STAY AWAY from ALCAN SPRING!!!!!!!!

[ExpoMike]

First, I guess I missed the fact that these springs were ordered without the OP ever seeing/owning the rig. I can't even fathom the idea of buying custom springs for a vehicle that wasn't sitting in my driveway.

Second, since none of this info has been supplied by Alcan so it can't be verified, I am really finding it HARD to believe Alcan would make a set of springs without knowing the weight load of the rear axle (since rear springs were being made). Total weight do NOT tell you the load of one axle, period. My Ram, with the FWC, surprised the heck out of me when I got front and rear axle weights and the FRONT weighed 500 lbs. more! I would have lost money on that bet. Since adding some items, I had it re-weighed and am sitting at almost a 50/50 split (rear is 40 lbs. more). Again, had I just gave them a total weight, these springs would have never been close.

Since we will never get both sides of this story, I really don't know what to say. I do believe that anytime you are going to modify any rig, you need to do your homework first. If you don't know about something (in this case how to measure for custom springs), you research, research, research. It took me 3 months of research, talking to suspension and spring companies and such before I made the choice to get springs made. My old Cherokee, I spent a year researching and buying parts until I had everything I needed for my needs and anyone who has traveled with me, knows that rig worked great! It did not happen by chance.

[Nicaragüense]

I feel the same way expomike, research is always good. Doesn't matter if you have lots of money or a little money, research will save you time and money in the long run. It seems the op made a rushed decision and got burned. Still this is just an assumption since you can never know the whole story on the web. This thread needs to be locked. What needed to be said has been said many times, and thos who read it can make what they want out of it.

[Denny T]

Custom spring work in some cases is a shot in the dark anyways......at best an educated guess even with all the factory specs laying right in front of you. On the other hand, I too am a victom of a bad set of springs from Alcan. I ordered 3 sets of springs, all the same, all for W250 Club Cabs and all were different. We installed them at the same time and my buddies rides were close to correct although one had too much rake. Mine, on the other hand, looked like we added 4" blocks to the rear and did a spring under in the front. It was a major WTF moment.

I have history with Alcan. I use to be consumed by IH. I drove scouts and had several 1110 and 1210 4x4s. Try to find a lift kit for a 1210....it aint happenin'. So Alcan built every set I ever had (over 6 sets). I called em up and although they didnt send me a refund for the dodge springs he did offer to rework another set at cost and even ship for free. So I also had to buy two sets.....it was a bummer but oh well. The new set came in and worked perfect.

Now with that said, I own a machine shop and theres no way Id ever stick a customer with a bill if the mistake is on my end........no way. I guess thats the way they roll. That business model seems to be working well for them. Call me a slow learner, or a glutten for punishment but Id call em again. One snafu out of 9 otherwise theyve done excellent work.

[rxinhed]

We/I/Others are tired.

Here is another example of the same Toyota motorhome model with the load problem solved.

http://goldcountry.craigslist.org/rvs/3185250624.html



Pardon my return, out again.