Alcan or deaver?

[TacoTraveler]

I'm finally fed up with my flat factory leaf springs, crappy 8000 series shocks, and lift shackles. I feel that the ride is terrible! I'm finally coming across a sum of money so I can at least upgrade my leaf springs.
So far I am looking at two choices.
1. Deaver 8 leaf pack giving approximately 1.5" of lift from Wheeler's offroad for $600 no shipping.
2. Alcan 8 leaf pack with torque leaf giving approximately 1.75-2" of lift from Wheeler's offroad for $600 no shipping.

Which do you believe is the better of the two? My front end has 2.5" of lift. I don't really care about the truck being level, as long as the back end isn't sticking up more than the front than it did at factory.

 

[KG6BWS]

i dont have any personal experience with either one but i have read a number of times here and on ttora that the alcans seem to last longer. the deavers get really good reviews but they seem to fatigue and wear out faster.

 

[TheMike]

I had a set of Deaver's on my 05 Taco. I loved them. They performed awesome on and off-road. They were soft so when I towed I added additional help when I needed the extra support.

Everyone has their own opinion. Both companies are still around so that says wonders all on their own.

On a completely different note.....the guys at Wheeler's are great!

 

[SWDesertTaco]

I'm finally fed up with my flat factory leaf springs, crappy 8000 series shocks, and lift shackles. I feel that the ride is terrible! I'm finally coming across a sum of money so I can at least upgrade my leaf springs.
So far I am looking at two choices.
1. Deaver 8 leaf pack giving approximately 1.5" of lift from Wheeler's offroad for $600 no shipping.
2. Alcan 8 leaf pack with torque leaf giving approximately 1.75-2" of lift from Wheeler's offroad for $600 no shipping.

Which do you believe is the better of the two? My front end has 2.5" of lift. I don't really care about the truck being level, as long as the back end isn't sticking up more than the front than it did at factory.

I believe you have an 02 Tacoma right?

Honestly, depending on what kind of weight you plan on running in your rig you could also go with the OME setup. The nice thing about Alcan and Deaver is the ability to customize the springs for the load you will carry.

I have no experience with Deaver BUT there are a number of folks here who do.
My experience with Alcans was very positive. Charles was able to set me up with exactly what I wanted for lift as well as weight that I would be carrying as my truck 'grows'.
Currently, my truck is slightly raked but as I plan on adding additional weight to the rear but I am really pleased at the ride quality and the product. Huge difference from stock.

I suggest you deal directly with either company. It could save you a little $$ in the end. I will say that with the Alcans you have to purchase the u bolts, not sure if they are included for Deavers.

Best suggestion is call both companies and talk to them about what you want to do. See who you like more and go from there. They both provide quality products.

If you want to carry less than 300lbs or so I think OME would also be a valid product for you to look at as well.

Just my .02

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

A lot of people have had bad experiences with Alcan. I've seen quite a few sets show up the wrong length and also loose their load carrying ability. If it were me I'd go Old Man Emu heavy...

 

[4Rescue]

If you want to carry less than 300lbs or so I think OME would also be a valid product for you to look at as well.

Just my .02

Odd, it takes at least 600lbs of gear to get my back to settle down. I've hauled around 950lbs in the back of my 4Runner with a noticable change in ride height, namely it sat level with the front. Personaly I think OME's are the best bang for the buck out of all of them, but: With your 2.5in of lift up front, you're not going to be very level with a load on, 2.5in will be the total ammount of lift you'd see from the springs alone (although longer shackles would help with that)

OF the 2 You specified, I've heard of FEW troubles with Dever.

Not the same story unfortunatly with Alcan. I've heard mixed reviews of their products. Seems that Alcan either get's it right or struggles to make up ground after things end up wrong. Honestly Alot of these issues with the Alcans could be more of the end-user variety ie: customer says he wants X ammout of lift and does his own (poor) measuring and asserts that he'll only be hauling X load. Then realizes that he needs more lift and carries alot more load than he thought, not to mention that he doesn't exactly know his way around a tape measure... Rounding up is not something you want to do with your suspension measurments

Dever on the other hand: I've not heard about more than a very few gripes about their products.

Cheers

Dave

 

[Bergger]

I've got OME leafs on my 03 Tacoma and love them. They handle a load very well and after almost 4 years of towing a trailer and hauling camping gear they have shown very little sag. Brand new they gave me 3.5 inches and now I still have 3 inches when unloaded. I also run matching OME heavy shocks. I have no experience with Deaver or Alcan so I can't comment on them.

 

[SWDesertTaco]

Odd, it takes at least 600lbs of gear to get my back to settle down. I've hauled around 950lbs in the back of my 4Runner with a noticable change in ride height, namely it sat level with the front. Personaly I think OME's are the best bang for the buck out of all of them, but: With your 2.5in of lift up front, you're not going to be very level with a load on, 2.5in will be the total ammount of lift you'd see from the springs alone (although longer shackles would help with that)

OF the 2 You specified, I've heard of FEW troubles with Dever.

Not the same story unfortunatly with Alcan. I've heard mixed reviews of their products. Seems that Alcan either get's it right or struggles to make up ground after things end up wrong. Honestly Alot of these issues with the Alcans could be more of the end-user variety ie: customer says he wants X ammout of lift and does his own (poor) measuring and asserts that he'll only be hauling X load. Then realizes that he needs more lift and carries alot more load than he thought, not to mention that he doesn't exactly know his way around a tape measure... Rounding up is not something you want to do with your suspension measurments

Dever on the other hand: I've not heard about more than a very few gripes about their products.

Cheers

Dave

Dave,
The 300lbs was an approx. number that I used as I couldn't remember the exact number from when I was looking at OME for myself. I did remember the figure was under 500lbs to keep the lift I wanted. Its all details anyways...

Its always good to hear others opinions on products regardless! The OME seem like good products for the $, all said and done.

You also bring up a really good point regarding load and lift wanted and the proper measurements for such.

 

[Streakerfreak]

I love my Alcans and they have performed very well. I went the custom route and it cost about the same price as the ones from Wheelers.

The only issue I had was when they came. They were made slightly wrong. It turned out to be a no issue. I called them up immediately. They said no problem and went about making the new leafs the next day while the UPS pick request was sent to me. Within 5 days I had new springs thet were perfect and at NO additional cost to me.

 

[TacoTraveler]

Well the front 2.5" of lift will eventually be 3" with OME coils or ICON coilovers.
The most weight I carry in the back is not that much. I'm still relatively new in the Expedition world so my trips are merely short camping trips for a few days.
Does OME make a Medium spring for the back, not a heavy one? I don't need 3" of lift in the rear, but 2-2.5" would be nice. Enough to make it level under load and have a mild, factory amount, rake to it with no load.

 

[7wt]

Well the front 2.5" of lift will eventually be 3" with OME coils or ICON coilovers.
The most weight I carry in the back is not that much. I'm still relatively new in the Expedition world so my trips are merely short camping trips for a few days.
Does OME make a Medium spring for the back, not a heavy one? I don't need 3" of lift in the rear, but 2-2.5" would be nice. Enough to make it level under load and have a mild, factory amount, rake to it with no load.

You sound like you are wrestling with the same thing I did a couple of years ago. I wound up with the Deaver 8 pack and Donahoes set at their stock height. The CO's gave a little more than 2 inches if I remember correctly and the Deavers did something like 2" as well. I don't carry that much either but I can and have loaded the crap out of it. My leaves have seen plenty of miles, they have towed a loaded trailer across the United States, been flexed like Superman, jumped like Evil Kinievel and they are still going strong. I don't regret the 8 pack and I would do it again in a heart beat. I was worried about getting too much a leaf pack for an unloaded daily driver but didn't want to little a pack for when I do put junk back there. I think I hit the nail on the head. I stopped fretting about weight, in fact I plan on putting an ARE cab on it in the near future.

About your medium OME question, they don't but you can remove one of the overload springs for the same effect. I choose the Deavers because I didn't want an overload spring at all. I wanted to go for performance (flex).

Total cheese shot but here is how it looks after some good use, no sag that I can tell. This shot also gives you a good idea how the rake will look. I am ever so slightly butt high.

 

[TacoTraveler]

I'm also running 285/75 tires and I get a lot of rub in the front, especially when wheeling. I'm actually still using my old 2.0 SAWs and am about to go back to a 2.5" spacer. My SAWs are only giving me 2" of lift. If this extra .5" doesn't solve my problem and I have to go to 3" I'm going to go with the Alcan's for 1.75"-2" of lift. If I'm fine at 2.5" in the front then I'm going to get the Deavers for 1.5" in the back and sit nice and level. All else fails I can make some new holes in my 1.5" lift shackles and make them .5" or .75" lift shackles.

 

[tacollie]

My Alcans were awesome, but the OME were almost as good. You can yank a leaf out of the OME and they would probably work really well for you from the sound of it. Just my experiences.

 

[dnellans]

I went for custom alcans and couldn't be happier. I was little hesitant to just give them some specs and pray but they came back perfect! I told them I wanted 1.5 inches of lift and have a cap, and about 125 pounds of equipment in the back at all times, another 300 when loaded and I tow 2 dirt bikes almost every week.

I even requested they relocate the centering pin 1/2 inch forward to better center my wheel in the wheelwell and they did. I'm really glad I went for alcan's over deavers just because they are holding a load much better. I'm sure the deavers ride a bit softer but a friend who went with them has some trouble when fully loaded down. As far as "flex", my 1 inch extended shocks are the limiting factor by far. I need to do some sort of relocation because the alcans will cycles 12 inches without a problem and i have the weight hanging off my shocks which is going to destroy them eventually.

I should add - it did take about 2 weeks for my alcans to "level out" but a year later they haven't moved from that level

 

[4Rescue]

I went for custom alcans and couldn't be happier. I was little hesitant to just give them some specs and pray but they came back perfect! I told them I wanted 1.5 inches of lift and have a cap, and about 125 pounds of equipment in the back at all times, another 300 when loaded and I tow 2 dirt bikes almost every week.

I even requested they relocate the centering pin 1/2 inch forward to better center my wheel in the wheelwell and they did. I'm really glad I went for alcan's over deavers just because they are holding a load much better. I'm sure the deavers ride a bit softer but a friend who went with them has some trouble when fully loaded down. As far as "flex", my 1 inch extended shocks are the limiting factor by far. I need to do some sort of relocation because the alcans will cycles 12 inches without a problem and i have the weight hanging off my shocks which is going to destroy them eventually.

I should add - it did take about 2 weeks for my alcans to "level out" but a year later they haven't moved from that level

Nice, that's what this thread needed good first hand feedback. Glad to hearthey're working well for you. It sounds as if alot of original assertments were somewhat true in that alot of the percieved problems were more the fault of the end user.

Cheers

Dave