Alcan Leaf Springs |
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drm101
Member Joined: 12 Dec. 2012 Location: Clarkston, MI Status: Offline Points: 1468 |
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Posted: 09 July 2022 at 7:13am |
I saw an ad for a Jeep with Alcan springs with Orbit Eyes and then found their website. I'll bet they work well.
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Dean
'47 CJ2A "Mud Hen" The less the Power the More the Force |
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copicmarker
Member Joined: 02 Aug. 2012 Location: bavaria Status: Offline Points: 55 |
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Cool stuff, thank you for the info.
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Rick G
Member Joined: 17 May 2015 Location: Amarillo, TX Status: Offline Points: 1467 |
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I spoke to Lew at Alcan about his springs for my 2A. The orbit eye is not an option for these 1.75" wide springs. He uses American steel from an American foundry and customs makes these spring packs to order. He quoted me $700+ for the front leaf springs and $800+ for the rear springs which would accommodate the additional weight of my swing-away bumper, spare tire, spare parts, tools, fluids, cage, etc. He proposed 7 leaves in the rear and 6 in the front (because it was stock load capacity, no winch or motor swap mods). Lead time is 7-8 weeks as of July 2022. Shipping is extra.
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oldtime
Member Joined: 12 Sep. 2009 Location: Missouri Status: Online Points: 4131 |
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Rick, how did you go about weighing the Jeep ?
Total weight ? Sprung weight ? Unsprung weight ? Front vs rear ? Edited by oldtime - 11 July 2022 at 12:37pm |
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Currently building my final F-134 powered 3B .
T98-A Rock Crawler using exclusive factory parts and Approved Special Equipment from the Willys Motors era (1953-1963) Zero aftermarket parts |
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Rick G
Member Joined: 17 May 2015 Location: Amarillo, TX Status: Offline Points: 1467 |
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That's a good question, Ken. Lew prefers to know the weight of your jeep, especially split between front and rear axles. I did not weigh my jeep, but we did guesstimate weights fore & aft. Lew has lots of OEM weight data for all kinds of vehicles. My unsprung weight should only be the difference in my aftermarket tires compared to original because I'm running stock axles. Lew didn't ask for this info, but I did tell him all the drivetrain was stock. I asked about making a little longer spring and increasing shackle angle, but he advised against it. Said you'll invert your shackles (which I've seen happen several times to different members here on the page), so I nixed that idea. He did ask if I had SOA or SUA. I have the latter. Based upon my tire size (34") he suggested no more than 3" of lift, which I agree. Any more than that is too much for these narrow, short wheelbase jeeps, in my opinion. They feel "tippy" even with a couple inches of lift in off-camber situations. Because I don't have a winch or huge aftermarket bumper or a heavier non-original motor, the front spring rate was estimated to be "stock". I estimated weights for my swing-away tire carrier with spare, my surplus of spare parts, tools, fluids, complete roll cage, etc. to add to the rear OEM spring rate, thus it has one additional leaf. As to your question, the best way would be to find some portable scales (e.g. DOT or State Highway Patrol scales) and get a weight at each tire. I suspect that a precise guesstimate would be close enough to spec a set of springs, however. I would calculate (or weigh) the weight of all your add-ons and then assign or bias them to the appropriate axle and give that info to the spring maker. As for me, I may hold off having a set of these made until next season. They aren't cheap, but then again, they are made in America, and I like that.
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jeepsterjim
Member Joined: 13 July 2011 Location: lincoln, ca Status: Offline Points: 1272 |
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About 25 Years back I used Alcan to help come up with a very progressive 3" spring lift for Commandos. yes it took a lot a trail time to get the springs dialed in but they stuck with me and we ended up with a great spring pack for commandos. Ended up with specs for a 4" rear lift and 3" front lift.
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Jim
CJ-2A - 81299 |
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Metcalf
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 21 May 2009 Location: Durango, Co Status: Offline Points: 736 |
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Getting accurate weight measurements ( sprung weight, not just corner weight ) should be a mandatory part of any custom spring project.
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42 MB that had a one night stand with a much younger 69 CJ5 and a 50s GM truck.
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jeepsterjim
Member Joined: 13 July 2011 Location: lincoln, ca Status: Offline Points: 1272 |
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X3 add camp gear, gas, water, ETC. Nothing worse than underrated springs.
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Jim
CJ-2A - 81299 |
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duffer
Member Joined: 02 Feb. 2012 Location: Bozeman, MT Status: Offline Points: 1076 |
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Yep and a set of wheel scales comes in handy for weighing all sorts of stuff. This was my 441 plus a couple of 4x blocks and a sheet of plywood (4 lbs worth of wood).
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1955 3B: 441sbc,AGE 4 speed transmission, Teralow D18w/Warn OD, 4.11:1 D44's/ARB's, glass tub & fenders, aluminum hood/grill, 8274, York OBA, Premier Power Welder; 67 CJ5: 225,T86AA, D18, 4.88's, OD
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OnlyOneDR
Member Joined: 05 July 2016 Location: R Status: Offline Points: 456 |
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Another vote for Alcan, I have a pair of custom leaf packs on the rear of my Nissan trail rig that I put on there 19 years ago, they still ride great and maintain their arch. When I rebuilt the truck and did an axle swap with portals quite a few years ago I shipped them back for new bushings, keepers, and anti friction pads and they came back looking brand new. Top notch products that are worth the wait and cost. Do get your actual axle weights as I think that is key to getting exactly what you want and being completely satisfied.
Edited by OnlyOneDR - 06 Aug. 2022 at 10:39am |
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Searching for time to put it all together...
1950 CJ-3A #37751 In Pieces 1969 Chevy Blazer Resto-Mod Waiting for its day... 2001 Nissan Frontier Crawler Adventure Rig |
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EJOWest
Member Joined: 07 May 2020 Location: Petaluma, CA Status: Offline Points: 77 |
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I have Alcan Springs on my CJ2a Two Step and they were great.
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oldscot3
Member Joined: 22 Oct. 2019 Location: texas Status: Offline Points: 545 |
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Those springs look like just the ticket for hard core off road. By Rick's quote it sounds like a guy could end up with about $1700.00 or so by the time you buy everything to get them on the Jeep. Worth it probably for the Rubicon.
I pretty well stick to the sissy trails myself. I've been looking at Generalspringkc.com sets. Looks like I can get them on all four corners for about $700.00 or so. Anyone used them before?
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James 4:6 God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
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