust. Or - the minimal effort way would be to soak the spring pack in either phosphoric acid or molasses.

molasses? does that take the rust off does it? is that like the molasses you can give to horses? I know that seems like a dumb question maybe it is

That is the stuff. I reckon it has been discussed here before. A search might turn something up.

There was a mamma mole, a papa mole, and a baby mole.

They lived in a hole outside of a farm house out in the country.

The papa mole reached his head out of the hole and said,

"Mmmmm, I smell sausage."



The mama mole reached her head outside of the hole and said

"Mmmmmm, I smell pancakes."



The baby mole tried to reach his head outside the hole

but couldn't because of the two bigger moles.

The baby mole said, "The only thing I can smell is molasses."

But seriously, have a read here:
Morris Register of Victoria - Dissolving Rust