robfg67 Posted June 16, 2023 Share Posted June 16, 2023 Both General Spring and Hell Creek no longer have these springs available. My 33 year old springs are shot and I need to replace them. Any other sources out there? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted June 16, 2023 Share Posted June 16, 2023 Dorman uses the same part #s for the 3/1 and 3/2 that General does (General is likely their source). 97-555 for the regular and 97-571 for the HD spring. Looks like even Dorman is out of the HD springs on Amazon, but it appears JC Whitney's Ebay store has stock: 97-571_JCWhitney_Ebay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertRat1991 Posted June 16, 2023 Share Posted June 16, 2023 1 hour ago, Gojira94 said: Dorman uses the same part #s for the 3/1 and 3/2 that General does (General is likely their source). 97-555 for the regular and 97-571 for the HD spring. Looks like even Dorman is out of the HD springs on Amazon, but it appears JC Whitney's Ebay store has stock: 97-571_JCWhitney_Ebay 97-555 and 97-571 are the SRI Numbers for the spring. The Spring Research Institute (SRI) maintains a catalog of vehichle springs and their specifications to ensure uniformity in manufacturing across various OEM and aftermarket spring sources. By referencing the SRI number, the vendor is suggesting their product conforms to the published SRI specs. It doesn't necessarily mean they are from the same source. They best way to get General Springs attention would be to organize a group buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted June 16, 2023 Share Posted June 16, 2023 I stand corrected. Thanks for the clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robfg67 Posted June 16, 2023 Author Share Posted June 16, 2023 Great, I'll get a set of Dormans. I had about 300 pounds in the bed last week and the rear end was sagging badly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coheed Posted June 16, 2023 Share Posted June 16, 2023 10 hours ago, DesertRat1991 said: They best way to get General Springs attention would be to organize a group buy. If there was interest in getting a group buy together I'd be in. Hell if we could get them to do the lifted metric ton one again I'd pay decent money for that set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvagedcircuit Posted June 17, 2023 Share Posted June 17, 2023 I just purchased metric ton springs from St.Louis spring about 2 weeks ago. I will upload some more information on them shortly. They worked very well, the build quality was quite good and they did not look like they were repackaged import rubbish. I requested a military wrap, and they did it no problem. It looks great. They claimed they made them in house in the USA. I can't confirm this as the leaf springs arrived just wrapped in cyran-wrap, no box. There was no made in mexico or china stickers or stamping on it. I would very much like to believe that they make them in house, but I can't confirm 100%. One thing to note: They have absolutely no idea how to ship items. Their website says they ship worldwide. They charge full retail for shipping. They charged me $241 to ship via fedex. I canceled and paid for UPS labels myself. They were totally fine with it. UPS charged me $110 for the same thing. Crazy. I will be writing up shortly about it with the receipts photos and everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle_SX4 Posted June 17, 2023 Share Posted June 17, 2023 I put in some standard leaf springs from general spring about a month and a half ago. I have been very happy with them. Here is a picture with my 300 lb motorcycle in the back. Note I do have Chevy drop shackles for about 1.75 lift in the back. The front has about 3 inch lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rokinn Posted June 17, 2023 Share Posted June 17, 2023 https://www.alcanspring.com/ I got a quote from these guys in Grand Junction, CO. It was a fast response and you can order custom specifications right on the website. I wouldn't say they are particularly cheap but they make them exactly the way you want. I didn't end up going that route however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billabob Posted June 18, 2023 Share Posted June 18, 2023 On 6/16/2023 at 7:35 PM, coheed said: If there was interest in getting a group buy together I'd be in. Hell if we could get them to do the lifted metric ton one again I'd pay decent money for that set. I would be interested as well. Been on the waiting list for a while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howeitsdone Posted June 18, 2023 Share Posted June 18, 2023 +1 for Alcan Springs You can also find a local shop to make them for you if you provide the specs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 On 6/17/2023 at 12:43 PM, rokinn said: https://www.alcanspring.com/ I got a quote from these guys in Grand Junction, CO. It was a fast response and you can order custom specifications right on the website. I wouldn't say they are particularly cheap but they make them exactly the way you want. I didn't end up going that route however. 18 hours ago, howeitsdone said: +1 for Alcan Springs You can also find a local shop to make them for you if you provide the specs. Have you guys actually got a hold of someone there? Ive been trying to get some leaf springs made by them and Ive sent several emails with no response Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howeitsdone Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 I went there in person when I lived in Utah. The JY next door had some stuff I needed so I stopped in. @jeepmjga got his from there, I think. Maybe he has a different email. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robfg67 Posted June 23, 2023 Author Share Posted June 23, 2023 One more question. Instead of replacing the entire leaf springs, could I just add a leaf? Would this get me closer to the Big Ton Package payload rating? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeepmjga Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 Lew at Alcan was pretty responsive with me throughout. They had some delays but he made sure to let me know what was going on. His email is lew@alcanspring.com maybe try that one? Love their springs they ride like butter on and off the trail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robfg67 Posted June 23, 2023 Author Share Posted June 23, 2023 1 hour ago, jeepmjga said: Lew at Alcan was pretty responsive with me throughout. They had some delays but he made sure to let me know what was going on. His email is lew@alcanspring.com maybe try that one? Love their springs they ride like butter on and off the trail Reached out to them by email and got a quick and detailed response. However, $1,100 before U-bolts or shipping. Pricey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeepmjga Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 Dang they have gone up in price. I think i paid $700 for mine and about $250 shipping. They are great quality tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robfg67 Posted June 24, 2023 Author Share Posted June 24, 2023 Does anyone have any experience with adding air shocks? Monroe makes an air adjustable shock called Max-Air. I have a Rusty's (no laughing) 4.5" lift, so would these work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvagedcircuit Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 I used st.louis spring and I received something close to a metric ton leaf spring. Here's my receipt. I spent $631.20 for material and an additional $113 through UPS to ship it. I spoke to Nick who works there. He said there was never a 1700lbs rated leaf spring for the comanche. The most was 1500lbs. I told him the spring reference number, 97-571. He told me they could make a 1500lb spring. I said that's fine, but I'd like the military wrap. He said no problem. I attached a photo of what I received. My receipt says "97-535" on the item, which would indicate that he gave me a 4 leaf no helper cherokee leaf spring instead of a comanche leaf spring. I believe that was a clerical error on his part. The photo of the actual leaf spring I received shows a 4+2 combination. It's completely different than what general spring has stated for 97-555 which has a 3+1 helper and 97-571 which has a 3+2 helper. Regardless, what I received was quite substantial and I just opted to use it. If anyone wants dimensions on the thickness of the material I can do that, I'll likely be working on my truck next weekend. Other details about the leaf springs: -springs can come painted with a water based paint or no paint. My comanche has been in the rain for a month and the leaf springs have not rusted yet. -Bushing hole sizes are factory size. original holes are metric 9.8 -9/16" x 5" long grade 8 bolts are stock. I asked for 9in long. 9in is far too long. 6-7in length would be more than enough. I had to cut mine down and use a thread chaser because they were too long. Plenty of thread to torque everything down though. -leaf spring center pin material: grade 2 -U bolts come with extended length nuts -They claim they make each spring. They claim they are not drop shipped. 1-2 day turn around then ship. Shipping: -St.Louis spring quotes Fedex consumer pricing. If you have a shipping account with any shipper (Fedex, UPS etc...) you will get a better rate by generating a label and sending it to them. St. Louis Spring is located 1 mile from a UPS distribution center and 1 mile from a fedex distribution center. If you go this route, you MUST call the shipper and have someone pick up from St.Louis Spring. St.Louis spring says they don't always have a UPS guy that shows up every day. Call UPS and have a driver pickup. It will save you the headache. UPS charges $8 for a pickup charge. I used pirateship to generate my UPS labels. Do not expect fancy packaging. St.Louis spring individually wraps the springs loosely in saran wrap and then has one box for the U-bolts. You will need to generate 3 labels. After the install, the rear of my comanche was about 0.5in higher than before, but that was only because I ended up using the new moog K150405 leaf spring shackle, which claims to be 100% compatible with the comanche, but in reality is 1+7/8in shorter than the comanche shackle length. I did not feel like rebuilding my old shackles and wanted to complete the project, so I just used the new moog shackles. I have a photo of the length difference on my other camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertRat1991 Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 18 hours ago, Salvagedcircuit said: I spoke to Nick who works there. He said there was never a 1700lbs rated leaf spring for the comanche. The most was 1500lbs. I told him the spring reference number, 97-571. He told me they could make a 1500lb spring. I said that's fine, but I'd like the military wrap. He said no problem. I attached a photo of what I received. Well, that's kind of a red flag. I would hope an experienced spring manufacturer would know how and where to access the necessary datasheets, especially after you gave him the reference numbers. The metric ton leaf packs did come in two versions, 4+1 and 3+2, but 4+2 was never an OEM spec. The SRI datsheets have been posted on this forum in the past (copied below). At the end of the day, all that matters is that you are satisfied with how the springs perform in your application. You got a custom leaf pack which will likely perform great. Enjoy them! Datasheet for 97-557 (4+1 rated at 1440lbs) Datasheet for 97-571 (3+2 rated at 1700lbs) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvagedcircuit Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 You are right, It is a red flag. If I were to do it again, I would email them the spec sheets you posted above while on the phone and go from there. I bet they would have made the springs up, no problem. I only found out the place used email after I paid for the item and it was ready to ship. The place is very old school, mom and pop like. They write down every order on paper. Nothing wrong with that, just letting other folks know to be more prepared than I was. 7/14/23 Edit: It looks like St. Louis Spring updated their website. They do indeed make the springs in house in the USA. Website: https://saintlouisspring.com/ Video: I'm glad I gave them my money and not some shady importer. I paid for the springs out of my own pocket. If I were to do this all again, I'd definitely give them the leaf spring spec sheet attached above and they would probably make it to spec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tex06 Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 I know it's an old thread but has anyone been able to get a hold of Deaver lately? I was working with Jeff on a set of custom rears and about 3 weeks ago was the last time I was able to get anyone on the phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetdjc320 Posted June 12 Share Posted June 12 4 hours ago, Tex06 said: I know it's an old thread but has anyone been able to get a hold of Deaver lately? I was working with Jeff on a set of custom rears and about 3 weeks ago was the last time I was able to get anyone on the phone. Been a few months back since I spoke with someone at Deaver. AFAIK they were still making the jeepspeed springs. If it doesn’t work out though, checkout Alcan. They’ve been on their game recently it seems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrizzzzBear Posted June 17 Share Posted June 17 I went to a Local Spring Shop. Easier to get and deal with. Prices were reasonable. Got Exactly what I wanted, with no issues. My Springs were Metric Ton with additional 4" lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tex06 Posted June 18 Share Posted June 18 On 6/11/2024 at 10:11 PM, ghetdjc320 said: Been a few months back since I spoke with someone at Deaver. AFAIK they were still making the jeepspeed springs. If it doesn’t work out though, checkout Alcan. They’ve been on their game recently it seems. Tried again today, rings and goes to a voice-mail that isn't setup. On 6/17/2024 at 3:27 PM, GrizzzzBear said: I went to a Local Spring Shop. Easier to get and deal with. Prices were reasonable. Got Exactly what I wanted, with no issues. My Springs were Metric Ton with additional 4" lift. Don't know of any local to me and I'm looking to specifically do a 9 or 10 leaf. Most places can't do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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