Quick question concerning leaf springs!!!!!

hey guys im curious to know why the heavy loader leaf spring (one all the way to the bottom) is placed upside down? curving down instead of up which would support the other leaf springs.

i looked at several other vehicles sitting around and all of theirs were right side up. (not toyota tacomas)

i do have trouble carrying loads could this solve the problem?
what would be the down fall of turning the heavy loader spring right side up? curving up towards the leaf springs

 

yes i know this looks funny with the front not being leveled out but this is what happened when i turned my bottom leaf right side up

 

bump....... anyone???

 

That leaf is your overload spring so that the rest of the pack won't go over negative arch too much when loaded down. I think some people have run it upside down but I can't comment too much on it myself. Looks like it worked for you...fwiw I don't really like a level truck...needs a slight rake

 

i agree it does need some tilt but not as much as it does in that picture the front deffinately needs a 2" spacer

 

Damn..."Got Rake?"

And I agree with malander

 

Meh it is a lot of rake but it doesn't look too bad. Bigger tires will look great and will fill out the rear wheel wells nicely

 

hah yea it made a big difference. im jus wondering if that would mess stuff up

 

33's would look awesome

 

any other insights????

 

.

 

yes

 

no

 

maybe so

 

For what it's worth... I had a '96 Tacoma extended cab 5 speed manual V6 4X4, lived in the mountains of Colorado, did lots of off roading in Colorado and Utah, broke leaf springs a couple of times, the last time I had it repaired, the guys at the spring place replaced the broken leaf, I had them add a leaf and they reassembled them with one of the heavy loader mounted up and the other mounted down. Didn't pay too much attention to it being upside down once I got it back, smart huh.. I drove it like that for about 4 years, with no problems. Buddy of my dads had a lift and we flipped the upward facing heavy loader down to it's original position I couldn't notice any difference other than if you really looked, right side sat a little higher in the back. Maybe others might have had a different experience??

 

So does the truck ride any rougher because of turning the leaf around?

 

Did you add those lift blocks when you flipped the overload leaf or were they on there before? Take those blocks out and you'll be level (or closer to) again.

 

I flipped over my overload last week and have had no problems. Drove 100 miles round trip with streetbike in back and it drove nice. And it add 1" lift to rear also. Heres a pic

.

 

Looks like all you've done is make the overload part of the leaf pack instead of only being used with a heavy load in the bed. Shouldn't do anything adverse but will probably make it ride like a dump truck. It's like putting in a really stiff AAL.

 

QFT. you just sprung your rear suspension a little bit more.