Rebuilding Rear Leaf Springs. Viable option?

In researching for the Wheelers group buy i just can not leave a stone unturned.

I have noticed a few comments in the many leaf pack threads about rebuilding the leaf pack instead of replacing. (Talking stock OEM, no lifts or major of road packs) I found a few post saying they were thinking about it but no-one who actually posted they did it.

Since my money tree refuses to produce bills with zero's at the end i have to ask is this viable?

I have spoken to a few of the big name shops about axle wrap. Eventually the conversation came around to re-arching/rebuilding. they said they could ra-arc and add another leaf and yield somehting better then but similar to a OEM replacement leaf pack. Mind you that these shops also sell the stock OEM packs and i did NOT mention i was trying to save a buck. Just told them i want to eliminate axle wrap w/o a major lift and that i was not going off-roading or anything like that.

So... To round out the discussion...

Has anyone had their leaf pack rebuilt?
Had them re-arched?
Had another leaf added to old pack? (Not AAL's)

Pro's i can think of:
- save some money

Con's i can think of:
- working with already sagging springs.
- unsure if re-arching really does not weaken the spring.

Thanks for the input.

 

IMO, go with the wheelers group buy. Taco springs are notorious for being weak and I think you should just replace them

 

Bump... I'm wondering the same thing man. Has anyone built a bastard pack or does anyone know of stockers that could be swapped in off another rig?

 

Back in 2000 (or some where around that time), I had my leaf springs re-arched on my 96 tacoma. At the time - there wasn't any replacement paks available. I wanted 2" of lift.

I had the original leafs re-arched, had 2 custom (with matching arch) leaf springs added (total of 4+overload). This was all done at the local spring shop. It cost somewhere in the $300+ range.

When it was finished (and new), I ended up with 3" of lift, which it did settle down to 2" - which is exactly what I wanted.

The ride was definately a lot more harsh than the stock springs. THat's to be expected .....it's a truck. The leaf pak was heavy duty as hell. You could barely move it when you jumped up/down in the bed. It laughed at hauling a scoop of mulch without any sag.

Axle wrap......what axle wrap? The tires spun....and spun....

At the time - 10 years ago, it was the cats ass. Now? It's probably costs way too much to have this done versus what a new aftermarket pak would cost. But, that's something you'd have to research....

 

Curious.. OP what did you end up doing? I am researching right now a re-arch / aal combo, as my leafs are flat, and shipping to hawaii sucks ass..

 

I ended up going with new leaf's from Alcon. I spoke to Deavers at length. They made it all seams reasonable that the leaf pack could be re-arched without damage but i could not get my head around why the leaf pack once flat would not either have memory or damage. I opted for a new pack and the group buy made the most sense. Have yet to find time to install the pack but that is the path i am on.