After becomming increasingly irritated with the bottoming out on my 06 Xterra Off Road I decided to look into some options. From what I read, it seamed that replacing the entire leaf pack was the way to go. I did my research and decided to go with the alcans. I ordered them for stock ride height and specified I would be pulling a small tent trailer in the future, I was told that was all they needed to know and they would have them built. About three weeks later they arrived at my door. I quickly installed them by placing the rear diff on stands, removed the old springs, installed the new leafs and then tightened the u bolts to 110 as specified by alcan. I took the finished product for a quick drive on the highway and immediately noticed very poor handling. When I got back to my garage and upon closer inspection noticed that my rear wheel was sticking out appr. 1/2 " farther on the d'side than the p'side. I then jacked up the truck and removed the wheels, took measurements from various points and concluded that it was definitely off centre 1/2 ". I phoned Alcan and asked what the problem would be, they told me to grind down the centre pins on each pack and push the axle over to the p'side. I tried this with no success. When I tightened the u bolts it would just align the perch with the spring pack and I was back to where I started. I removed the alcans and reinstalled the stockers and the rear was 100% on centre. I then inspected the alcans and noticed that each was the mirror image of the other both being warped or bowed to d'side of the vehicle. I took them into a spring shop in Edmonton for them to have a look. They confirmed what I had found and told me that it had to be from a manufacturing defect or they made the leafes from a copy of a stock leaf that was warped in that direction. I left a message with Alcan for them to call me back and will attempt to call them next week to find out what they can do for me. I live in Canada and with shipping the springs cost me $730 and I won't be happy eating the cost for unusable springs. I will post how Alcan responds, because as a member of this forum I would be leary about purchasing a set of custom made springs from a shop that does not build their products to spec and then leaves the customer hanging. Also, if anybody else has had success or problems I would be glad to hear.
Review: Alcan Springs
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d1978k, i'm very sorry to hear about that happening.
I have Alcans and have been very pleased with them. Their customer service was also great when ordering.
Sounds like they may have just made an honest mistake. I've never heard of any other such occurence like this. I know someone was sent a leaf pack for a first gen but as far as a blatant defect this is a first.
I know it will suck but if they're willing to have you ship them back and send you a replacement with them covering the shipping cost of the replacement that would be the way to go.
Best of luck!
I have Alcans and have been very pleased with them. Their customer service was also great when ordering.
Sounds like they may have just made an honest mistake. I've never heard of any other such occurence like this. I know someone was sent a leaf pack for a first gen but as far as a blatant defect this is a first.
I know it will suck but if they're willing to have you ship them back and send you a replacement with them covering the shipping cost of the replacement that would be the way to go.
Best of luck!
Okay - so you made me go out and check - I'll be damned, by rear wheels are shifted to the driver side about 1/2" as well. It almost looks like the shackles on the back aren't quite square, causing the shift, but it could be warp from the springs twisting the shackles slightly to the side as well.
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106 Posts
Lets us know how the new set installs.
Glad to hear it all worked out, at least so far.
Mark may not have the problem. Others of us certainly have. Even with my SLR kit Kings and Deavers, when I load up, I don't have much shock piston rod left for uptravel, and the bump hits the axle pretty hard sometimes. No matter what the bumps, the chassis, body and ultimately my rear and gear absorb the obstacle instead of my suspension. For my money, I want to keep working to address this issue. I could slow down, or carry less beer and gear (not), or keep working on getting more travel (or spring rate) in the rear.
Bottoming out is a problem depending on how fast you drive, how much weight you carry, whether you run a Shrock rear bumper with tire carrier and hi-lift mount, etc. It's a question of rear shock travel (stock springs limit travel as well), spring rate, and whether it's enough for what you do.mcampana said:
Mark may not have the problem. Others of us certainly have. Even with my SLR kit Kings and Deavers, when I load up, I don't have much shock piston rod left for uptravel, and the bump hits the axle pretty hard sometimes. No matter what the bumps, the chassis, body and ultimately my rear and gear absorb the obstacle instead of my suspension. For my money, I want to keep working to address this issue. I could slow down, or carry less beer and gear (not), or keep working on getting more travel (or spring rate) in the rear.
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