Expediton rear leaf springs installation

Awesome Greg.! I'm gonna follow your great advice. Cause before I know it, I'll be that guy that will buy the same part at a higher price, just for the fact, of not taking the right amount of time to look around for a better and cheaper deal. I'll definitely have that in mind.

 

By the way Greg, looking at your truck pic on your comments, those 37's look very aggressive & mean on your rig. It looks like a lil Army tank ready for battle. lol

 

35s

 

oh... ok. looks like 37's.

 

Didn't read everything, but, i am also running the All Pro expedition leafs and Archive Garage shackle flip with AP u-bolt flip kit. As has been mentioned, installing those leafs alone is VERY hard because they are pretty dam heavy. Id recommend a second pair of hands.

Also, that shackle flip is incredibly amazing, but installation will be the hardest thing you do in your entire life. Took me and 2 buddies with mechanical experience and the right tools almost 10 hours to complete. So prepare yourself for that and get ready to make multiple trips to home depot for drill bits and cut off wheels. Save up a few extra bucks before you start lol.

I Dont like being negative or bursting anyones bubble, but 5100s wont work for this. The leaf pack alone will provide up to 4" of lift if you dont have weight back there, and the shackle flip adds another 1.5 approximately. Prepare for a solid 5" lift in the rear end. It is recommended you run long travel shocks. Preferably, a 12" shock which then also requires a shock hoop to be added. I personally run an 11" shock in stock location and my down travel is still limited by my shock. You never ever want your shock to be the limiting factor. Itll cause damage. The 5100 (even the one for 3" lift) will bottom out very very fast and youll have hardly any down travel at ride height. It would be recommended you consider another option before you ruin brand new shocks. Also may want to explore the option of limit straps if you can. Dont under estimate that shackle flip. It delivers incredible flex, but you need to have the right shocks or its going to leave in a crappy situation.

My setup includes an AP dual swing out tire gate and bumper with oversized spare adding about 150-180 lbs over stock. Also a 100 lb AP pack rack topped with a 110 lb CVT rtt and another 50 lbs in misc mounted gear. This is an everday load not counting what i add when i actually pack up for a trip. I have a min of 400 extra pounds loaded at all times and the rear end rides fairy smooth but has a ton of rebound over bumps. When i add another 200 lbs thats when it really smooth out nicely and rides like butter. Im not sure your setup, but if your not loaded down, expect a pretty harsh ride from those leafs until you load up.

Lastly, the shacklw flip changes the mounting geometry of the leaf pack, causing it to flatten out even without a load. Your brand new pack will appear flat before you even use it. This is normal. However, the ling term affects will be premature wear of your leafs because of this. It has nothing to do with the quality of the leafs or the shackle kit, its just the way it works with a setup like this.

Oh and last last thing... in case it wasnt answered, the "military wrap" side of the leaf packs goes towards the front.

You can see pics on my IG @proforce1 or check the link in my signature to see more details in my build thread here.

Good luck!

 

Tons of great info. Is more than obvious that you've been in this game for quite some time. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me. Your comment had awakening a multiple of questions in my head. But before that, here is the road map that I am planning on taking, but things might change as I advance on with my project. Here are some:

- 285/70R 17 tires (3" suspension lift)
- Pelfreybilt rear high clearance bumper w/swing-out arm (steel)
- CVT tent
- Camper shell roof rack(already got an ARE camper shell w/rails)

...just to mention a few. But this is what I'm looking at for the rear suspension.

Now, you are telling me that this shocks: https://bilsteinlifts.com/shop/toyo...-bilstein-5100-shocks-for-2005-toyota-tacoma/ won't be the right choice for my setup, right? I guess to short as you explained to me that they will bottom out to soon before full flex is accomplished.

Wont be doing the B.A.M.F. rear shock relocation anytime soon, so I got to deal with finding a reliable and functional shocks for stock location for this project.

So any other recommendations in addition to what you wrote me for the shocks?? Also, any pics of your shackle flip kit installation?? It would help me a lot. Specially if I'm planning on doing this alone.

I'm an open minded type of guy and I'm open for good advice. One of my pet peeves is that, if I'm going to do something... is going to be the right way, if not, I'm not doing it at all! Of course that in this case going to be within my budget.

 

I have limited pics of the install, ill try to find them. For the shocks, i dont know specs off the top of my head to recommend anything other than what i have which is a custom build Icon. Part number should be in my build thread. Ill look for pics...

 

Very very nice!! I definitely like how those things look. They do not only look like they belong there, also make the mechanical functionality more capable, more compliant, more aggressive, more everything!! I don't know why Toyota didn't put this things stock on the latest Tacoma's rather than those flimsy factory hangers. Also like the fact that you can grease up the upper bushing for a smoother articulation.
Thanks so much for the detailed pics. Now I got a clear idea on how to tackle this project.

 

While your at it, i decided to make all 6 pivot points (3 on each side) greasable. This kit will make the rear most bushing greasable now, but i bought 4 new zerked bolts from DIY4x.com and replaced other 2 leaf spring bolts on each side. The bolts are grade 8 and basically have a small hole drilled through them with a zerk on the outside to allow you to pump grease inside. You'll need to drill a very tiny hole on the metal sleeve that goes between the bushing and bolt that acts like a spacer. This hole allows grease to penetrate through the bolt, between the bolt and sleeve, and finally between the sleeve and bushing where its needed. Works absolut wonders! Eliminated 95% of my squeak in the rear end after this

 

Sounds great! You are talking about this bolts: http://diy4x.com/product.php?productid=17724&cat=0&bestseller=Y
Did you used the 1/2" ones? I'm a little confused on how you drill that tiny hole between the bushing and bolt
I might be imagining it differently

 

Also, I was looking at your built(@ProForce ) , and saw that for this leaf springs set up you are using: Rear ICON 2.0 custom shocks w/ resis – CB2036 EXT:26.8” COL:15.9” . And according to you after installing the #Archive Garage shackle flip your down travel was still limited by your rear shocks right? Do you think the 11" Fox 2.0 performance series -985-24-002 985-24-007 will do the job ? http://downsouthmotorsports.com/i-1...nce-series-ifp-smooth-body-bushing-mount.html
They can EXT: 28.95" & COL: 17.85" and I could get them for only $129.95 a pop.

Any advice on this or anybody else that might have the same set up using the stock rear shock mount..?

 

Yeah down travel is limited by the shock so this Foxs dont look like a bad option. Seem youll gain about 2" of down travel but the loss of 2" up travel is concerning. You would need a bump stop positioned very carefully to help avoid damage from up travel. But thinking about my shock, you can see the last 1-2 inches of the shaft is not used. So this might be perfect. Ill try to get more pics

 

Yes those. I think our truck is the 9/16th. Ill have to double check that too. Full disclosure though, the threads on these bolts are very course, so the bolt doesn't just slide right in the front hanger. Youll need to just very very slightly drill out the holes on the front hanger. Not the leaf springs themselves, but the hanger on the truck that the leafs bolt too. It only need to be expanded slightly to make up for the courser threads. Was really easy to do.

For the hole, there is a metal sleeve that slides inside the bushings. It acts as a spacer between bolt and bushing. This metal round sleeve just needs 1 tiny hole in the center of it

 

This is the part that I hate, knowing exactly which shocks to get in reference of what the extension & compression limitations of the suspension is while off-roading. And to be honest I'm a lil retard on how to calculate that. I might go with the 10" Fox shocks to be safe I guess. They EXT: 26.85" and COL: 16.75". I'll be loosing 2" of down travel but feel more safer on the up travel.
Yeah, pics might help substantially.

 

From what I understand, the proper way to check what fits for your set up is to install your springs and shackle flip, and without your shocks in flex your suspension and measure from the center of the shock mount to the center of the other shock mount in full extension and full compression. You want your shock values to be outside these measurements ideally. I.E. if you can't find a shock that is perfect measurements you will have to bump more or run limit straps on the other end. You don't want your shock to be the limiting factor.

So using the measurements of the shock above, your compression measurement should be slightly more than 16.75 so you shock is not your bump stop. At full droop you want the measurement to be less than 26.85 so your shock is not what limits your droop. Your up travel and down travel will be determined by where the spring sits under the load of the truck and contents.

The longer the travel the higher the mount needs to be. You can't fully utilize a 12" travel shock in the stock location, because the shock body is too long and you lose the up travel so your usable travel is much less than 12".
Hope that makes sense, I am no expert this is how I have understood it, please someone correct me where I have made any errors.

 

Makes a lot more sense to me now. Thnx Greg for your thoroughly explanation. I guess I'm going to stand by on trying to buy the right shocks for now... tackle this proyect first... and with the measurements that I get then order the right shocks.

 

Hopefully I can advance a little more on this tonight... at least cutting the hanger rivets.

 

Perhaps wasn't necessary to remove my rear bumper.... but I ended up removing it anyways
Give me a lot more room to work on.