Generalspringkc.com replacement rear spring review

On Monday of this week the driver's side rear spring broke in my recently purchased 05 double cab. Although I knew it was a common issue with these I figured I might have been able to go a month without working on this truck. However that apparently wasn't meant to be. The stock spring broke at the middle leaf. And it then pushed out the back of the spring pack and the sharp busted off end was conveniently rubbing right on the brake line. Awesome. Thankfully it's summer and I have 2 other cars to drive this time of year. So I parked it. Last night I removed the stock springs.





And today when I got home from work the new springs I ordered from General Spring in Kansas Tuesday morning were on my front porch. I chose their stock 3 leaf springs. I don't haul much, and honestly at 40 I'm not looking to "build" a truck. I just sold an FJ40 that I built and I've built LOTS of Toyota trucks over the years. I didn't want to start the snowball again. So anyhow they arrived just with UPS labels stuck to them. Probably a good way to do it as they would beat the crap out of any kind of box. And you really can't hurt a leaf spring. So I carried them down to the shop and got to work. The U-bolts put up a fight coming off but I cleaned them up with a wirebrush on the grinder and everything went back together slick. Really the only difference I noticed with the install was the bracket the e-brake cable connects to is slightly further back so you have to bend the truck-side brackets a little bit. Otherwise zero issues putting them in. It's dark but here's a crappy garage pic of how the truck sits with them installed.



It measures 36-7/8" from the ground to the fender lip. I didn't measure it before but it seems to sit probably 1.5" higher than it was before with the stock saggy springs. I'm hoping they settle a little bit soon or i'll have to readjust the headlights (or buy some 5100's without my wife finding out) to compensate.

But the bigger difference is how it drives. A little firmer but the big thing is NO AXLE WRAP that I can perceive at all. That's one thing I always hated about these trucks. I took it down a pretty crappy road near the house and it's a little firmer but not objectionable at all. Time will tell how they hold up but with no axle wrap and a more controlled ride I'm a happy camper. It would have been nice to not have had to spend the $403 it cost to get them to my door but as a stock replacement I'm glad I went this route instead of having the one stock spring pack fixed for about the same price by a local spring shop.

 

Wait a minute...." not going to build this " and then I read "5100's if I can sneak it by the "book keeper" "

Once an Yota owner,always a Yota owner..

Nice write up and pix..

Now that it is all SHINED UP with NEW PARTS ...

http://forums.exploringnh.com/showthread.php?24367-July-27-2013-Show-and-Shine