Made in USA leaf springs

[taylor.coyote]

I think it was Mountain man that discovered Alcan Springs and made the first post in the forum. some 36 pages later in the forum, seems the has provided a great service to Oliver owners and a real bump in sales for Alcan.  

Thank you Mountain man, for your contribution to all of us that have broken springs and now running on Alcan. 

Additionally, I think the folks at Alcan might consider some recognition and maybe a modest commission for purchases made by Oliver owners.

Best to you and happy torquing Mountain Man

Edited Monday at 10:14 PM by taylor.coyote

[thompsonkd]

We also recently had Alcan upgrade our leaf springs and axles. Having a 2018 trailer we had the old 3000 lb axles and of course the 4 pack leaf springs installed by Oliver. It took us a while to decide to have the work done, but it was becoming obvious that we were due for a broken leaf spring or two without an upgrade. Upgrading the axles was an easy decision since the new axles provide better brakes and (hopefully) less maintenance. It’s a relatively quick process to have Alcan do the work; it takes about 2 hours. Lew told us his wife had worried about people driving to town to purchase a torque wrench and socket pulling a trailer so he now sells a decent torque wrench and the necessary socket to perform the required torquing for $50 dollars. He also provides a sheet with all the torque specs and is available for any questions. Tucker the  technician who performed the work for us was available as well to answer any questions that we had. We did notice that the new running gear is much stiffer. We aired down our tires, and have done the preliminary torques. We would definitely recommend Alcan. Seems easier to have them do the work but as has been detailed by others, Alcan will ship so folks can do the work themselves or have a shop close to them do the work.Lew told us he is doing about 1 Oliver a week now, plus providing gear for the new Oliver Apex. I guess 38 pages of forum information pays off, for anyone who has the patience to read it all! Alcan suggested we go to Randy’s South Side Diner in Grand Junction while the work was being done. Decent local restaurant for breakfast! 

[2008RN]

Congrats

 

[DanielBoondock]

OK, so I ordered the springs in springtime and made an appointment in July when we’d be in Utah near Grand Junction. But then they got a series of wildfires all throughout that area, my wife has PTSD from us going through them at home, so we cancelled the trip. Alcan wanted steep fees for holding on to them until we could come again next spring, no good (I had already paid for the springs per their requirement when you order). So I paid to have them shipped out figuring a local trailer suspension shop would have no problem with it. Wrong - they won’t install ‘customer supplied parts’. They want to sell you the parts themselves, sigh …

OK so then I’m trying my local garage, near where I store the trailer with easy access. Great folks, used them for lots of stuff, but they don’t normally do trailers. Gave them all the information, they thought it looked doable for $1500, but I should check if they’re ballpark. AI search of this forum gave more like 300-500 or so. He said $900/minimum at a upcharge for (again), customer supplied parts and wouldn’t do it for less than four hours @ 250/hr. Grrrrrrr

There’s another shop I can try locally, or I could take them BACK to Alcan next year, but I’m getting frustrated and thinking about just installing the damn things myself. I’ll troll the (38 page!) thread for DIY install. Anyhow feeling down at the moment, looking for advice thanks

[jd1923]

47 minutes ago, DanielBoondock said:

... thinking about just installing the damn things myself. I’ll troll the (38 page!) thread for DIY install. Anyhow feeling down at the moment, looking for advice thanks

Welcome back, Dan! Too bad the fires kept you away from getting to Grand Junction!

Wow, labor cost more than the springs themselves! I did the axles too which makes it a different process. Doing one spring at a time should be easy enough.

PLEASE don't let anybody here tell you not to use your rear jacks to lift the Oliver! Then use one jack stand on the axle end where you are working. Have the Oliver hitched to your tow vehicle on as level a spot as you have.

I know Art @MAX Burner did his, springs only, first but I could not find his post. Best wishes, JD 

 

[Hokieman]

1 hour ago, DanielBoondock said:

Anyhow feeling down at the moment, looking for advice thanks

Alcan quoted me $145/hr, 2-3 hrs max for installing entire D52 axle assembly, springs, shocks, equalizer, erc.   Lots of folks have stated they were in and out of Alcan around 2 hours, with rave reviews about quality of service.   I too am a retired engineer and I plan to do this myself first chance I get, because I don't plan to go to Grand Junction CO for maybe a year or more.  Saves money, aggravation, is not difficult, and does not require any special tools.  I look on the bright side and consider these tasks kind of fun.  I’m just going to do the Alcan 4-leaf springs, U-bolts, & Bulldog shocks for now, I’ll replace the axles later when I need brakes.   I am re-using my Dexter Shackles and wet bolts, and may keep the EZ Flex too if it’s in good shape.  I already replaced bearings with Timken. 

Edited 1 hour ago by Hokieman
Added more content

[DanielBoondock]

6 minutes ago, jd1923 said:

Welcome back, Dan! Too bad the fires kept you away from getting to Grand Junction!

Wow, labor cost more than the springs themselves! I did the axles too which makes it a different process. Doing one spring at a time should be easy enough.

Thanks JD, yeah been busy, sandwich generation stuff …

Thanks for the reminder about your post, taking notes, I’ll probably PM you once I’ve compiled them if you don’t mind correcting my homework

1 minute ago, Hokieman said:

I too am a retired engineer and I plan to do this myself first chance I get, because I don't plan to go to Grand Junction CO for maybe a year or more.  Saves money, aggravation, is not difficult, and does not require any special tools.  I look on the bright side and consider these tasks kind of fun. 

That sounds more like it! I don’t mind doing it, shouldn’t be hard for old engie’s like us but I’m getting pulled in ten directions at the moment so just wanted to pay somebody. Anyhow I’m mooch camping supporting some family again in a couple weeks so I’m thinking I’ll just do it then. Yeah at this point it’s been enough effort spent talking to people I’m ready to call it sunk costs and just git ‘er done. 

I’ve got a couple good jacks, stands, a DeWalt torque/breaker bar, and as JD says there’s the rear trailer jacks. And hey saving myself $400/$900 I can pop for another tool or two for ‘free’, hmmmm …😅