leaf spring anti-friction stick on pads?

I put on the icon aal and have a terrible squeak. I've pinpointed it to where the longest aal leaf touches my leaf pack.

I'd like to put in some stick on anti-friction pads but am having a hell of a time finding some. I found some BDS anti-friction pads that look perfect, but they seem kind of protective of them, saying they are ONLY for BDS suspension and applying policies for companies to only sell them after 10 day lead times...strange. Here's a link to something I'm looking for...
https://offroadwarehouse.com/i-10165574-bds-2-wide-anti-friction-pads-10-each.html

I'm not interested in smearing grease, spraying lube, or using the dorman type leaf pad that will require me to drill into the spring steel like the ones in this link...
https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...WEa4T--GkM-aIF5UgFkaAtqsEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds


Any ideas?

 

Just get some sheet rubber about 1/32" thick and trim to fit leaf area or contact point & get a little contact cement, NOW, on level flat surface chock your front wheels get agood floor jack and lift the rear almost off ground to take weight off springs so itll be easier to spread leaf ends open, put some glue on one side of pad you just cut and place where needed, lower truck, done..

 

Took my Expo leaf packs apart to refinish its rusty state and most of the friction pads were so brittle and most of them broke in pieces in the removal, did some research to locate some replacements. The price for 22pcs plus shipping to Canada made me rethink of the purchase and luckily the shop was very slow so I machined the pads using Delrin plastic, press fit .010 oversized and mushroomed the 1/8 longer knob on the bottom using a hydraulic 80 ton press

 

Is the squeak at the very tip of the leaf? You could try just chamfering the tip. And spraying a little dry moly lube in there while you have it pried apart.

Frankly, I don't see how any adhesive pad that isn't mechanically trapped in the spring somehow is going to last long at all.

 

Yes, the very tip of the longest aal. I found a place that is sending me those bds pads without a hassle. I could definitely spray something in there, but am trying to avoid it, I’m going to give the pads a shot and go from there, although you may be right about them staying. I may end up doing what Kanuckle is doing and putting in new mechanically trapped pads, that’s certainly better than spraying them, at least to me. I don’t mind taking them apart again if needed.

Thanks for the advice folks

 

You were right Scocar, those BDS pads weren't stick on, they required by leaf be drilled, which I did. Bought a bunch of different types of carbide tipped bits from Home Depot, found the bit at the below link to work the best from there. Still an MFer though, could only drill 1 1/2 holes through icon aals per drill bit before it was trashed. No more squeak though!

Thanks for the help

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bosch-3...-Stone-and-Masonry-Drilling-HCBG12T/301374912

 

Picked up a set of All-Pro Expo's in pretty rusty conditioning, any feedback on the reassembly, and what sleeves/bushings you used?

 

All I can say in tackling this project is, with all the hard work, I hope it prevents the rust for a long time
One tip I can give ya, is do one leaf pack at a time so it can be assembled properly because some leafs do not have the center pin holes in the center
I do like the outcome though, sure looks purdy all painted up

 

And the squeak is back! Haha. Didn’t even crawl under there, went right to the computer and ordered some Dakar’s with all new bushings for the pack and shackles....screw it, should have ordered them to begin with.

 

I’m sorry to tell you this but Dakar’s squeak too. Mine squeak all the time, luckily I only hear it at low speeds with the windows down.

 

That’s exactly what I got going on right now with my Dakar Pack, maybe 4-5k on them at best. Thought it was just normal breaking in shit, but hasn’t gone away, I kinda just ignore it, and chalk it up to “truck thangs”

 

Well, the adhesive just holds in place & weight of truck pretty much keeps them where they should be, done many springs to resolve squeaks , but like anything else it wears out after a while...

 

Bringing this thread back to life.

I'm doing this same project with allpro expos I bought and was wondering about all of the parts you used.
Bushings, sleeves, pin hardware, paint..

Did you machine the delrin pads on a lathe?

Yours look great! Would love to hear how you did it.

 

You could always use these, they work. Been holding up great for me and no more squeaks. I have them in closer to the ends of the springs.

Link -- https://amzn.to/3iFezeH

 

I'm about to try something similar. My truck is a 2023 and I put HeadStrong 3AAL on at 500 miles. Truck now has 14k and I'm about to drill holes in the ends of the next two leafs(that don't have the pads) and add pads like the rest of the leafs. Hopefully prevent the squeaking.... will see. I've brushed grease in these spots and the squeak goes away temporarily.

I'll drill the holes tomorrow or Wed. I'll post my results.

 

Search for "poly slide leaf spring liners"

Find the correct width

Fit them using the center pin or just cut a section and sandwich them to pressure fit.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I'm going to go that route instead of what I was planning. I just ordered from Speedway Motors for $31 shipped for 20'(after $10 promotion for first order).

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Leaf-Spring-Liner-with-Lip-2-1-4-Inch,39823.html?sku=91033038-BLK

 

Done. Stuff was easy to work with. I simply cut to length and trimmed the ends to the same profile as the two Headstrong leafs that were metal to metal. It's pretty unnoticeable too. Well see how long it lasts. Installed on this Head strong 3AAL at 14644 miles.

 

is teh squeak gone?

 

It is but I haven't driven it yet. Prior to installing this, I could push down on the tailgate and get a squeak from the rear leafs.