Goodbye Axle Wrap Mod

ok so axle wrap whats is it? sorry for the dumb question. is it where ur leaf pack is frowning?

 

Axle wrap happens when the horizontal force of your drive shaft rotating causes your leaf springs to twist on acceleration. When you stop and take the downward force from your throttle off the leaf springs that twist comes out. It gives you a "bang" back up the drive line after you stop. No actual sound usually, but it feels like somebody smacked into your rear bumper at a low speed.

The U-bolts from a helper spring keep the leaves of your leaf springs from separating, either vertically or horizontally. That means that you would have to twist all the leaves in your spring to have the problem, instead of the usual 1 that is actually wrapped. That's why the U-bolts stop it from happening.

Theoretically, you can damage your leaf springs with excessive axle wrap. Usually you need a fairly serious lift block to have enough leverage to do that though. On a stock setup, or any other lift besides a spacer block lift, you won't actually damage the springs. Though they will wear out faster wrapping.

 

i just stumbled on this thread lastnight. I decided to go find one of these "leaf spring clamp kits" or helper spring kits. i found just the u bolt kits online for around 14.99 but the ones i found didnt say how long and wide the bolts were. so i went to autozone this morning and found the helper spring kit that the original poster used.

I saw some of you just use the u bolts but i figured i would use the springs too, since im sure its not gunna hurt anything. so i painted them black and slapped them on. took the truck out for a spin and i noticed a huge difference right when i put the truck in reverse to back out of my driveway! throughout the entire ride i noticed it drove a lot smoother during acceleration and braking. also going around sharp corners feels much better. like the tires are getting better traction now. i recommend this little mod to everyone that wants to fix the axle wrap issue for only $30.

 

Glad to hear you had success with this mod, did you mount the helper spring infront or behind the axel?

 

in front, just how the write up is.

i was thinking about buying my dad one of these kits for his 04 taco cuz he huals trailers and is always going camping and the bed is full. would this helper spring kit really help much. it says it increases load capacity by like 1000 lbs i think

 

The even cheaper way would be to c-clamp the springs, then wrap the springs with many layers of duct tape (older cheaper school).

 

Ah duct tape. The only thing you will find useful in every emergency.

I don't think that would last all that long though. The duct tape, even with lots of layers, would seem likely to stretch to me.

 

Installed the clamps 5 inches forward of the axle and GOOD BYE AXLE WRAP! onto my next mod. Waddya think? Gray wire? Deck lid?

Tapatalk on DX

 

Everyone that has tried this liked the results...I think I am going to do it soon. Good easy mod for a lazy cool fall afternoon before it gets too cold!

 

YES!! A cheap, effective way to fix this! I know its a bandaid, but, i cant stand the thump on my new tacoma! lol

will be picking these up tomorrow!

 

alright i dont think i have axle wrap *edit i mean its not in bad condition

 

I have been to autozone, oreily and advance. the only thing I can find is the full AAL kit. Any of you guys have the part number for just the U-bolts you are all finding? I havnt seen any u bolts at any of them.

Thanks,
Anthony

 

Part # for the Dynachrome helper springs is 18921 from Advance Auto Parts. You could take a box and show the people what kind of u-bolts you want and they might be able to help. I am waiting for the rubberized paint to dry on mine right now...it has been an hour and still tacky. I guess I waited until it was to cold for a quick dry but I have today and tomorrow to get them on. I hope it works cause I am really tired of the driveshaft clunk!

 

No.. too light and the axel wrap will still happen.. You need to make them tight enough to prevent it from occuring.

I torqued mine down to 50lbs...

 

How's the ride quality.

 

Well, I did the axle wrap mod and you can see a big difference in the way it handles...no more axle wrap at all when stopping! Yeah!!!! Finally, I don't feel like someone hit me in the rear every time I take my foot off the brake at a stop sign or light! Seems like the ride is just a little stiffer but I only drove for a few miles. Someone said in a previous post the stiff ride kinda gets softer with a few miles. I have a 400 mile road trip planned for tomorrow and the next day so we will see how it does! So far I am excited!

 

I have a 1983 Dodge power ram 50. I want to add the dynachrome helpers to increase load capacity only. So I guess the way to do that is on the bottom in the rear as designed for. My question is if I do this is it necessary to remove the rear wheels and let the springs unload prior to putting the helpers on. Thanks

Instructions say " jack up the entire rear and use jack stands or heavy duty blocks under the frame of the car when you have it elevated. Remove the rear tires."


also I want it to sit higher not lower.

Thanks

 

ride quality doesn't suffer at all if you only clamp the front ..and place the clamp as close to spring hangar as you can get it yet still capture all the leafs. that put the clamp about an inch or so from the u bolt top plate with my setup ...now, if you clamp both the front and rear, it makes for an absolute crap ride.

as for how tight they need to be, i'd say they need to be just tight enough to keep the leafs from separating. ..however little or much that is, i don't know.

 

The exact point of the question.

On mine, the leaves are actually touching without a clamp. So, all I needed to do was add the u-bolts with very little clamping force to keep them that way. The loctite red keeps the nuts from loosening. Tried it clamped down hard, and yeah, it rode like garbage.

 

If you want the height to stay the same then do not unload the leaf spring.

You get the added capacity starting at wherever the spring is at when you install the helper. The reason I ended up with lift was that the spring was totally unloaded when I installed the new spring. Had to be, with the way I installed it. So all the extra spring rate applies through the whole motion of the leaves. Applying the helper with the spring loaded means that little or none of the extra spring rate applies until you add extra weight to the rear and start applying force to the helper.

Hope that makes sense.