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08-30-2018, 11:49 AM | #1 |
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 16
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Leaf Spring Grease Fittings
I'm working on a 1946 Ford Super Deluxe station wagon (woodie) that has metal wrapped leaf springs. Each spring has two zerks embedded in the wrap. The zerks are mounted in a special cage nut that has a flange that holds it in the metal wrap. I have 3 of the 4 cage nuts, but need a fourth. I've searched quite a bit and haven't found anything. If anybody is familiar and knows where I can find this part I would appreciate it. Thanks
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08-30-2018, 03:31 PM | #2 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: East Hartford, Ct
Posts: 5,898
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Re: Leaf Spring Grease Fittings
If the "cage nut" is square then with a little imagination and ingenuity it would be a simple matter to fabricate a replacement.
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08-30-2018, 04:14 PM | #3 |
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Long Island,NY
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Re: Leaf Spring Grease Fittings
I'm looking at the springs from my '46 and what it looks like is a square "nut" that is captured by the sheetmetal spring wrap. The sheetmetal looks like 22/24 gauge so the nut needs some way of attaching to the sheetmetal. It looks like some sort of folded edge to capture the nut. I would just fabricate a square piece that fits and tap it out for the grease fitting size. What shape is the spring cover that the nut attaches to? I suspect that someone tried to unscrew the fitting and twisted out the nut from the sheetmetal. Yes, they are totally stock.
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08-30-2018, 04:29 PM | #4 |
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Long Island,NY
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Re: Leaf Spring Grease Fittings
Just took a wire brush to the fitting you are asking about. As I previously mentioned, all it is is a sheetmetal part that captures the square nut. It will move back and forth a little so I imagine that there are tabs that fold under the cover that will anchor the cage between the cover and the spring. Nobody reproduces this as far as I know. As you can see the cover is segmented in several pieces so you might be able to find the piece with the fitting somewhere.
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08-30-2018, 06:19 PM | #5 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: on the Littlefield
Posts: 6,159
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Re: Leaf Spring Grease Fittings
it could probably be soldered on, perhaps a sawed off piece of brass fitting
remember the fittings are not for grease, they are for spring lube, about 70% light oil, talc remainder (+ a dash of ground asbestos) ---the center bolt has a passage for lube too, the spring leaves have lubrication passage grooves down to near the tips ---using grease cloggs the passages |
08-30-2018, 07:13 PM | #6 |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: pittsfield, MA
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Re: Leaf Spring Grease Fittings
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My 46 has the wrapped leaves with fittings and I leave them alone. They don't squeak after 62,000 miles and probably wearing against each other. |
08-31-2018, 09:25 AM | #7 |
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 16
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Re: Leaf Spring Grease Fittings
Thanks everyone for the input. My hunch was that taking a cage nut with flanges and then working with them to get them into to metal wrap was the best solution. Also appreciate the advice on the lubrication.
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08-31-2018, 09:38 AM | #8 | |
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Wisconsin, USA
Posts: 9,007
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Re: Leaf Spring Grease Fittings
Quote:
The fittings on the top of the covers were especially useless in greasing the springs themselves. Rather, they were there to offer a cushion of sorts between the cover(s) and spring. Those covers had a tendency to rattle back in the day and many owners would simply peal them off.
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