Leaf spring question

Hey folks. Been searching this and can't seem to find an answer. I have a 2013 4x4 Reg cab. The leaf springs are a three spring pack. Is this the same 3 spring pack that has failed on numerous trucks? It seems to me that with a very small load the springs flatten right out. I do tow a 2000 pound camper with a 230 lb tongue weight which also squats it down pretty good too. I've been looking into getting some Firestone airbags but should I think about changing the springs first? Is there anything that Toyota would do for this as I've seen there is a tsb and also a recall but I don't believe that my truck is covered by those. Any info or recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

You think your truck squats with only 230lb tongue weight and a 2000lb trailer. I tow a 5000LB trailer with a tongue weight of 600LB...now that's squatting...I just installed air bags, so hopefully that will help...

 

Air bags

 

I've been running Firestone bags for a couple years now. If you do anything that even resembles offroading, I suggest the Daystar airbag cradles. I'm still on the 3 leaf pack with zero problems. I'll eventually get an aftermarket leaf pack, but for now I just lift the rear of the truck with air to match the lift up front - as well as the load in back. My camper is a 1958, so she's got some weight to her, and there's always at least 400 pounds in the bed - probably over 500 when the winch is back there.

Upgrade your rear shocks too. Mine went fast with the airbags forcing them to work harder. My OME N182s make for a smooth ride, it was bumpy and shitty with stock shocks.

 

I am also debating between air bags with daystar cradles or the dakar heavy duty leaf pack. I tow and haul my race bikes and cannot stand the bro lean.

 

Yep, me too.

I went through the 'need heavier duty rear suspension' thing 10 years ago with my T100 when I got a trailer. The mechanic I've been going to for nearly 20 years told me that airbags were absolutely the right solution for me for the T100. I had asked him "AAL or new leaf springs".

I got off the phone with him 10 minutes ago. I told him about my 600-800 lb load with trailer attached and asked him, "air bags, add-a-leaf, or new leaf pack." He immediately said that Tacomas have terrible stock leaf packs and I should do that. He likes a local mfger, Rocky Mountain Spring and Suspension, so right now he's calling them for a quote.

So, it looks like I'm going leaf pack.

If by the bro lean you mean over to one side, air bags I think will do more to solve that.

BTW, I know everybody loves the Dakar springs, but a friend of mine told me he was a little disappointed in how well they handled heavy loads. Just one data point.

 

Let me know how much you get quoted for that leaf pack from Rocky Mountain suspension. I am interested in other options as well since from others' feedback, dakar packs are very stiff and clunk when going over bumps etc.

Bro lean is when your front end sits a lot higher than the rear

 

My guy just called back. Apparently Rocky Mountain doesn't manufacture springs for my truck, they resell some others that they think are great. $1000 just for the parts, before any freight or installation, and that's with a good guy wholesale discount my mechanic would get.

That's more than I'm willing to spend right now. Going to shop some other springs. SD Truck Springs has an airlift air bag kit on sale for 225. Wondering if the stock leaf pack would be OK with the support of the helper bags. I'd rather replace the leaf packs, but I just bought a $8K trailer. Would rather keep my rear suspension mod under 800. My wallet hurts.

Suggestions for leaf packs that won't substantially lift the rear over stock (inch or two OK), will be good enough to be worth the expense of swapping them, but won't be $500 a side?

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I think then that airbags will be my solution. It's funny how little weight it takes to flatten these.

 

Looking to me like the WHEELER’S 5 LEAF HD REAR SPRING SET is the deal for me. $500. Seems like nobody is trashing them on tacomaworld. The description "This is a heavy duty rear leaf spring set for owners wanting a stouter rear spring set for their Tacoma. Great for trucks hauling extra weight, utility and expedition applications" sounds like exactly what I wanted.

 

Wow $1k? That is too steep for my blood. Check out Wheeler's hd leaf pack and Dakar from OME. Both are waayyyy below $1000. Good luck.\

EDIT: Nevermind on the wheelers pack you already found it. Check out OME Dakar though

 

Just ordered the Wheeler 5-leaf HD. With shipping it's going to be close to $650. But I feel good about it being a good fit for my needs and looks like a quality product. I had checked out the OME Dakars. Friend who raves about OME actually said that he was not so impressed by their load-carrying. See lots of people on taco-world who got Wheeler packs who are pleased.

Will post to this thread with my impressions.

 

I regularly have 800-1100 lbs in the bed of my truck and my Dakars are flawless, and I'm not carrying it across the highway, I'm on the freeway for 45 miles and then running another 12 miles through a busy downtown area before I unload.

Couldn't ask for a better rear setup.

 

A new leaf pack would have been a better solution for my uses at this point, with constant weight in the truck. When I got them, I drove around with an empty bed most of the time. Being able to adjust the air pressure for weight worked great for me at the time - no rough ride when unloaded. I'll upgrade eventually.

 

I'm sure the Dakars are very good. Also don't want that much lift. Planning to leave my front end stock. Wheelers are 1.5" over stock.

 

I've heard good things about the 5 pack.

I ran their 1.5 progressive 3 leaf AAL for a few months also with my first lift setup and had no issues either, they just didn't handle weight any better than the bare OEM leaf packs did and I lost most of the lift when my shell got installed (220 lbs).

 

Bummer. Yeah, I got the 5 leaf (4 + overload) HD pack. Called and talked to Dan, he thought they should be perfect for my needs. Hoping for the best.

Expensive spring for me so far, this camper adventure is going to be close to 10K by the time I get done! But the leaf pack is I think a good investment for a truck I intend to keep for a while.

 

Hope so. Post pics when it's thrown on.. seems like the 5 pack info on here is fairly sparse.

 

Thats a lot of weight for these little trucks.

 

I don't think 2000 lbs trailer with a 230 lb tongue weight is too much. I agree a 600 lb tongue weight is another story. Truck is rated for a 1300 lb payload or something like that. I do like the idea of a more substantial leaf pack. I think I'm gonna look around at some of the ones mentioned in this thread. Just the weight of my tracrac, hitch, bedmat and mobtown tailgate cap and my springs are flat. I can't imagine that's more than 150 tops.