Deaver Upgrade - Ride Height?

[JoeH]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey

Update: It's been a month since I placed my order and I have never heard from Jeff about my package progress. I'll call him tomorrow.

Question: Is it necessary for Deaver to weld a new shock mount in a different location that what SMB designed for the conversion? Why can't they use the existing mounts? Can anyone here show a pic of the new mounts that Deaver added? I am in such dire need of new shocks right now. I just returned from a week in Utah and used up the last ray of life in my OME's.. The ride now is like no shocks at all. The ride home to southern CA was miserable. I thought every screw and bolt in my rig was going to fall out.

It's not really a new shock mount. It's the same one cut and re-welded a bit lower to accommodate the longer stroke length of the Bilstein.


After the plate broke on mine and the replacement that SMB sent with the additional gusset was poorly fabricated, I gave up and simply welded the shock mounts directly to the Dynatrac axle.

[JoeH]

Here's two pics of the Deaver modified shock mount.

[JoeH]

Not sure why the above pics are rotated but here's another two of the broken shock tab next to the new SMB plate.

[Jeffrey]

UPDATE: 3.5 months after I first talked to Deaver and placed the order, and I have never heard back from them. Two calls from me over that time resulted on the same story. "We are not really interested in doing one-off jobs for individuals any longer, as our business has shifted to high quantity production manufacturing. We'll see if the factory can make your springs". I emailed them today to cancel the order, which was never entered in their system at all. Why didn't they just tell me NO right up front? No concept of customer service at all. Game over.

[vandiesel]

Jeffrey it might be worth calling Oregon auto spring and have them make you a set. They are the contract mfg for deaver and made mine. Mine were technically deavers but they are very capable and service friendly. Downside is having to ship to socal for install. I weighed each corner and they took it from there. The guys at the shop put mine on and fabbed the shock mounts as well.

Brad

[arctictraveller]

If you haven't seen this thread yet,

http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...ard-22507.html

[Vanimal]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey

After many years of thinking about it, I got the ball rolling on a Deaver Spring upgrade on my 11.5 year old RB-50 w/ 35" tires. Yes, I know, it won't be cheap, but they do a fine job from all reports. If you've done this, did your body height get raised a bit? My rig weighs in at 9900 pounds. I sure hope it is not more than an inch increase. It's pretty tall now and don't need the additional pain in the ass.

Jeffrey, thanks for the Cuba video! Being Cuban I appreciated it very much. It shows how beautiful that country really is and how Communistic socialism has destroyed it!

[pjpvi]

That's really too bad Jeffrey, Deaver always provided excellent support to me. I understand their change in market strategy but it was wrong of them to lead you on. Hope you are able to source a good set of springs!

[Jeffrey]

Reviving this thread because I'm still thinking of new springs. After the horrible Deaver experience, I needed a break from thinking of this every day with no solution in sight. But I did install the Fox shocks that SMB sells for their own SMB conversions. Helped a bit, but my springs are sagging terribly and the ride quality sucks. I followed Arctictraveller's thread on his Alcans, which I was going to jump on, until I realized his rig is not a SMB built 4x4. I need advice and positive experiences specifically for the SMB 4x4, (excluding Deaver). I'm quite mechanically savy, but not in the area of spring design. I am hoping for another SMB 4x4 owner to chime in with the answer. Or else I take my chances ordering springs from a far away place and sadly find out they don't fit or don't work well if they do fit. And the money lost for the local install plus shipping.

I hope I made my needs clear. Thanks!

[lavolpe79]

The best outfit to call is Agile Off-road. They are very familiar with SMB spring design, and I believe they actually helped design the Fox shocks SMB now sells. They’re straight shooters, so they’ll tell you if they can help or not.

Good luck!