Need some advice about new rear leaf springs

Hi all

So I ended up getting my rear leaf spring TSB performed just a couple of weeks ago. Since then, my truck is definitely riding about 1.5"s low in the rear. This is really bumming me out, and I would like to know if it's normal. If it is - feel free to suggest remedies to shoring back up the difference.

History on this - I have an 09 trd sport quad cab 4x. It came with the standard north america triple leaf pack, was bouncing off the bump stops so I had my local dealer throw on the fourth leaf spring. That raised the rear, so to level it out I got a pair of adjustable bilsteins up front, adjusted at the 1.75" raise level. Truck sits really nicely here.

Once I had the rear leafs replaced via the tsb, now the rear end is back at the original stock 3pack height. Even though it is a 4 leaf pack. Should it be? I feel like my truck should have come back out of the dealership at the height it went in, seeing as the rear end is all stock.

Part of the reason I'm so cautious with this dealer is I'm in a fairly small town, only the one dealer. They tried suggesting I needed to change my transmission fluid - at 60k miles... for ~$650. Yikes. So I don't quite trust them so much. They may well be in the right on this - but I would love to hear from you guys if you agree. Unrelated but prior to this car I had a jeep grand cherokee - local dealer tried to charge me for recall work. Then diagnosed problems that I didn't even have, that they didn't even really look at. Nuts.

My secondary issue, power steering rack is leaking to the point of needing fluid weekly. Its draining into the boots. While this isn't unreasonable to be a thing that needs doing... I'm at 68k miles right now. This seems really early. I'm out of warranty, but still. Jeez. Dealer wants about 1700$ for that!

I guess it's just my week! Thanks for surviving the rant and any advice on the ride height is welcome.

 

With the 4 pack it sounds like something isn't right. Should be near the same height as it was before you took it in. I'm pretty sure the book recommends changing tranny fluid around that mark or even sooner.

 

My book shows tranny at 100,000. V6.

I thought so too but I just took it in for a second time, truck was at the dealer all day, all they would do was talk about how there's a lift in the front. Like that has anything to do with the height on the rear. The thing should roll out the same it rolled in.

I had the fourth leaf spring put on at that dealership. I told the service advisor to look up my vehicles history as it had all been done there. He told me the computers don't go back very far, not much history to look at... that one is bugging me. Pretty sure that was complete bs. The more I think about it the more I'm considering calling up the district managers office to see what they think about all this.

 

Can't comment on the height issue too many variables without being there., BUT.....
Mine is was '08 one owner, I bought used in '11 from a chevy dealer. When I took it tone serviced at my favorite Toyota dealership I always used previous to this purchase, I learned the truck was originally sold there when new. It was also always serviced there religiously by the original owner. They transferred the service records to my account. So..... uhm yes computers do go back that far .. yours appears to be an '09 so I would suspect if you are the ORig Owner they would have those records. So, no I would find another dealer/service provider on that reason alone.

 

Thanks. I appreciate that. I don't know why these guys think I'm a good mark to spin stories to. I am the original owner, but I didn't purchase it from that dealer. Dealer mechanics and service centers are kinda garbage in this town. Unfortunately, theyre all I have.

I still feel like the thing should have left at the same height it rolled in. Seems like its time to contact the distract managers office and get their take on it. And hey if they tell me too bad - feel free to let me know what a good cheap alternative is to raising the rear of the truck. Blocks? I just want it leveled out at this point. And I'm still pissed that at 68k miles my power steering rack is blowing seals all over. So theyll get to hear it from me on that!

Thanks guys. Really appreciate being able to bounce this off the forum.

 

Ah another reason why I haven't done that rear leaf tsb yet even though the dealer keeps calling me to get it done.

 

I had the bottoming out problem with my '06. The dealer put the TSB 4 pack springs on it and it came back about 1.5" -2" of rake. You definitely want it to be high in the back because the springs will settle in about 6 months. If you're low now, you'll be a Tijuana low rider in 6 months, something is wrong. I ended up putting Firestone RideRites on mine even with the TSB springs. Fast forward a few years, the truck has a new owner and he has 210k on it and the TSB springs were broken and had to be replaced again..... along with the frame.

 

Same here,the Toyota leaf packs suck the new and old,My dealer wants me too do mine also and I say NO THANKS,I have a six pack OME leaf pack with Bilstien 5100 in the front set at 1.75 also, and the truck sits perfectly level .Get rid of the Factory leaf packs as they suck.Originally my truck a 2006 had factory 3 pack and my truck would bottom out,thats why I said screw this and bought a good set of OME Dakars and no more problems.

 

Your replacement TSB springs will give the truck a stock height after they have settled in. You said you raised the front with bilstiens and that would explain the drop in the rear.

 

Right. I raised the front before to level out the ride, years ago. The fourth leaf spring that was added back then raised the rear, I leveled it. All done by toyota. Now they replaced it with another 4 leaf pack - and it's two inches lower. That seems pretty wacky to me. Plus it's gonna settle and go even further.

 

It will definitely be lower after it settles. Nothing really wacky here, the spring are designed for a stock suspension. When they did the springs the service department should have mentioned this to you. You could add a spacer to lift the back up.

 

Oh jeez. I figured that the replacements would match my old ones, given they both had 4 leaf springs. Also does it follow that my old ones that sat higher gave me more support/load capacity? I guess now I get to decide if I want to get some spacers or go aftermarket leaf pack/add on it.

 

Your old springs before the added spring (OE 3 spring) actually had thicker leafs than the 4 spring replacements. Carrying capacity is only slightly better with the four spring replacement. When you had the extra spring added to your payload would be an improvement over the four spring replacement. The recall was performed because the older spring would break and stab the gas tank. The new springs had extra spring retainers to stop this from happening. Everything else to my knowledge was the same.

 

I feel your pain! My local dealers are horrible. Another horrible thing is Toyota leaf springs. It doesnt matter how many leafs they have. They all are bad.

 

Just had mine done as well. Fortunately it seems to be back to where it was before.

 

Get a set of all pros. Crank front a bit more. Done deal.

 

It's a compromise. You can put in stiffer springs but ride quality will suffer. For the general public they work well. People want a nice smooth ride but also want to carry one ton in the back. Thats not going to happen in a small light truck.

 

I was worried about a harsh ride before I installed Dakar leafs. In reality it's quite the opposite. The truck rides MUCH better than stock. Much more controlled and comfortable.

 

Did you check to make sure the dealer installed the correct recall leaf springs?
The replacement for the 4 leaf TSB (Canadian / Mexican) set is:
Kit PN 04005-34404
Spring PN 48210-04660 and 48220-04300

Fritz

 

It would be very unlikely that a Toyota dealer doing a safety recall could put in a set of wrong springs.