Custom Suspension

[86 Jimmy]

I was going to post in COG, but apparently it's closed to new posts. So i'll try it here.

There's a local spring shop in town who bends their own springs in house and are able to do custom set up springs. Does anyone have any experience with this? My buddy told me about it because he's already talked to them about it for his truck. I'm just wondering if anyone has done this before and knows what specs to build the springs to. I have an 86 Jimmy with 52's in the back. I'm looking for a 6" lift. Thanks for any help.

 

[tRustyK5]

Alcan, Deaver, and National all build custom spring packs based on vehicle weight (each corner weighed) and intended/expected use. I have Alcan's waiting to go under my truck right now...10 leaf rears, 11 leaf fronts which should net 6" lift up front and 6.5" in the rear. The individual leafs are very thin in comparison to stock springs and aftermarket lift springs. Many thin leafs are way better than fewer thicker leafs. They also make the springs longer than stock to improve flex, ride and loaded shackle angle.

Expect to pay 2-3 times what a 'kit' would cost for the custom leafs...

Rene

 

[blazinzuk]

Check around with other people who have their custom springs. Around here a shop advertises a 4 or 6" lift for 350 bucks complete. They say it has custom springs all they are is rearched springs with 2! add a leaves they ride like crap. If they want to know what your truck weighs on each corner they are probably capable of high quality work if not then I would probably shy away

 

[tRustyK5]

The local shops around here are like that...stuck in 1983 as far as spring tech goes.

Rene

 

[txfiremank5]

I've never had springs arched, but from what I understand, they usually droop back down over time. Not to mention, they are usually some "run of the mill" leaf material, and will not ride or flex well. generally, shops that do that are not going to "fine tune" leafs etc like Alcan etc. will do. These shops pretty much just use the same leafs for all packs.. about the only thing that varies is the number of leaves, and the amount of arch.

Not worth the time and money in my opinion.

 

[AussieK5]

I've had it done and it was a total waste of beer tickets.

The springs started settling within a week and one main leaf cracked though at the pin.