My experience and results with Alcan, 6" Lift Leaf Springs

I bought my truck in December, with a Fabtech DB lift already installed. It was the dirt logic upgraded version, but still only blocks in the rear. The back end had begun to sag, especially on the drivers side, the ride was crap, and the truck had bad axle wrap under hard acceleration.
I started looking into replacement options. I landed on Alcan, after seeing others had gone that direction.

I placed my order on March 12th, for 6" lift springs, for $785 to my door.
The springs made it to my door by March 28th, in only 16 days.

The springs went on easily and as expected. After the initial ride, the axle wrap was nearly non-existent, the ride was noticeably better, and the truck was sitting level. Although level, I was expecting more height out of the rear end, I was hoping for a small rake.





Out came the measuring tape. I measured my truck against my girlfriends stock height truck cool, from the top of the 17" wheels with a level to the bottom of the fender. The result was, my new leaves only net me 4.5" of lift.
Also, the truck still sat a little lower on the drivers side than the passenger. The front of the truck has the same issue.



I was concerned, especially that the leaves would settle over time and loose even more height, so I called the owner of Alcan (Bill).
After speaking on the phone, Bill was more than happy to help rectify the situation, and indicated that Tacomas can sometimes be tricky to get the perfect height out of. It was decided that the 6th and 7th leaves of the pack should be replaced with slightly stiffer springs, to stiffen up the pack a little more and give the rear a little more height. The replacement leaves arrived in less than a week.



Although the axle wrap is gone, the truck still has a tiny bit of vibration when starting to move, right between 5-10mph. So I ordered a set of 3 degree shims from Toytec, that I plan to install with the new leaves. I already have a carrier bearing drop, but I hope that paired with the shims will really make the difference. I also plan to crank the coilover on the front drivers side to level out the front, from side to side, when I install the new leaves.

Unfortunately I broke a few ribs last Saturday riding, so new installs will have to wait.

Even though I didn't get my desired lift "straight out of the box" like I would have liked to, I am still very happy with Alcan. They are more than ready to make me happy with my purchase however they need to, and after some fine tuning I'm confident my truck will be exactly how I want it.

I'll be updating this thread once I install the new replacement 6th and 7th leaves, hopefully soon!

Thanks for reading, I hope this helps anyone thinking of upgrading away from their blocks.

Max

 

Looks nice! Glad to hear Alcan was pleasant to deal with on the changes...When I ordered mine I only said I have 200lbs in the bed at all times, which works great now. Afraid I'm not going to sit even after the rear bumper w/ swing out. Let us know how the swap comes out!

 

I've got alcan leafs in the rear as well, absolutely love them. Will definitely buy alcans again, Bills the man.

 

Getting ready to pull the trigger on the same setup. Where did you get the new U bolts?

 

Any updates Max with the new leaves added?

 

I am trying to decide between Alcan and Deaver with removal of the infamous "blocks". Would like to hear feedback as well.

 

Yup....what Glue said. Plus my rear is sagging some.

 

Forgot to update this thread! I'll get back to you guys tonight after I'm off work.

 

Sorry for the wait! My computer crashed that weekend, lost motivation to get on the forum. I'll update the thread tonight.

 

Took some measurements, used the same method: measured from the top of the wheels with a level. The new springs net me almost exactly 6" of lift, after settling, on the PASSENGER side. I'm still facing the issue of the toyota lean. The new springs helped, but did not solve. I'm going to try a 1/2" toytec spacer on the front drivers side.

 

Don't you have the dirt logic coilovers?

 

I do, and I'm not impressed with them.
The drivers side coilovers threads are pretty seized up. I can't get the castle nut to spin without turning the valve body.
I've already had the passenger side rebuilt. Waiting to rebuild the driver side until I can gather funds for a list of repairs I need in the front end... Rack and pinion, power steering pump, intermediate shaft, CV axles, swaybar endlinks, and both the coilovers need new heimjoints. It's going to make one hell of a dent in my wallet :/

 

I would do this but i am going to go with a Custom leaf pack since my ass is so heavy.

 

Ouch, just ditch the sway bar! Yeah when I had my dirt logic co's on my Titan they were always a pain to adjust. I was gonna say why not crank up the drivers side a little to compensate for the lean instead of a spacer?

 

Well, Alcan actually designs each leaf pack according to a customers needs. One of the things they build for is the amount of weight in the bed of your truck at all times. I could give them a call...
Obviously, even if they don't get it right the first time, they will do what they need to fix it.

 

I knew what you were getting at, what I meant by that response is that it'll be a long way down the road before I can get the coilover rebuilt and adjusted, and that toyota lean is about to drive me nuts! Spacers only run $30 and take a half hour to install...

 

One expensive turd!

 

Did the shims get rid of takeoff shudder from a stop?

 

Shopping for leafs. Have the 6" rough country which in reality is 5.5" spacers in front and 4" blocks in back. If I go alcan should I match the 5.5" spacers or just go 6? And as far as deaver goes I don't believe they're custom built? Any recommendations between the 2 I'm looking for whatever's smoother and don't carry anything over 300lbs in the bed