bryson711

I can check tonight when I get of work, somebody might beat me to it before then. What bill is saying may be true and that's possibly why you did not get all the lift you was hoping for and had to use the blocks, I know my front alcan springs were arched when I just got them but if you look at them now with the weight on them and been in for a couple weeks the are straight with no arch in them. I still think I got my 2 inches of lift though and the ride sooo! Much better

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BILTIT

Ya i think he is correct but i just want to double check the measurements i gave him to be sure. Shipping is killer, don't want to do it more than i have too.

bryson711

ok so straight across from eye to eye on mine is 51 1/2, and along the main leaf from center of the eye to center of the eye is about 53 1/2. this measurement might be a little off it was kinda hard to measure but the eye to eye measurmant should be dead on

BILTIT

Perfect thanks! I gave them 52 C-C straight across when i ordered so close enough i think.

Bill figured he will build me a shorter main leaf and that should fix the problem.

bryson711

Ok good, glad I could help, unlucky for you though you have to pull them back out!

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BILTIT

Ya, i had to pull them part way anyways, still waiting for shackle bushings to show up.

I left everything loose to check truck height too so wont take long to yank em out.

bannerd

Ah that sucks... so when you order from Alcan you need to make sure the measurements are perfect? Or do they know the stock size and your truck is different? That sucks you had to pay for shipping

BILTIT

So far it seems the measurements are fine its the spring rate of the spring itself that may have been the issue. I still have to talk to Bill again before we pull the trigger on a solution.

I was asking for a 5'' lift spring and also fairly soft, it is a tough thing to get both and he thinks he made them abit too soft.

I will be phoning him today to conclude the evaluation phase and move into the replacement phase. I have not paid anything over and above initial cost yet but i do believe i may have to pay a portion of the shipping atleast for the new parts.

Shipping the 4 springs to my location was the cost of an actual spring, not cheap.

brainfade

I got 4 springs (2 inch lift front, 5 inch rear to eliminate the blocks)from Alcan a few years ago. I have to say the customer service was very good but I wasn't impressed with the product.

I also had the issue with the rears being too long, I had to clearance the spring hangers to make them work, I couldn't wait. I later discovered that the front springs were assembled backwards, this of course after I damaged the front driveshaft and yoke from the front housing twisting under load.

The rear springs also had the pin too far forward such that the axle was not centered in the wheel well. It didn't hurt anything but it sure made the truck look silly.

Bottom line was, they sent me a new set of rears with a different pin location and I had to tear the fronts off and assemble them correctly and buy a U-joint and yoke.

Again, great customer service but customer service doesn't hold the truck up.

BILTIT

Thanks for the info.

My fronts seemed to be fine but i never looked at the assembly.

What exactly was backwards on the front springs, the main leaf i assume with the different direction wrap?

I wondered about the pin offset but haven't checked that either, didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. (my old chevy had offset pin but didn't think the dodges did)

I will confirm with Bill about the pin location.

brainfade

On the fronts the main leaf was fine but all the other leaves were swapped end for end.

The front spring is asymetric, longer from the pin in one direction than the other. I can't remember which way it goes off hand, but when I was looking at the truck after the damage happened it wasn't obvious at all.

It wasn't until I dug out the old springs and compared them that the mis-assembly jumped out at me. With the shorter ends on the forward torque direction end of the spring it left a lot of area with just the main leaf to resist spring wrap. The result was that under high loads (4WD low and lots of traction) the axle housing rotated the pinion down until it bound up the joint.

Swapped it around and it's been fine since. Hopefully somebody at Alcan just had an off day when they built mine and it's not a common error.

BILTIT

So verdict is in, bill is going to make me a new main leaf. The new leaf will be 1.5'' shorter (3/4'' on each side of the center pin since the pin is in the middle of the spring). This should move the shackle where i need it. He is building it on monday and will have it shipped out asap. I will discuss $$$ with him on monday.

Some pics of the springs with no weight on them and axle hanging.

Rick 12v CTD

man biltit you seem to be having a heck of a time with buying new parts from manufacturers and them either sending you the wrong part, or making it wrong/not described as it's supposed to be!

BILTIT

Yes, its starting to get on my nerves!

Rick 12v CTD

yeah no kidding. It would have gotten on my nerves a loooong time ago.