Kymasabe

There's been alot of mention recently of UpCountry clones and some of you are using Crown rear springs, and others are using Dorman's.
I'm pretty sure the Dormans come with bushings already in them and may cost a little bit more but, the question I have seen asked yet is, WHICH ONE IS BETTER?
"Better" is a relative term so let me try to help refine the question.
Which one is easier to install/fits better?
Which one offers the most lift?
Which one retains the lift the longest (and isn't sagging a year later).
If you bought one or the other, would you buy them again?

Secondary questions if you're really feeling like sharing:
Did you have to, or should you replace the rear shackles at the same time (not necessarily with lift shackles, just new replacement stock shackles).
Did you have to, or should you replace the spring u-bolts and/or mounting plate when replacing the springs?
Are there any other bushings that need to be replaced at the same time?
I just hate getting things apart and halfway thru a project and realize I need another part and can't find it quickly, locally. So, I'd rather order everything I think I'm going to need beforehand.
Thank you for your time.

EZEARL

Springs? Pick your poison. When I was researching like you and not just here the answers to OUR questions were inconclusive to say the least. My take is they are equal but Dorman's do come with bushings pressed in.

I had a bad shackle so replaced both with a set of IRO 0-3/4" lift ones I bought here at a price I couldn't pass on. Nothing wrong with OEM's. U-bolts and hardware get stressed and should be replaced. They are axle specific so get the right ones. Mounting plate reuse unless something is visibly wrong. You've got bushings at both ends of the leaf spring and at the top of the shackle along with the hardware. All my hardware was fine so I reused it with anti seize. I also bought a tube of Marine Grade grease at Walmart for my bushings. Here's what I used.



https://www.ironrockoffroad.com/prod...t-shackle.html

Martlor13

Yeah ii would say they are essentially clones. Just the Dormans have bushings already.

oh and ubolts shouldn't be reused.

jordan96xj

Dorman here.

I never had the Crowns so I can't compare. I can say that the Dorman springs installed and fit well, have not had any problems in 20k miles (about 1.5 years). They have remained slightly over an inch lift in that time. They settled about 1/2" in the first few weeks. They have remained at or above the advertised height since installed. The ride is good. I got them for $99/each to my door in 2 days (amazon prime).

The trade-off for having a nice ride is that they will squat fairly easily under weight. So when I started towing my popup camper, I put in some simple air-shocks. The combination of the Dorman springs and the air shocks has been very good.

I replaced my shackles with the Dorman HD shackles (not lifted, just a little beefier). The big bonus/benefit is that they each came with 2 bolts that match the spring eye bolts that can get damaged during spring removal. They also came with bushings pre-installed. They seem overpriced, but to have those extra spring-eye bolts almost makes up for it.

The spring plates can generally be reused. They are pretty thick, so even serious surface rust can be cleaned up. I chose to replace mine with some heavier duty ones. Not necessary though. Just wanted new clean plates.

THX-1138

I just did this too. Went with General Spring KC over doorman/crown. VERY happy with that decision. Little bit more $$ but not too bad and very much worth the better quality. Can't recommend them enough.

Kymasabe

I never heard of them, just looked them up. Did you go with their heaviest duty spring? And did whatever spring you bought raise the rear to "UpCountry" height?

EZEARL

General Spring has a good reputation. I just narrowed my choices down to the Dorman or Crown because there is a lot of info hands on lift heights with them. I couldn't find out what your asking about lift with the General's. Let's see what THX says.

THX-1138

Yea heaviest duty is "up country", +1 inch. Other two are standard duty and heavy duty stock height. They come bushings pre installed. I used the dorman shackles as well and they all played nicely together. Best part about these vs.the doorman/crown are that they hold up well to weight. I also did new shocks (Monroe sensatracs) and am sitting at +1.5 inches. It's been a couple weeks and I expect everything is still settling in and I'll hit +1. Again, very happy - they are worth the extra $50 or whatever it is.
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EZEARL

THANKS for info. I haven't even put 200mi on my Crowns since I installed them so all I know is that so far they're working lot better than my 21yr old ones that had 160+K miles on them. General seem to be really popular with the pick up truck crowd.

Tbone289

I think this might be where the difference between the Dormans and Crowns lie. My Crown HD leafs have significantly higher weight bearing capacity than the stock leafs. They ride stiffer too, but that's the payoff I was willing to accept. This is just conjecture though, since I don't have first hand experience with the Dorman leafs, and I haven't seen reliable specifications on each to compare.

I've put about 6,000 miles on my Crowns at this point, some of that towing a 2700 lb trailer, and "empty" ride height is still exactly 1" over stock.

may pop

I put a set of Dormans on my 98 around 2012 or early 2013. They started out at 1" above stock. Over time, 5 years, and over 77,000 miles they are now flat and less than stock height. I ALWAYS have at least 100 LBS of tools and supplies in back. This is a daily driver at 95 miles per day, service truck, trail rig and dune runner. 5 years of abuse! I got my monies worth from them. I ordered a set of OME 2" from DPG Offroad to replace these last Friday. My front has the 2" OMEs and spacers but also has a winch that drags the front down. This should level it out nice.
The Dormans are worth the money and will not disappoint you.

Ron

Tbone289

That's as good a testimony as any for the Dormans.