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Squeaking leaves springs : a solution


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  • 1 month later...

Squeaking is back, although very discreet, since yesterday. The lithium grease miracle lasted almost two months, despite weekly off-road drives. So in conclusion : not bad for a 10-20dhs and 5 mn job. 

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  • 1 year later...
On 4/10/2019 at 3:16 PM, Emmanuel said:

Today I decided to give a try to one of the recommended ways to solve this quite annoying issue that many Xterra owners know (at least the regular off-roaders) : to apply lithium between the leaves. I used this 20dhs spray bought at ACE.

Basically, you have to lift the car (with the system that will let the wheels free), use a screwdriver to create a gap between the leaves and add the grease in between each pair + on the sides and different mountings. 

When we took the car down, the miracle had happened. Not a single sound ! I drove back home with my windows opened, crossed humps at good speed no more squeaking. Now let’s see how long it will last but so far it’s working. 

Previously I had tried everything except taking off the suspensions and clean them : w40, diesel, placing a rubber between the leaves... None of those had any effect. 

9EC748F5-FD56-4935-8E10-F8784830E735.jpeg

Hello 

I have Xterra and till now no squeaking sound so far ( three times to Offroad with you fine ppl ) and I don’t know when it will come.

but what I do after each sand trip steam wash .

regarding grease I feel that the grease will catch the sand particles ( silicon ) and will bind it even harder and makes the squeaking more prominent . ( it’s metal on silicon not metal on metal ) . I don’t know what the lithium had to do do though .

 

best drive save and healthy 

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Indeed. It’s the sand that causes the squeaking and washing is the proper solution. Grease will mute the sound but it catches the sand even more and traps it and sand in anything that moves isn’t good. 

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  • 6 months later...

Yet another possible solution for the dreaded Leaves Squeak

Solution: Placing a combination of heavy duty cable ties and rubber between the leaves. (I have used an old inner tube donated by a friendly tyre shop.)

Theory, sand won’t get trapped thus no squeak .

Reality : time will tell 

Possible fails: The rubber and cable ties will become worn and be displaced from between the leaves when driving off-road. Cable ties should stay in place, issue is re wear n tear.

Process:
Wash the leaves to remove sand.
Mount rear wheels on a kerbstone or jack up to create gaps between the leaves
Place rubber, (fold as many times as you can and push through with a screwdriver.) and cable ties in-between the leaves at both ends. Cut excess from Cable ties.

Drive....

So far so silent. However, I will report back after this weekend's driving in the dunes. 
 

 


 

mount.jpg

rubber.jpg

Edited by Foxtrot Oscar
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2 hours ago, Foxtrot Oscar said:

Yet another possible solution for the dreaded Leaves Squeak

Solution: Placing a combination of heavy duty cable ties and rubber between the leaves. (I have used an old inner tube donated by a friendly tyre shop.)

Theory, sand won’t get trapped thus no squeak .

Reality : time will tell 

Possible fails: The rubber and cable ties will become worn and be displaced from between the leaves when driving off-road. Cable ties should stay in place, issue is re wear n tear.

Process:
Wash the leaves to remove sand.
Mount rear wheels on a kerbstone or jack up to create gaps between the leaves
Place rubber, (fold as many times as you can and push through with a screwdriver.) and cable ties in-between the leaves at both ends. Cut excess from Cable ties.

Drive....

So far so silent. However, I will report back after this weekend's driving in the dunes. 
 

 


 

mount.jpg

rubber.jpg

As long as the cables hold I would assume the rubber in between the “ metal blades “ would last. Once the cables ruptured the rubber will crunch like a biscuit in between but at least the sound would be different than the irritating classical squeak 🤣

believe it or not I don’t squeak but I weekly squeeze the sand from in between the leaves by hot steam 😆

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12 minutes ago, Mohamed Seidam said:

As long as the cables hold I would assume the rubber in between the “ metal blades “ would last. Once the cables ruptured the rubber will crunch like a biscuit in between but at least the sound would be different than the irritating classical squeak 🤣

believe it or not I don’t squeak but I weekly squeeze the sand from in between the leaves by hot steam 😆

Only time will tell my friend , most X drivers use one or the other . I opted for both . We’ll see 

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  • 11 months later...

I’m also facing same Choww Choww sound. it’s irritate me a lot. 

I never applied greece but after every wash i applied WD40. i thought i found the solution but after my last drive it came back. so today i came to know that Greece and WD40 are the magnet of sand. 

Plz advise the best cost effective solution. 

5E047AA2-3B91-4F65-BF7B-85C2B32CB098.jpeg

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  • 1 year later...

Ok. This is an old thread but wanted to share my experience.

In my last drive in Al Saad, as i was climbing, I heard a loud thump from the rear and found that the topmost leaf spring just cracked in half :( 

Replaced the leaf springs nearby and took it to my mechanic for a check up and identify the issue. The leaf spring that broke wasn't rusty, it looked solid. 

Turns out the rubber padding between the leaves had turned hard (not brittle) and rock solid and literally became a hard object between the leaves and were stressing at the contact point which ultimately cracked the leaf during a bump.

So, rubber between the leaves is a good idea to stop the squeaks but they need to be replaced time to time and not let them become hard. 

I am currently running them stock (without the rubbers). Don't care about the squeaks but I cant handle another breakdown in the desert. Once the leaf spring cracks, the rear axle slides to the back of the car and the wheel touches the fender. Good luck with that if you don't have @Asif Hussain and @Jona in your convoy.

FYI  @Chaitanya D, @Foxtrot Oscar, @M.Seidam, @Tbone, @Rizwanm2,  @Zulfikhar Naiyar@Ashutosh Garg@Chinthaka Ruwan, @Brendan White , @Xavier Treasurer, @Janarthan, @Mukundan Nair

Edited by Krishna R
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@Krishna R did only one leaf break or the entire set? I don't think the spacers would have caused your leaf spring to break.

I have had a case where both my rear leaf springs set had failed at the same time. But this happened only once in about 7 years of offroading. This didn't happen all of a sudden, but over a period of time which I realised later in hindsight. Whenever I used to overload the vehicle it would sag quite a bit at the back. So what exactly happened is that out of the 4 leafs the smallest ones had already broken and during the final drive in Sweihan while cross-crossing the big leaf gave away. And the same must have happened on the other side as well. In my case the springs had no rust as well, infact they are made of hardened steel that don't fail so easily.

Your shocks are the ones that prevent the full flex of the leaf spring. Maybe it has a bit too much travel and allows the suspension to flex more than what it ought too.

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