rear leaf springs

i have a 2000 tacoma 4whl drive trd and i can't seem to load very much into it without the rear springs almost bottoming out??? i had maybe 800lbs of rock and the truck had about 1" of clearance between the bumper stop on the frame and the stop on the axle... this can't be right? what can i do? i want to be able to carry at least 1,000 lbs but would prefer to not have my ride suffer to much... do i add a leaf? replace the leafs with stock springs? with aftermarket springs? with a helper springs?

 

Those leafs are done for. time to get a new leaf pack
I hope you had a load in the bed when you took that picture

 

what do you recommend i get? i am planning on replacing the shocks with the bilstein 5100 when they become available again... mid august? but should i go to toyota stock springs from the dealer? or? i don't really want to lift the truck.. but want it to ride good and carry a load... here is what was in the truck when i took the photo...

 

Take a look at these, I dont have any experience with them but im sure someone else will chime in Thats quite a heavy load in the pic

Also, good choice on the 5100's. Those I do have. Love them

 

Do you have a pic of you're leaf springs without a load in the bed?

 

Hell... my leafs have been frowning for at least 6 or 7 years now.

And about three weeks ago I hauled about 2100 pounds of rock to the dump.

Under load the bed was just barely not touching the bumper stops (when not moving)

 

i don't have a pic without a load... can post one tomorrow.... but the leafs are basically flat... and the gap between the stops is about 4 or 5"

 

my concern is that when i carry a load and there is no travel in the rear suspension that i will damage the truck... i live up a 3 mile steep and rutted 4 wheel drive road... just getting up the hill with a load can be hard on the rear suspension...

 

I'm gonna knock on wood then say this:

I load up the truck with maybe upwards of 300 pounds of gear in addition to the weight of my topper.... then go wheeling up some pretty decent stuff to go camping. And I think my leafs are probably in worse shape than yours for quite a few years now.

And my truck doesn't seem to be damaged

 

Those look pretty darn bad, but that would be expected with stock springs with the bed loaded like that. I don't have any recommendations on what to do other than getting new a new leaf pack but that would end up lifting you a bit as well. For comparison, here are my leaf spring with the bed unloaded (except my camper shell)



They are pretty damn flat, and bottom out on minor bumps and ruts in the road when I load it up with a nights worth of firewood/gear. This past weekend I wheeled it down a terrible road full of potholes and large ruts and it was fine with the load in the bed. I've been doing that for two summers now and they seem to be fine, just a real uncomfortable ride. I am planning on replacing them in a few months though.

 

I just replaced my springs about a month ago. I ordered mine from **************.com. Got them both shipped for $305. You can't even get close to that with one spring from the dealer. I was amazed at how they flatted out once I put them on, but the ride is a lot better than before and I stayed at stock height. When I tow my bass boat that weights about 3k lbs the rear only sags about an inch. I am very happy with them. Now if I could only get my 4cyl to put out some more power I would be good to go.

 

I have the wheelers 5-pack. Definitely worth it. A little stronger, a little higher, but not too stiff or too high. The left and right spring are arched differently too, to combat "tacoma lean". I think they're a good buy and will definitely help your situation out.

Most people say you get 1.5" lift out of them. Honestly, I didn't get quite that much, more like 1". But they dont squat quite as much as the stock leaves when loaded.

 

thanks for the info!!! much appreciated...

 

I have the 5 packs too and the Wheelers AAL and 1'' shackles.

The 5 packs were nice but i wanted the AAL for more lift and such, they seem to take weight okay for the most part.

However if your really planning on doing a lot of hauling look into Allpro Expedition leaf packs.

Now they do give a lot of lift so you'd have to lift the front as well to keep it level. Youd have to get 3'' springs up front as the Expo leafs give about 4'' out back, but they take loads of 600lbs i have heard EASY. They also ride pretty stiff unless you keep about 300lbs in the back all the time(tool box or something).

The wheelers packs a nice tho and with my AAL and shackles they do great off road.

 

Just looked at mine. They look like post #10 with just my topper on. Maybe a little more on the "frown" side.

 

Toyota oem leafs have been inferior since the 80s. You can see lots of 4Runners, pickups and Tacomas sagging in the back.

Does wheelers price of $449 include shipping? That's not a bad price considering a spring shop will charge about the same.

I like the idea of using junkyard chevy s10 or dodge dakota springs to make a set, but it seems like a lot of work.

 

Def thinking about doing something to upgrade or help the rear leafs on my truck. Unloaded I can stack 4 fingers between the bump stops and with 1/3 the bed full of dirt is down to 2 fingers. If I put that load of rock OP had in his truck it would prob be lower. I decided it wasn't worth the amount of trips or breaking my truck to haul the huge pile of dirt I have. So I watch the guys I hired to haul this dirt just shovel an insane amount into their older non-toyota work trucks and I started wondering if I'm just babying my truck or if its just not as capable of hauling dirt and rocks (It was a 1500 1/2 ton so that probably has a lot to do with it). But I'd like to get my truck to the point where I can fill the bed with a decent amount of dirt or rock and its not sketchy.

 

General Spring HD's. http://www.generalspringkc.com/product_p/90-203hd.htm