ALCAN Springs and ORD Shackle 4" Lift?

[1-ton]

ALCAN Springs and ORD Shackle 4\" Lift?

I want to put a 4" lift on my 1991 1-Ton Crew Cab 4X4 P/U, which I plan to use for light trail wheeling and occasional towing. I was thinking of going with ORD Shackle Flip-Kit, ORD front greasable shackles (if they make them for my application), custom manufactured ALCAN springs front (4" Lift) and rear (OEM), with overload springs on the rear.

My question is:

1. Are springs from ALCAN a better quality choice over BDS Springs?

2. What are some of the experiences anybody has had buying springs from ALCAN?

3. For towing should I go with overload or an add-A-leaf spring for occasional towing?


One of the problems are that I need a set of new OEM leaf springs for the rear, and I cannot find anybody that carries any. I checked places like NAPA and AutoZone, but they do not seem to carry leaf springs. Chevy dealers have them, but they cost more than a set of custom springs from ALCAN. Custom springs seem to only average about $50 to $60 more than off the shelf, and custom springs are a matched set, if that claim actually means anything.

 

[Stephen]

Re: ALCAN Springs and ORD Shackle 4\" Lift?

Alcans are good stuff, you won't go wrong.
For the rear, I'd look at using a lighter rated spring and adding an airbag system or overload springs of some sort so you have a softer ride under unloaded conditions and can still stiffen it up when it's loaded down. Alcan may have some tricks up their sleeve to do that so I'd talk to them about it. I think you have a pretty decent recipe going so far.
It's hard to get one spring to be both soft and stiff, so you usually need different systems to get good ride quality and load carrying capability.