Decisions..Decisions.. Re-arching springs vs. new pack

Went down to a local place that does a bunch of fabrication / fixing of springs for larger trucks and trailers..

Guy takes one look under my truck and says.." have you over loaded your truck?".. which I do admit I probably did 4 or 5 times.. (bottoming out due to the weight.. the fronts on my spring pack is showing negative arch.

Well, guess the shop can "cold-press" rather than use heat to re-arch my existing springs, put in a aal with anti-fraction pads, and redo all my other anti-friction pads (mine are pretty much ripped apart). Would be able to re-arch to give me the 1.5 that I was looking for (and get rid of the block that I got stuck with).

Asked what would be the difference would be between that vs. a new leaf pack, guys says basically nothing.. would save me over $200 to go ahead with this route, get the lift I want, and increase capacity (he says) about 400 lbs..

did learn a bit about the differences between getting height from just throwing in a aal, and arching the springs, and using an aal to support the full leaf..

Should I pull the trigger, or is a full leaf pack still the better option?

 

My leafs were BADDDDD. and I just put a 2" AAL in there. What did you learn about that? How long will it last?

 

I'm in the exact same boat..... a spring and frame shop near me can re-arch my leafs for $45 (total). sounds like a damn good price to me. i may just get it done, and if it doesn't work, oh well, didn't spend too much money. i'm interested to see the responses about this

 

What I was told (bullshit or not, but still made sense..) is that adding an aal (for lift) is basically just pushing up on your existing leafs to get the added height, but for any added load, the aal is taking a bunch of the stress..

With re-arching your existing leafs and pretty much doing a added leaf at the same arch, you are getting the height from the whole pack, and the added weight stress is being taken up by the whole pack aided by the aal. Kinda makes sense.

Called and asked about adding 2 leafs, but the guy said that would make the ride close to a tow truck.. He said he would possibly do if I was a construction worker always carrying a heavy box of tools, but for the occasional load, the one leaf would be fine. He also did recommend the timbrens which would take close to 500 lbs for the times I did haul around bricks or bags of cement. Easy to DIY later..


I may take a chance and go this route.. I did ponder just spending the extra $250 right off the bat and getting a set of dakars (cheapest of the 3 leaf packs..alcans deavers)..but I have a snugtop on 24/7 and they all state right off the bat that weight capacity is less with these packs..If I could get 2" with a new pack, but right off the bat I carry 150-175 (camper) daily, where does that leave me with height.. Then I still have to deal with the fact that they can't handle as heavy load.. they pretty much all suggest the timbrens as well..

Unless someone convinces me otherwise.. may go ahead with this on by tuesday..

 

Depends how often you haul or pound your truck off-road.. guy said too, if it's only a street queen, a aal may last for a long long time..

 

The most I haul is two 250 dirtbikes. And thats only like once every 2 months.

I off-road maby twice a month.

By the looks of my new AAL, I havea feeling they're not going to last long