Custom Made Leaf Springs

Croatan_Kid

Croatan_Kid

How's your hammer hangin'?
Joined
Nov 4, 2007
Location
New Bern
I've got a leaf spring setup which uses 73-87 Chevy front springs under my 99 Silverado, the one in my avatar pic. Sweet, huh?

Anyway, to the best of my knowledge, a 73-87 Chevy front spring is 47". It's center pin is dead center, 23.5" from each spring eye. Please inform me if that's wrong. I'm going to measure my K30 in the morning to be sure.

Now, to make a long story short....I received my Alcan Springs today. They were tailored to my needs, weight of the front of the truck, and eye bushing needs. They're awesome, except that I have a $600 pair of paper weights. I called twice to make sure they moved the center pin FORWARD one inch (1") so I could get rid of the zero rates I'm currently running. Upon reading the packing label, the description says C PIN BACK 1".

I measured, sure enough...they moved it backwards. The front is the double wrapped main eye, it simply won't fit the other direction. Both eye bushings are the same size since the manufacturer of my SAS kit didn't know the rear spring bolt on a Chevy is smaller than the front.

Has anybody ever dealt with Alcan? Does Bill practice good business? I'm really hoping he will schedule a pickup via UPS and expedite the build process on the proper spring for me. I've already waited a month and a half for these.

Sorry for the vent/rant, but thanks for reading!
 
I called and finally got Bill on the phone. He gave me the option of redrilling the pack myself or sending them back on his dime. My only problem with that is drilling spring steel isn't the easiest thing to do. Granted, I'm a machinist, but if I mess them up I'm stuck with them. That's also taking any liability from them and placing it on me since I modified them. Plus, I gave 600 bucks for them and I want them to be right when I receive them.

Opinions?
 
" I gave 600 bucks for them and I want them to be right when I receive them." Thats my opinion. Sorry nothing more to add.
 
If I paid that much for a set of leaf springs, they darn well better be what I ordered. Send them back.
 
I gave 600 bucks for them and I want them to be right when I receive them.
This ^^

sending them back on his dime.
and this ^^

That about answers it for me!
 
I called and finally got to talk to Bill (the owner) and he said all he can do is fix them. He scehduled UPS to pick them up. He's probably going to wind up building me a new pack all together. Apparently, he made these as a 6" lift along with moving the center pin the wrong way AND he double wrapped the main eye and that won't fit in my hanger. Other than that, they look amazing and to be of great quality. I kinda hate that he basically has to eat the entire cost of the springs, but I DID ask him to email me a copy of the build sheet to verify BEFORE he started building the pair.

Also, he said running two center pin holes is no big deal and that a lot of guys do it so they can change wheelbase for different races or classes. However, it is boldly stated in the papers that came with them (and we all know) that the center pin area is the weakest spot in a leaf spring. Plus, I would have to drill another hole in my u-bolt plate and possibly in the spring perches. To hell with all that.

Shipping one way was 118 bucks. So he'll be eating 236 bucks for shipping plus build time on the leaf packs that I should have received the first time. I like the guy and all, but I really wish they would have payed attention to what I wanted instead of putting me on hold all the time. I'm past being mad about it, I just want my leaf springs and I want them yesterday.
 
It's also a damn good thing I measured the bushing width. They're supposed to be 3.5", these have 3" wide bushings. This was just a fuster cluck all together. I just emailed him every single, nit picky, specification I could think of. The next set should be freakin perfect :lol: :rolleyes:
 
Mixed feelings at this point....the springs are still sitting on my front porch. I called them first thing Monday morning. If they're not gone after tomorrow, I'll be getting a refund and going with a different company.

At work, we can build 40-60 ft AutoLoc shipping container spreaders faster than these guys can make one pair of leaf springs. Apples to oranges, I know, but my point is when the customers asks for us to jump, we say "how high?".
 
Frankly, I don't see the issue here. They made an honest mistake, have already committed to taking care of it for you, and at their expense. My experience with UPS "call tags" is that UPS sucks and does not get around to picking things up when you think they would. I would get the tag number from Bill and call UPS and ask them what's up.

Alcan produced a great set of springs for me years ago. It was worth the wait, and I still wheel them. This world could use a little more patience. Seems like the minute someone doesn't get what they want immediately that suddenly customer service is questioned and company's reputations get debated. Buying custom auto parts from small outfits is not the same as buying from a retail store, yet it seems like people expect exactly the same thing from them.

I can tell you at least a dozen stories similar to this one and only one of them still irks me. I have been building a truck for over a year and a half and I will tell you that very few companies deliver exactly what you expect, when you expect it, if you are dealing with custom parts.
 
I called Bill, just to make sure he had called UPS. I know people forget sometimes. While I was on the phone with him, he called them and confirmed it and they were picked up Friday afternoon. I knew it wasn't Bill's fault they hadn't been picked up at that point.

The most aggravating part of the whole deal was he never emailed me the build specs before he built them to confirm everything. Since having the other ones picked up, I emailed him a full list of what I needed and when I called he said he had received it and was reading over it.

I have no problems with their customer service at this time and I know they make some awesome springs. Hell, that's why I went with them to start with. The ones he sent looked amazing, they just wouldn't work. I'm really anxious to get the correct ones, I just hope it's not another 4-6 weeks build time.

I really hate that he's got to eat the cost of shipping two times and build a new pair of springs. Sucks for both parties, really.
 
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