American Made With American Steel Replacement Springs?

Its been a while since I've posted as we moved to our rural property over the last year in south central Texas and I have been swamped trying to sort out 30 years of household and shop. I am finally getting some
time to look at my '64 CJ-5A and I need to order some new springs. I support American manufacturing and
always try to buy the best American made items I can find. Judging from the post here, out of all the replacement springs being used,it seems BDS suspension 2.5" Lift is a majority replacement. My question is does anyone know if BDS CJ-5 springs are made in the U.S.A.? I am trying to decide between BDS springs and
the ones Walck's sells. Walck's advertises their springs as made in the U.S.A.

I have STA Super Traxions on the Jeep in an L-78, so I am not running tires that require a lot of height. The Jeep has 3 of the grooved original springs and one that is replacement without the groove. It was rescued from a 35 year hibernation about three years ago and the original springs sag terribly.
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

Just installed a complete set of front and rear springs from Walcks on my ‘59 restoration project. They came stamped “Made in U.S.A.” And their website says this too. They fit great with no adjustments required.Very happy with them so far but I can’t comment on ride quality as I’m a few months away from driving it.

 

Jeep used lots of different spring leaf counts and leaf thicknesses over the life of the CJ-5. I'm sure you could get an exact replacement for the springs you have from a custom shop like Alcan (scenic Grand Junction CO) or Deaver (Santa Ana CA). This would be your premium option. Walck's is another source, but they may not have an exact replacement for your existing springs. However, they will function fine. BDS will be about a 2.5" lift, but the OEM "heavy duty" springs are more like a 1" or 1.5" springs compared to lifted Jeeps.

I have a BDS kit on my CJ-6 and I believe they are sourced here, but I'm not sure - it's been too long. Suggest you call BDS and ask them, if you want that ride height.

 

Found this on their website. Doesn’t really say they are made in USA though....

 

Thank you for the replies. I saw that earlier on the BDS site, and you would think they would note that the springs are American made on the ones that are.
With the pricing, you would think they are.

 

Did you use Walck's U bolts and shocks? I read where the BDS 2 -1/2 " lift kit has 1/2" diameter U bolts with the kit. I'm glad you are happy with them. I really was leaning toward Walck's until it appeared nearly everyone was using BDS 2 1/2" lift kit. Did you go with Walck's to keep it near stock height?

 

Thank you for the information. Have you been happy with the BDS kit on your CJ-6? The BDS warranty is outstanding.

 

Just out of curiosity, are the three grooved springs 2-stage type? For the front, there should be 4 or 5 arched leaves, and two flat over load short ones on the bottom. The rear should have 3 arched leaves with two more flat ones. These were the original Tux/CJ5a springs. They were intended as soft riding springs.
-Donny

 

I called BDS today and talked with a representative about the 2 1/2" lift for the 53-68 CJ-5 and he said that the springs are made in house at their facility out of American steel telling
me "no import stuff". I told him they should promote that on the spring package. My years of running my own business where we specifically sourced American manufacturers to make
the parts we sold and needed, causes me to ponder why they would not place that information directly on their site like Walck's does.

 

Donny,
I looked under the Jeep and it appears all of the springs with the grooves are there. I could have sworn one was different, but they are all bottomed out. The rear has 5 total leaves with 3 long and two short on bottom and the front has 6 total leaves with 4 long and 2 short flat ones. There is no arch left on any of them though. Do these sound like the original Tux springs to you?

 

Yes I used Walcks ubolts and shocks. I'm going for an original restoration and wanted to restore to original ride height. I though about the BDS system cuz everyone here seems to love it but in the end I wanted to stay original. As for the shock, yes I ordered them from Walcks as well. The rears fit perfect but the fronts are about 1 1/2 " short. I just dropped the engine back on the frame today hoping the springs would compress a bit but it only changes by 1/4"and they still don't fit. I was planning on calling Carl tomorrow to see what the issue is. He's usually very helpful and will correct any error on his end without question

 

Yes, those are the original Tux 2-stage springs. The 5 leaf rears were also used up through around '73 or '74 on the AMC Jeeps, and are still available from a couple spring manufacturers, maybe Deaver? There are not any front versions being made today.
If you change out your springs, I could be interested in your old ones, but shipping is crazy. I'm trying to collect parts for a correct restoration.
-Donny

 

My '75 came with 5-leaf rears and 9-leaf fronts.



Standard springs were either 7 or 9 in the front, and this 5-leaf type for the rear.

Dayton sells this type of spring. They used to be available on RockAuto - apparently no more. Some online searching might turn them up.

 

Because I am French but having worked in international industry, you cannot be sure to have full US products.
You must visit the factory and ask for steel invoices.
Which is not enough, because maybe 10% of the steel is from USA, 90% from other place.
You must calculate the steel volume bought, compare with the quantity of springs sold...
We are internationally linked. I buy from Walcks, he is a serious guy and answers to me...
What is important is to have good international relations to make honest exchanges.
Many European factories have been sold directly to China, so they produce the same quality, if controlled, at cheaper price.
Airbus planes are using a lot of parts made in France by Alcoa factories.
The are international agreements not to sell strategic products to "ennemies" countries.
In France, there is also the "Buy French" and yes, in my family there was factories... closed.
To sell cheaper, buy cheaper, lot of eyes are closing.
There is no guarantee that made in USA, made in France, are well made, and in good honest conditions !

 

I would like to add that steel production is highly specialized, as many other activities.
Steel alloy for springs is maybe made in USA, or Austria, or India..
People invest to specialize and get good markets.
When you are in industrial international show, which are per activity around the world, you find the specialists for all kind of products.
I was always surprised to see companies here and there having developed a new speciality (and invest, believe, get finance).
that is the way we progress.

 

I understand what you are saying. As I said previously, I was involved in manufacturing through my own business and dealt with large corporations as well as smaller companies. I remember when made in the U.S.A., meant built well made in the U.S.A. and I would still rather have American made, than anything else. If the U.S. is only using 10% of our own steel in American made manufacturing, it will come back to haunt us and I believe it already has. At some point, we'll have to defend freedom again. We had better be able to build the machines to do that in house. As for me, I will do my part to the best of my ability to use American made products when available.
A decade ago, I rotisserie restored a vintage 1970s Plymouth Trail Duster 4x4 and for that truck, I used only NOS parts when I could obtain them. I was fortunate to locate some
mid 1970s Dodge Power Wagon springs that were the same ones used on the Trail Duster from a Pennsylvania NOS Military salvage supply. I had a Texas spring shop press in the new bushings before we installed the springs. They commented on how great the steel was in those vintage Chrysler Pentastar stamped truck springs and one of the employees told me "you can't get that quality now from overseas". That always stuck with me.

 

I will keep you in mind Donny and will let you know if I decide to move the old springs down the road. I have thought about keeping those on the pallet rack in case I ever sold the Jeep. The new owner may want the original springs since it's a Tux. Thank you for the comments.

 

I also understand you. You want to buy US made, I want to buy French made...
But if a US cy made good products I accept them, this is life, some people have good ideas and ...
For example the vaccine Moderna is also a little bit French.
That's the same for sport. When 2 team meet, a French and a US, let's say tennis, I appreciate the best player.
About China, they bought the best factories from us, from Germany, Switzerland... with control, they can produce high quality, and higher quality.
They can make low price, so competitors in US and Europe go down, then they are masters.
To agree with you, the truth is : who wins ? We are digging our own grave!
I remember, visiting a supermarket chain buying dept in Sweden, around 1980... informations on the walls, how to locate offices, where in CHINESE.
Big money, banks, supermarket chains, look for profit and good prices.
So they ask to the best dictature help for production.
As you see, it is complicated, because China is also a market, 1 billion customers!
China is no Taïwan, that's why they want to stop it.
I was in Taïwan in 1982, that was when day... People were happy, free.
I was with my wife, partly for business.
We were happily surprised, their life was nice, not the other China.
So, all this is politics, and also military.
The silent war goes on, and Future is not clear. Remember Cocom (Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls - Wikipedia)

 

Could the factory Tux springs be re-arched? We had our springs re-arched in the old days to give our cars a Lift. Just asking?