Deaver N98 Vs Archive Erikson LD Leaf Pack

Curious to see if anyone has ran the Deaver N98 then switched to the Archive Erikson LD leaf pack. If so, how do they compare? Both leaf packs are meant for stock bed weight. The N98 gives 2” of lift while the Erikson LD gives 2.25”.

 

I believe the N98 is an Accutune exclusive. It's the J66 just with 1" more lift. They have basically no weight hauling capacity. You give up payload in exchange for ride comfort. The extra lift comes from more arch in the leafs.

The Archive leafs will be more similar the U402 Stage 1 leafs from Deaver I believe. They have overload leafs and can handle more weight than stock while still being smoother than stock when empty.

@ARCHIVE and @AccuTune Offroad could probably tell you more about them than I can though.

 

I have already been in contact with both companies and they have been great! I just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with both of these leaf packs since they are the two I am deciding between.

When I click on MD on Archive’s website, it shows an overload leaf but when I select LD, there is no overload leaf in the leaf pack.

 

Oh interesting... I didn't even know Archive made a Light Duty pack, that must be a fairly new thing. I was just looking into them a year ago and there was only the MD as the lowest option. That's what I thought you were talking about. Now I'm curious if that pack is closer to the J66/N98 or the U402 stage 1.

 

Ya I believe they came out with it a couple months ago. The archive LD seem to be more like the N98 since they are aomits identical for amount of lift & no added bed weight. I think the N98 are thicker and made of more leafs than the archive LD.

I have no clue which one to get. I don’t think I couldn’t go wrong with either, but I assume if one offers slightly better ride quality but that would indicate less payload capacity when occasionally carrying weight in the rear. Also, if one is slightly softer, does that mean it will sag faster over time? I have too many questions and have been researching them for about a week. Hard to find reviews on the archive LD since they’re somewhat new. There’s a decent amount of info on the J66 but not on the N98.

 

Softer leafs will be more prone to sagging over time. Of course that depends on how much and how often you are carrying a load. And honestly that's really the difference. If you are carrying loads basically ever, forget the J66/N98 (I think you can consider both the same thing, N98 just has more lift but I understood that to be just from the arch and not actually any stiffer). Especially if you have a DCLB. From what I understand, those leafs are more for purpose built offroaders that don't have variable loads, like a weekend prerunner build or something. And you won't get the full advertised lift with a DCLB (as per Deaver when I was inquiring about leafs a year ago). If you ever plan to load up more than ~300lbs or so, you will want the U402 stage 1's. I was debating the same thing a year ago, between J66/N98 and stage 1s, and went with stage 1s. The nice thing about going with a stiffer leaf is that you can just toss some bagged rock or something in the box when empty to smooth out the ride, and get minimal sag. But then you also have the capacity to load it right up when you need as well. That's what I do, I find the stage 1's a tad stiff still with a completely empty box. But 200lbs over the axle rides just perfectly.

I was just comparing Deavers, so not sure how the Archive leafs directly compare. I believe their MD is close the stage 1s, but not sure where the LD fits in that comparison. If they are between the J66/N98 and the stage 1 I would personally probably go that route. But of course it will depend on how much weight you ever plan on hauling.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YUcXbl7uww
I happened to come across a review of the Archive LDs. Super good video actually. Sounds like they are on the softer side closer to J66/N98.