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Dale,
Good questions.
Full length spring liners are available
in two designs.
The first being a simple flat strip and
the other channeled with lips going up and down, sort of like an "I"
beam. The lips help keep the liner from slipping out.
Installing full length liners does
increase the spring pack thickness.
Based upon the width of the liner, the
thickness varies from .03 to .06 inches thick. So the overall spring
thickness does increase based upon how many full length liners are
installed. But the use of liners has no effect on the spring rate.
Spring rate is a result of the width of
the spring, the thickness of the steel, the number of leaves and how the
ends are finished.
But the use of liners does have an
effect on how the spring performs. Due to interleaf friction all
multi-leaf springs suffer what is know as "hysteresis".
That is, it takes more force to start
the spring to deflect than it does to keep it deflecting.
The use of either full length liners or
tip inserts greatly reduce interleaf friction which in turn reduces
hysteresis. This keeps the working spring rate close to it's actual
rate.
Keep in mind, that in order for a liner
to be effective the liner must be as wide as the spring.
While spring liners help in a springs'
performance, the liner has absolutely no strength. Even though a liner
is used in a spring, the spring still requires all of it's leaves.
I hope this helps with you. Let me know
what else I can do to continue your spring education.
-Mike |
