Deaver Vs. Alcan

[scottL]

shopping for new 4 inch lift rear leaf packs for a daily driven trail/desert beast 2001 XJ.
in a perfect world i'd want a "cadillac smooth" type of ride on the street with linked/coilover-like flex on the trail. looking for the best overall ride quality vs. off road performance but i'm really after the best of both worlds. so far after inquiring with a handful of other people, the conclusion is a 50/50 split between alcan and deaver depending on who you ask.
alcan's tout their orbital eye:confused1 and deaver boasts thinner leafs for best flex/ride quality.
i've searched around here for a similar thread with no luck;
guess i should probably post this to the jeepspeed guys also. thanks

 

[scottL]

found it: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1045433&highlight=deaver

 

[DieselSJ]

Deaver can install the orbital eyes too. I wouldn't run them on the street though - they wear out fast! I vote Deaver.

 

[kcjeep6]

I just went from R.E. to Deaver. The R.E. had a "cadillac smooth" ride with Fox 2.0's on the street. the Deavers gave me a frimer ride, not harsh. but not a smooth as R.E.I get alot less body roll with the Deavers. I am hoping the Deavers last longer than the R.E.

 

[mcantar18c]

Sorry bud, if you could get link+coilover performance out of leafs, who in their right mind would go through all the trouble to set up links and pay the premium for a set of coilovers. Keep dreamin.


Now that said, I'd go with Alcan, but I'm a little biased being as they're local. I don't think I've ever heard a bad thing about em, and when I get my next truck and its time to lift it I'll be going with Alcan. You're in Phoenix, shipping would be a helluva lot cheaper from CO than from CA (where Deaver is). Also, if you want Alcans you can get em though BIGoffroad ( sponsor... always a plus).

 

[old_man]

Big Offroad had what they call their FlexE springs. If you are looking for a great combo, you can't beat them.

 

[scottL]

I just went from R.E. to Deaver. The R.E. had a "cadillac smooth" ride with Fox 2.0's on the street. the Deavers gave me a frimer ride, not harsh. but not a smooth as R.E.I get alot less body roll with the Deavers. I am hoping the Deavers last longer than the R.E.

Did you go with Deaver 4" "jeepspeed" version or custom? also, do you have bar pin eliminators out back? wondering what the collapsed/extended dimensions of your fox 2.0 shocks are.. i'm in the market for another set of rear shocks too and was looking at fox or king. thanks

 

[kcjeep6]

Did you go with Deaver 4" "jeepspeed" version or custom? also, do you have bar pin eliminators out back? wondering what the collapsed/extended dimensions of your fox 2.0 shocks are.. i'm in the market for another set of rear shocks too and was looking at fox or king. thanks

I went with custom spring, they sent me the 4” Jeepspeed but I lost an inch of height compared to the worn out RE 5.5”. Deaver made me a set I would say is 6”, I asked for 6.5 to 7”. I run the HD shackle relocation kit with RE 6’ boomerangs. I used JKS BPE’s, custom made the lowers to mount haft way between stock and JKS lowers with 35's. The shocks are 11", 2.0 adjustable reservoirs, hiem/hiem, and 28.10” by 17.10. I now have 4.5’s of up travel at the bumps and 5’s on the shocks.
I most do rocks in the Sierra’s, it’s a daily driver and I hull a lot of camping gear. With the RE’s, when I loaded up with camping gear I would be on the bumps unloaded I had 2.5”s of up travel.
I have not had a chance to load it up or wheel it yet.

 

[Darky]

You're in Phoenix, shipping would be a helluva lot cheaper from CO than from CA (where Deaver is). Also, if you want Alcans you can get em though BIGoffroad ( sponsor... always a plus).

How do you figure? From where I am, Phoenix is only 5ish hours away. Shipping would likely be about equal. My vote is for Deaver. I'm loving my Deaver coils.

 

[scottL]

I went with custom spring, they sent me the 4” Jeepspeed but I lost an inch of height compared to the worn out RE 5.5”. Deaver made me a set I would say is 6”, I asked for 6.5 to 7”. I run the HD shackle relocation kit with RE 6’ boomerangs. I used JKS BPE’s, custom made the lowers to mount haft way between stock and JKS lowers with 35's. The shocks are 11", 2.0 adjustable reservoirs, hiem/hiem, and 28.10” by 17.10. I now have 4.5’s of up travel at the bumps and 5’s on the shocks.
I most do rocks in the Sierra’s, it’s a daily driver and I hull a lot of camping gear. With the RE’s, when I loaded up with camping gear I would be on the bumps unloaded I had 2.5”s of up travel.
I have not had a chance to load it up or wheel it yet.

interesting.
i'm running 5.5" RE coils upfront and Pro Comp 3 inch leaf packs w/ 1.5" Jks shackles out back.. got rancho 9000 shocks & 33" tires.
i installed Zone rear shock relocators last week which moved the lower shock mounts up 3 inches toward the axle over stock.
after test driving and subsequently bottoming out going slow over speed bumps with only my 9 year old 70lb son in the back seat, i realized i also needed shorter shocks.
newer shocks (P/N 900240) are the same rancho 9000's but are 12.75" collapsed/20" extended mount to mount. they've got 3" of uptravel when packed down with spare tire & trail gear. driving on washboard dirt roads recently i felt a whole bunch of vibration that i'd never felt before with my previous setup; like the rear axle was going to jettison or an involuntary lane change might take place at any given moment. my old rear ranchos (P/N 900116) were 15" collapsed/24" extended.
i got sick of catching the stock mounts on boulders and felt i had to do something..
now i'm wondering if i'll be good simply replacing the 3 yr. old leaf packs or maybe i need to go jeepspeed and run shock hoops through the floor too.
ultimately i don't want to go higher than 5.5" of lift being a DD and i like the benefits of a low COG with no rake whatsoever.

 

[DieselSJ]

I went with custom spring, they sent me the 4” Jeepspeed but I lost an inch of height compared to the worn out RE 5.5”.

Their JS spring is 5.5", not 4". It should sit just about the same with either set. We've got a RE 5.5" kit on the racer and it had RE rear springs when we first started with it. We changed to Deaver and it was a straight swap and the car still sits level.

 

[kcjeep6]

Their JS spring is 5.5", not 4". It should sit just about the same with either set. We've got a RE 5.5" kit on the racer and it had RE rear springs when we first started with it. We changed to Deaver and it was a straight swap and the car still sits level.

According to my conversation with Jeff at Deaver “the JS leaf spring is 4in, when used with a 6in shackle they should sit level with the JS 5.5 coil”. That being said the leaf springs I receive the first time were G9's. I installed the JS coils with ACOS screwed down ¼ “=1 ¾ spacer. The Rear sat 1" low with the G9’s. I’ll get the number of the spring I am using and post it up.
I don’t mean to disagree with you and I respect your opinion. I just went through this and my Jeep was down for 7 weeks, I had several conversations with Jeff that are fresh in my mind. This is how my experience went setting up my new springs

 

[FordGuy]

When I first installed the G9 springs with a 1" longer shackle, my XJ sat a full inch lower than my sagged out Full Traction leafs that were originally a 5 inch spring

 

[scottL]

When I first installed the G9 springs with a 1" longer shackle, my XJ sat a full inch lower than my sagged out Full Traction leafs that were originally a 5 inch spring

i'm running teraflex greasable 1.5" shackles now..
you guys recommend boomerang shackles too?
the jeepspeed bros' are advising me to acquire a set if i have the means..
after googling "boomerang shackle" i see they're offered by jks, rubicon express, & rock krawler.
the RK's are $60 more than the other 2 companies.
anyone have experience with either?
are JKS or RE boomerang shackles any good??
which kind should i get???
thanks

 

[DieselSJ]

According to my conversation with Jeff at Deaver “the JS leaf spring is 4in, when used with a 6in shackle they should sit level with the JS 5.5 coil”. That being said the leaf springs I receive the first time were G9's. I installed the JS coils with ACOS screwed down ¼ “=1 ¾ spacer. The Rear sat 1" low with the G9’s. I’ll get the number of the spring I am using and post it up.
I don’t mean to disagree with you and I respect your opinion. I just went through this and my Jeep was down for 7 weeks, I had several conversations with Jeff that are fresh in my mind. This is how my experience went setting up my new springs

Yes, you do need to install them with the longer shackle so that you can get full travel out of them. Shorter shackle will obviously sit lower, and won't let the spring fully compress.

But you are admitting that they sat low when you had the front at 5.5+1.75 = 7.25" That sounds like the rear was fine but your extra height from the ACOS was throwing it off.

 

[FordGuy]

My G9's gave me 4" of lift with a +1" shackle