Under-loading suspension

[d.brophy]

I'm thinking about building an expedition vehicle on a 33 ton Mercedes Actros 6x6 chassis... However, I'm a bit worried that the suspension (leaf springs all round) will be too hard, considering my total weight will only be about 16 tons (less than half the GVW)...

Is there any way to easily address this? Can leaf spring suspension be modified to make it softer? Can individual leaves be removed? Alternatively I assume the whole leaf spring assembly could be changed with that of a model with lower GVW, but this would be expensive.

Or perhaps is this not a big problem? I'm worried about excessive vibration damaging the living compartment, and perhaps reduced wheel articulation when driving off-road... Does anyone have first-hand experience?

 

[MTVR]

I'm thinking about building an expedition vehicle on a 33 ton Mercedes Actros 6x6 chassis... However, I'm a bit worried that the suspension (leaf springs all round) will be too hard, considering my total weight will only be about 16 tons (less than half the GVW)...

Is there any way to easily address this? Can leaf spring suspension be modified to make it softer? Can individual leaves be removed? Alternatively I assume the whole leaf spring assembly could be changed with that of a model with lower GVW, but this would be expensive.

Or perhaps is this not a big problem? I'm worried about excessive vibration damaging the living compartment, and perhaps reduced wheel articulation when driving off-road... Does anyone have first-hand experience?

Not exactly.

We have an Oshkosh MTVR 6x6, which has a GVWR of 62,200 pounds, and a payload capacity of 30,000 pounds. Our box and contents only weigh about 5,000 pounds so far, and the truck seems to work fine both on and off road. The MTVR has fully-independent coil-sprung suspension, for what it's worth...

 

[shortbus4x4]

How many leaves does each spring have? If it's a bunch then you can take some out to soften up your ride, if it's only 2 or 3 leaves per spring then you can't. I would recommend you build it and get your total travel weight per axle and run it to see how it rides. If it's too rough then go see an old school spring shop and get your springs modified or some custom made ones.

 

[billiebob]

Is there any way to easily address this? Can leaf spring suspension be modified to make it softer? Can individual leaves be removed?

yes, any truck spring shop can rebuild them to do what you want, and it won't be expensive, do it last and show up fully loaded.

 

[d.brophy]

How many leaves does each spring have? If it's a bunch then you can take some out to soften up your ride, if it's only 2 or 3 leaves per spring then you can't. I would recommend you build it and get your total travel weight per axle and run it to see how it rides. If it's too rough then go see an old school spring shop and get your springs modified or some custom made ones.

Looks like 4 leaves on the back... I guess we see how it goes...

 

[shortbus4x4]

Those are parabolic leaf springs so I don't think you can just remove a leaf and be ok. See how the middle is thicker and it tapers towards each end. Build your truck and get each axle weight fully loaded and then find a spring shop.
Oh we need to see some pics of the whole truck too.

 

[d.brophy]

Awesome, thanks for the advice!

 

[Madoxen]

If when you have finished your build you find the ride to hard they are not hard or difficult to have some new parabolic springs made up and fitted. Have a look over on the unimog/mb forum a few people have recently changed theirs. I am building on a 18 tonn actros 1835 and am not too worried about it as like i said they can be seapped out or even a leaf removed. Good luck with the build

 

[shortbus4x4]

If when you have finished your build you find the ride to hard they are not hard or difficult to have some new parabolic springs made up and fitted. Have a look over on the unimog/mb forum a few people have recently changed theirs. I am building on a 18 tonn actros 1835 and am not too worried about it as like i said they can be seapped out or even a leaf removed. Good luck with the build

So you could take a leaf out of that parabolic spring pack and be ok? I'm a truck mechanic but have only dealt with regular old leaf springs which are fairly easy to take a leaf or two out to get a softer ride.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

After your done building and outfitting your rig, weigh it, then have a custom spring pack built. Problem solved.

 

[d.brophy]

After your done building and outfitting your rig, weigh it, then have a custom spring pack built. Problem solved.

How much do you think that would cost?

 

[Deleted member 9101]

How much do you think that would cost?

I can honestly say that I have know clue. You might be able to find a version of your truck with a lower GVW rating and use the springs out of it?

 

[Madoxen]

Would be helpfull to see pic of the whole suspension for a better idea of if a leaf can be removed . But it should be doable

 

[d.brophy]

Would be helpfull to see pic of the whole suspension for a better idea of if a leaf can be removed . But it should be doable

Here's a couple more - this is all I have right now:

 

[quickfarms]

I have leaf springs at all four corners, a total of 6 springs, each one was reworked by reducing the number of leaves and rearching them.

The truck now rides better than my wife’s car and the cost was not that much.

The rear suspension made the most improvement. With the original springs the air ride seats would bottom out now they barely move

I would build the truck and take it for test drives to see how the suspension performs.

If you decide to redo the springs make shore you weigh the truck fully loaded

Since the weight of these vehicles is fairly constant it is not hard to get them to ride good.

Where are you located?

This is my rig.