Heavy duty leaf springs?

[mymonstertruck]

After looking at my springs on my lunch break. The bottom leaf which is the 4 leaf and the shortest is not bundled with the other three. Meaning I won't have to undo the straps that hold them together, Or so it appears that way. I'm hoping just to remove the center bolt that holds them together and remove that leaf. I'll report back when I try and tackle this.

[scooterman]

I don't think it is that easy but regardless just taking them off and apart to remove a leaf should work.

[lockman1]

The shortest leaf is just a "helper" leaf, (and yeah... it's that easy taking that one off!)
On my buddies, I removed the 2nd shortest leaf... he claims it helped, but when I rode it it... it didn't seem too!

2 sets of HD leafs on my cart, (Stock Club Car, and All Sports) and I couldn't stand EITHER of them!
I went with the Medium Duty leaf springs Cart Parts Plus had... Big improvement! (even with a rear seat!)

Good luck!

[scooterman]

Originally Posted by lockman1

The shortest leaf is just a "helper" leaf, (and yeah... it's that easy taking that one off!)
On my buddies, I removed the 2nd shortest leaf... he claims it helped, but when I rode it it... it didn't seem too!

2 sets of HD leafs on my cart, (Stock Club Car, and All Sports) and I couldn't stand EITHER of them!
I went with the Medium Duty leaf springs Cart Parts Plus had... Big improvement! (even with a rear seat!)

Good luck!

I think I may go that route on my camp cart, it rides well but squeaky like crazy and I don't need that much HD either.

[mymonstertruck]

Update I removed the U bolts and left the leafs on the cart with the two bolts that hold the bushings. I then removed the plates to get access to the center of the leafs. My leafs were held together with a 13mm bolt in the center. I removed the bolt and pulled the bottom leaf out. Slapped it back together and I must say It does ride nicer. After all I might even remove one more leaf. So I would only have 2 leafs total. Then it would ride like a Cadillac. The only problem is the two medal rings that go around the springs wouldn't be tight to the two leafs. I would have to figure out how to either make them or modify the ones that are on them currently.

[Gregorio]

If you are taking out all those leaves from the HD pack, why not get a standard spring to begin with?

[mrgolf]

HD Springs because of there stiffness will give you about 1 to 1 1/2 inch lift on the rear. They don't give as much under the weight of the cart. If you re stack the spring set you loose the stiffness. If the springs were on top of the axle you could re stack them to get your lift.

[MDLNB]

Originally Posted by mymonstertruck

It's just a stiff ride with the HD springs. I wish I could find a spring with just 2 leafs instead of 4. I think the HD springs are over kill for a golf cart.

Automotive stores carry a helper spring. Basically, it's just an additional leaf for the leaf spring.

[MDLNB]

I have American made, three leaf HD springs. I installed them because I wanted to add a rear seat eventually. Now, I can jump up and down on the back with little movement. Before, the fenders would hit the oversize tires in the back if I jumped on the back. Even with the extended shackles I installed. I left the shocks on, using shock extenders, but they do little to nothing. The cart jars your teeth when you go over a bump, it's so tight. I get almost NO spring action. But, I haven't put anyone on the back yet. I believe they advertise that I can add another 500lbs to the load with the new springs. And these are three leaf springs too. With a light vehicle like a golf cart, I imagine it is difficult to get a perfect ride. Especially with an old '97-99 like my CC DS. If I was going for a smooth, Cadillac ride I would probably have to give up the ability to put a heavy load on the little machine. If I was going for a better ride, I think that I would go with real light springs and real nice shocks. My wife complains about the ride on her stock Yamaha. She wants me to do something about smoothing it out. I believe that she has coil springs. But I digress. I believe that if you remove leafs from your HD springs, you are sacrificing the reason for HD springs.
As far as the shock is concerned, on mine it does absolutely nothing in regards to stabilizing the bobbing action of the cart. I have such heavy duty springs that I might as well have no springs because the whole cart bounces over bumps, not just the body. I have not put a heavy load on it yet so I doubt the shocks have had a chance to act yet. But, I have large tires on my cart so the springs work perfect for my purpose.
I saw a Youtube instruction video that said you can leave the shocks off when you install HD springs. I left them on even though they do nothing for the ride. The only way shocks are going to work is if you have some movement between the axle and the body, and they will only act to dampen that movement, creating a smoother ride...supposedly. Like someone else said above, shocks just stabilize the movement so you don't get the "bobblehead" action.

[mymonstertruck]

Originally Posted by Gregorio

If you are taking out all those leaves from the HD pack, why not get a standard spring to begin with?

The factory (OEM)only has only 1 leaf. When you add a rear seat the weight makes the tires rub when hiting bumps. And the HD comes with 4 leafs which is over kill. So I removed 1 leaf and it does ride a lot smoother and still holds plenty of weight. But I truly think two leafs would work just as good. If you think about it is double from what came factory.