Look at these pictures, as I'm new to this Hilux. My 1985 4x4 extra-cab is stock and has no after market accessories. New LC Engineering springs installed over the weekend and they just seem wrong. why, 1" of bump stop clearance, shackles are riding on frame, and springs have a reverse curve.
passenger side, drivers side is thee same.

 

After talking to Alcan Springs tech, I know the frame setting on the shackle to be wrong. Waiting on LC Engineering to reply on a refund or replacement. Personally thinking I'd hate doing a R&R with the same outcome, so I'm leaning toward a refund.

 

That's a disappointing result after installing new springs. Please follow up on this. Good luck with it.

 

I'm not pleased so far. Hopefully LCE will make it right.

 

I've been waiting all week for LCE to do something. Friday I was told LCE is waiting on their supplier to respond.

 

i can't imagine what would cause that... wrong springs for the truck? missing a leaf? improper manufacturing? they are alcan? what did the alcan rep blame it on?

i would call lce back and tell 'em that you want a refund, then get good springs from a reputable supplier... the last time i tried to use lce, i ordered something off of their website, then when i hadn't heard from 'em a week later, i called and some kid on the other end told me that they were out of stock with unknown eta... they couldn't even call me and tell me that.

 

Springs are not Alcan. LCE had them drop shipped from Dayton LLC and looks like they were made in Mexico.
here is the tag on them

 

It's been a rough road to date dealing with these stock replacement springs. One thing I found the hard way for sure, Dayton Parts has a lousy stock spring offering via LC Engineering. So bad that LCE has told me they will be refunding my stock front spring purchase and to scrape it. Neither LCE or Dayton Parts want the sh8t back, Haha.

 

Thats crazy

 

Still waiting for the LCE's refund to my credit card. BTW, LCE never apologized for the poor quality and their product description says and I direct quote, "

LC Engineering Front Leaf Spring Set

(Stock Height)

For quite some time, LC Engineering has been offering an extra-flex extended leaf spring for Toyota Pick-up and 4Runner’s. Quite a few of our customers are not in need of such an aggressive suspension modification and are looking to replace the factory worn out leaf packs with something new that bolts directly into the factory mounts. We talked to one of the highest quality, suspension component manufacturers on the market and had them make leaf spring sets specifically for us.

When considering a replacement suspension component, it is highly recommended that the quality of parts used are equal to or better than the original factory components. The factory leaf springs on the early Toyota Pick-up and 4Runner’s were fairly stout, but since, have likely fatigued. These replacement leaf springs are of a quality superior to the factory springs to get your vehicle's handling back to where you need it. Look no further! LC Engineering now has the leaf springs you need.

NOTE: These leaf spring sets will take anywhere between 10-12 weeks to ship due to the fact that every spring set is custom built for every application."
https://www.lceperformance.com/LCE-F...-p/4030001.htm

I think they grossly over stated their product. I believe a good company would do a little more than just blame a supplier and hold my refund until the supplier approved them a refund. They have known for two weeks these leaf springs are junk but still hold my money.
Lastly, When I requested compensation for my trouble they offered to discount a set of Clayton Springs if purchased through them. Sounded good until I realized their retail price discounted was higher than just ordering direct from Clayton.
Bottom line for me, this was the first and last purchase I will be making from LC Engineering. I know others will post, they never had a problem and I'm happy for you. Cheers

 

When you get your refund I would use that money and take the new springs to a spring shop and have them worked on. I did a similar thing on my Suburban, I had another leaf added and had them re-arced. They still lay flat, but lifted the truck about 2-3 inches. No



w there not bent over backwards

 

Last picture is my toyota 2 to 4wd conversion using factory used springs that lay without being bent backwards

 

I see you flipped the u-bolts. What are you doing for bump stops.

 

u-bolts are going up b'cuz I installed a narrowed down dana 44. No bump stops installed yet, but the u-bolts have been trimmed down so they don't hit the bottom of the frame on the inside

 

I was told by Sky's Off-road Design, an extended shackle like their 2" longer Boomarang might flatten out my reverse curved springs. Looks like you have extended shackles so it might work.

 

It's not going to flatten out the spring. Spring will still be bent backwards....all it will do is lift the truck 1''. Point I was trying to make is I installed 40 year old factory springs and they are not bent backwards like your brand new ones. To do the conversion I built a front x-member that is 1'' thick before the hanger was installed, so to get the correct geometry so the spring is level I had to use the lifter shackle

 

I ordered set pair of front springs from Alcan, they are 4/5 weeks out. So now having my old leaf springs and these new JUNK LC Engineering/Dayton Parts springs I thought I had nothing to lose.Get some service out of them until new springs arrive, add a leaf and see what happens. A fare amount of work and the added leaf gave a 2" increase at the bump stops and a 1/2" clearance between frame and shackle. That is until I drove 50+ miles during which the two main leaves negative arched more. Both spring packs collapsed down to 1" bump stop clearance and the frame was riding on the shackle again. Metal must have not been tempered to spring.

I should have taken LCE/Dayton Parts advise and just scraped the junk.
BTW, Three weeks now and still no refund from LCE. Thankfully, Visa Card Member Services offers help against this kind of vendor and canceled the LCE charge on my statement. Time to move on , be done with these ˟˟˟˟˟ leaf springs and LCE too. Cheers!

 

Finally got my refund. Also got the Boomerang shackles installed and the ride is much improved

Once the Alcan Springs arrive/installed I shouldn't need these lift shackles.But for now and the next month or so these shackles are worth every penny IMHO and that's all that counts.

 

Now knowing from my personal experience, My OEM spec Alcans and Sky's shackles are expensive, have an okay ride on the street and are close to having the front to back look level but springs bottom out easily. I recommend Old Man Emu 2" lift springs, stock shackles and remove one of the short leaves to get a I"ish lift and softer spring rate. I don't believe the ride would be much different than what id did but the money savings is huge.