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Old 12-19-2008, 10:40 PM   #1
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Alcan Spring vs. Deavers

On my Tacoma, I had originally installed a set of Deavers. Over time ( a short time...aprox 5k miles), they sagged significantly, their load carrying capacity was limited, and I was overall...unhappy with them. Enter Alcan. I called them up. They were very cool to deal with. They custom build every set of springs. They took my measurements, accounted for the amount of lift I wanted, the gross vehicle weight, the fully loaded weight....etc etc. The springs they sent me have been flawless for over 20k miles now, and the ride quality was a major improvement over the Deavers. I found them less bouncy, more controlled, and much better under load. Anyways, I'm a happy Alcan customer, and a somewhat jaded Deaver customer. I'm going to call them next week to get their thoughts on the SMB, and see if they are savvy to them. I'll update as soon as I get some info. But meanwhile, was wondering if anyone here has checked them out.


http://www.alcanspring.com/

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Old 12-20-2008, 07:11 AM   #2
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Hadn't heard of them before. If nothing else, you could justify a trip to Grand Junction, CO. I love that area.

I would pass on their Orbit Eyes, unless you're building a serious rock crawler. Articulation is good, but it usually comes at the expense of some stability.

http://www.alcanspring.com/orbit-eye.htm

Here's another approach to the same concept (see the spring rockers).

http://www.bcbroncos.com/suspensionrear.html


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Old 12-20-2008, 09:04 AM   #3
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Yeah, I wouldn't do their orbit-eye's either. Their standard springs are the way to go.
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Old 01-15-2009, 10:48 AM   #4
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It sounds to me like you needed a custom set of leafs springs from the beginning which we would of been happy to do as well as work with you to solve the issue you were having with our springs that you purchased. Our production springs don't always meet the criteria of every user so we offer custom springs for those cases. In any event i'm sorry you had a bad experience with our product but am happy to hear you have what you want now. We have a great relationship with Charles at Alcan and often refer eachother business.
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Old 01-15-2009, 11:25 AM   #5
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My Tacoma actually was bone stock at the time. I had no extra weight, no camper, no full sized spare, no tool box. The suspension was the first thing I did. With that said, I did happen to be one of the first few people with new generation Taco's doing these suspension mods. I worked with the guys at Donahoe, and got one of their first few production run coil overs. I bought my Deavers from Jason at Demello, and was one of the first. Maybe you guys ended up doing some adjustments to the leafs, but none the less, mine failed me pretty bad. I about 5k miles, my rear end was sagging by at least 2 inches. And that's a travel over about 3.5", since when I first put them on they gave me about an inch of lift, after they settled of course.

Either way, I'm sure you guys do solid work. I got a bad set. I got a great set from Alcan. If Charles doesn't want anything to do with my SMB when I'm ready to upgrade, I'll definitely be calling you guys.
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Old 01-15-2009, 11:34 AM   #6
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Thank you we have some nice proven designs for SMB's when you are ready my friend. Have a great day!!
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Old 01-15-2009, 12:38 PM   #7
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I know folks running both Alcan and Deaver. Both are great springs.
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Old 01-15-2009, 01:13 PM   #8
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Like I mentioned, I wasn't aware of Alcan, but I do run Deavers on my 1969 Bronco and love 'em. Have had them for over 2 years now, and there was some initial settling, but no sag to speak of, even after running just about every trail a couple of times up at Big Bear, and Dusy Ershim a year and a half ago.

Nice and flexy suspension, but I have no problem controlling my Bronco at 75mph (if I ever went that fast....).


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Old 01-15-2009, 08:25 PM   #9
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Deaver Springs

As I posted early last year after owning my Eb-50 for six month's , the Deaver Springs were and continue to be the single best addition that I have
made to this vehicle with regard to the many suspension changes that I made to this SportsMobile and I have never had any problems whatsoever with the previous four sets made by this company . And they are very pleasant to do business with .
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Old 01-15-2009, 10:29 PM   #10
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New Thread Idea

That gives me an idea for a new thread.
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