1st gen needs suspension upgrades ASAP

check out for their stock replacement 4 leaf packs and they carry bilstein 5100's this would be a good start. certainly within your price range

 

I'm pretty sure you can get a full OME system, front and rear springs, shocks, and new hardware from wheelers for about $1100. That would be the best bet if you think you need new everything.

I'm thinking I might start with the 5100's, then update and upgrade from there though.

 

wheelers is definitely the place for the suspension stuff. i went with wheelers 5 pack leaves and some ome 881 coils, to go with the billy 5100's i got from dsms.

on my new suspension, i gained 2 inches in the front and about 1.5 in the rear. worked out great for me.

 

Actually, a bunch of 1st genners are agonizing over this very issue right now.

From what I have found through numerous posts and much research on other sites, Bilstein 5100s struts (front) and shocks (rear) offer a great ride under both conditions, and furthermore, the front struts are height adjustable, should you ever want to do a little lift, or end up with a little lift because...

Most of the solutions for the rear springs add a little height. Basic options seem to be:

New leaf packs (replace the entire set of leaf springs on both side in the rear). Two options:

1. Wheelers Offroad replacement leafs, they offer two options for these, which we are currently attempting a group buy on to get a discount. (I'll provide a link to the GB in a sec).
2. Alcan custom built-to-order leaf packs. You sent them a bunch of info, and the build them to your needs. A lot of people like these.
http://www.alcanspring.com/

Add-a-Leaf (referred to as "AAL"). This in an extra leaf spring that is inserted into your existing leaf pack (one each side). It usually results in a minor lift, from what I understand.

Here are a coupls threads where we've been discussing this and asking people for their experiences with these options:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/81221-my-leaf-springs-shot.html

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1s...eelers-offroad-1st-gen-replacement-leafs.html

Axle wrap is another issue associated with the weak stock leaf springs. Here is a link about that, and there are many more under the suspension discussions:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/83443-axle-wrap-help-me-beat-dead-horse.html

Here is the group buy thread. Not sure that we are going to be able to pull it off, becuase we are almost at the deadline, and not many takers:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/gr...heelers-offroad-1st-gen-leaf-replacement.html

For the Bilsteins, search for Billie 5100. Wheelers Offroad and Down South Motor Sports, both TW vendors, sell them. Be aware that the two up front are the same, but the rear requires a different one on each side. Here they are at Wheeler's:
A lot of folks like OME (Old Man Emu) shocks and springs, too.

Hope this gives you what you needed. Happy hunting!

 

Uh, I'm a dumbass. I responded to your post before I read the last paragraph, so my response was a little off the mark. Please don't take offense; you have obviously done a lot of homework and know what you are talking about, and didn't need AAL 1A. Regardless, the links I provied to other threads have some useful discussion from others.

 

I just changed out my suspension in December to Bilsteins, Eibach springs, and an AAL from Toytec.com. So far, I'm pretty happy. I haven't pushed them hard off-road yet but for my daily driver its pretty nice. Very responsive. And all for way less than $1100.

 

i been in the game for a while, and my vote is with king coilovers up front, deaver j59 leafs in back on 5125 rear shocks in 9" travel...

go that route and be done with it...

it will handle the washboards with lil worry about breaks and leaks, and improve the on road handling and stability...

 

figure, if its solid enough to go through what i put it through, its solid enough to get you through the washboards...

best bet if you dont want to buy brand new, is find the guys around tax time who are upgrading to long travel as they dump their old parts pretty quick to prep for their builds...

MattNelson just went LT and he dumped his Icons for $750 obo...

 

actually, even less than that just wanted them gone...

mike is right, spend that little extra $$$ to get the best products and peace of mind. that way you only have to do it once

 

Worse than mine, which has a 200-lb cap on it. I have heard that once they go negative arch, it is too late for AAL, but someone else with more authority/experience should share...

 

you definitly would benefit more from a new leaf pack with that kind of sag and some new shocks for sure. do your truck a favor. an aal is more for the lift factor with leaf packs that arent sagging to bad. an aal on your truck would just make the ride rougher

 

I've done both the AAL and new leaf pack, but not in that order. When I first got my truck the leaves were shot, they looked like yours with no load at all, and 2 actually cracked. I bought new Alcans and a set of Billy HD's. The Alcans were custom made for me and I asked them to make an inch of lift to offset my 200lb+ cap. Just putting new shocks on the front actually gave it a bit of lift by itself, the originals had collapsed completely. It was a very nice ride, hell of an improvement.

Last October I had the frame replacement done and got brand new OEM springs in the rear, along with replacing the rear shocks. The brand new OEM's actually sagged a little with the cap on, so I got an AAL (1.5 inch) and installed that, now it sits a little past level, aprox. the same as a factory-new truck would sit. A little bit of rake in the back means that I can put a full load in it and it won't ride the bump stop anymore. The AAL's didn't hurt the ride at all, they actually improved it.

If I were to do it all again, I'd probably just buy the OME complete package from Wheelers for about $1000. It would have been the same price for me as buying all the components piece by piece. Trust me, even just putting new shocks on will improve your ride, but looking at your springs they are done, so whatever you do don't just add an AAL.