Re-arching the Rear Springs
for Lift and Ride
by Tony Peregoy
Feeling the call of Travstock (now only four months away), I decided I should be
"doing something" to my Travco. Since I've been toying with the
idea of lifting her sagging rear end for quite a while and
volleying between air bags and new springs, I did a little homework. The
air bags used in the air ride system were a good investment in my Travco, but
not a solution to my exact problem. My Travco sagged more than a couple of
inches and was uneven side to side. None of this was very noticeable
unless you were looking for it. In this brief outline, I'll describe why I
chose to re-arch the rear springs, what exactly that means, and why.
 We
start off with a few measurements. After all, if I'm going to pay some
amount of money for a solution, I need to get an idea of the "before and
after" effect. This picture doesn't do her justice, but my driveway
slopes upward to the left slightly. The Travco, however, looks
level. If you look at the shadow under her, you can see it is less in the
rear. According to my measurements, she's a good 2 to 3 inches lower in
the back.
If I were to use air
bags, I'd be lifting my Travco around 3 inches just with the bags and more
importantly, supporting the weight constantly at that height. In reading
about air ride systems, they are really intended to provide a more comfortable
ride and supply moderate leveling. Maybe they would easily do the trick,
but it was not a "guess" I was ready for. Plus, in comparing
prices, I could re-arch for a few hundred bucks and the air ride system was over
twice that. I called the "spring shop" and told of my
intensions, how much I was willing to pay, and also about this really weird web
site mania I possessed and how I always carried along a camera. Nary a
flinch on their side so we were ready to go!
We arrived at Columbus Spring Service in Columbus, Georgia early in the
morning. She's full of gas and water to give plenty of weight while
re-arching the springs. You want to do this with a simulated travel weight so the re-arching will look right when you are using her.
She goes in and
immediately gets inspected. They are looking for badly rusted bolts or
extensively corroded parts - either of which may prolong the process with labor
time or replacement parts searches. She had the usual minor rust that any
underside would have but it was do-able. 
They used these large
canister jacks to lift her by the frame so the rear axle and springs would hang
free. Those big things (in green) easily picked her up. No no time,
they had the springs off.
The springs are taken
to a work area where the re-arching begins. To be honest, I didn't exactly
know how they did it and expected them to load the entire springs in some kind
of hydraulic press to bend it. Instead, they took the springs apart first
by using a torch to remove the bands and center bolt.
In the picture at left
(which is a blow-up of the above picture), you can see the torch being used to
melt away the center bolt that holds the spring leaves together. They are
under pressure so the black peg sticking out of the table is used to keep the
springs from popping apart towards the worker. Once apart, they are
inspected for rust and deterioration. The center section does have normal rust but it is not major. They are looking for major rust that will effect
the integrity of the metal. Seeing none, it's time to measure and bend!
 Nothing
like having the right tools and this place had it all. What they
didn't have, they had the machinery to make. The bending machine was a
large hydraulic press used the provide multiple slight-bends to each leaf.
It only bent about 10 inches of spring at a time. The worker was meticulous
as he bent every leaf to fit perfectly into each other. He also made sure
the amount of bend was uniform for each side (so one side does not end up higher
or lower than the other). To add extra strength and to keep the
re-arched springs from settling back down again, a new leaf is added.
The new leaf is the
same thickness and width as the other leaves and is cut and center-punched to
fit the new springs. Once completed, the assemblies are put back together.
As you can see here, a
new center bolt is tightening one spring assembly back together. The other
assembly lies to the right. Although some leaves have fallen over, you can
clearly see how the leaves all have the same new arch. Several
inches were added to the arch radius.
Since the new springs
have an extra  leaf, the old U-bolts would not fit. On the other end of the
"bending" machine, a worker made U-bolts to fit. The long bolt
went over a form that fit my previous U-bolt. One press with the foot and
the steel wheels quickly bent both ends of the rod straight down.
After assembling the
springs, new bands were attached. These are the steel bands that simply
hold the leaves together for added safety. Below, you can see them and the
new U-bolts ready to go back on.
In the photo at right,
the new band is shown. Notice the new leaf. The original leaves are
tapered at the ends and have a rivet holding a plastic plate on top. This
reduces noise and friction. The new spring is not tapered, but if you look
at the top left of the picture, you can see all of the leaves have the same
thickness.
She goes back together
without too much trouble. The jacks are still underneath, but are already
down. She's has a noticeable lift in the rear.
Total lift was 3¼"! Total price was $327 ($150 for labor, $80 for
arching, and $97 for parts).
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