How much flex in leaf pack at rest?

They are not sagged, they are normal. And are you inferring 5100s somehow support the weight of the truck? Because that would be inaccurate.

 

I see an arch upwards, which coincides with the ride and the age of the vehicle.

The 5100's are a suggest for ride quality paired with an add-a-leaf.

 

What do you guys think about installing air bags to deal with the sag from the boat, rather than upgrading the leaf pack? I’m concerned it may be too stiff when I’m driving around without the boat.

This has been suggested to me before but I have zero experience with the concept.

 

As i understand it, airbags are probably the best choice for your application, since your concern is towing. Pretty sure most airbags are adjustable no? So you could lower the pressure/stiffness when not towing, and bump it up when needed?

Not too sure myself as I've never used or even looked into them. But i've seen quite a few members on here do em, and my buddy with a RAM with airbags swears by it for towing/hauling

 

Yep that’s pretty much the idea, manually inflate them before hooking up to the boat trailer, deflate them after I park her back at the house.

A shop owner I talked to even mentioned leaving a little air in them when unloaded for a little bit of added ride smoothness. He was very negative on the idea of adding to the leaf pack and thought I’d dislike the stiffer ride when unloaded.

The man has more business than he can handle, so I’ll take him at his word.

 

I can say personally, I went with the icon RXT leaf pack replacement. Started at option 1 as all I had was a bed rack and skids/sliders. Moved up to option 2 for a camping trip so I could mount the tent and load the bed without a bunch of sag. Now I’m at option 3 with a front/rear bumper, full size spare, winch. P much all the fixings. At no time did I ever think it was too stiff, but I did notice the changes as I moved up. I’ve been driving around with my tent on lately, but plan to take it down and still ride around on option 3

that being said, I did come from a WRX which was a very stiff ride. So I can put up with a decent amount of abuse.

I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with airbags though. Definitely a solid alternative

 

I have the Firestone ride rite airbags and they are great for towing. I also have an AAL to pair with a lift up front ~2.5” all around with 5100s and am happy with the setup. I’ll also air them up if I’m weighted down in the bed for my fishing / camping trips to the coast. In my opinion they’re great ... It sounds like you’re not interested in the lift so I’d recommend the bags.

 

Funny thing is, I had a WRX in my 20’s. That was a sweet car.

Do you mind sharing why you upgraded to the 5100’s/AAL setup? And why you wanted a lift?

 

My truck was stock for 15 years. Daily driver with a ton of trips to the coast for surfing / fishing but I was only putting on ~6k miles / year. I went to an off-road park (not much public OHV land in TX) and my son and I couldn't have had more fun ... I hadn't done anything to the truck other than routine maintenance so I went up a size 265/75/16, added a pretty basic Bilstein setup from HS Off-road and figured I'd enjoy learning about the installation and mechanics of the suspension. We try to hit that park every 3-6 weeks, have a trip to CO in July, so the wish list is now continuing to grow. If you do take it off-road, I'd recommend adding the daystar cradles to the bags -- allows your truck to flex as much as possible w/o worrying about the bags. Good luck!

 

What is the tongue weight of the trailer?

Airbags are a payload/leveling solution but if you are pushing the rear axle limit a weight distribution hitch is a better solution for towing since it transfers weight off the rear axle forward to the front axle of the tow vehicle and back to the trailer axle(s).

With a properly set WD hitch my truck sat level when towing a trailer with a 600lb tongue weight with the factory leaf pack.

 

The boat is on a custom two-axle trailer that’s designed for proper weight distribution. I believe the tongue weight is in the 400-450 pound neighborhood but I would have to verify. It may even be slightly less.

 

Lol, I did the same, last vehicle before the Taco was a WRX and had the same reaction, "what bad ride?" I guess I must have burned out all of the nerve endings in my ass in that car.

 

The stock 6lug springs are slightly negative arch sitting on the dealer lot, from base to TRD Pro
The reason for this is the Tacoma suspension is a compromise from the old 5-lug days when they made two different suspensions, 5-lug were low and spring under the axle
(To check your current height vs stock, use the Archive method and measure from top of the axle tube up to bottom of frame rails, stock is about 8.25" there)

 

For a better ride, check out Archive Hammer hangers, the stock hangers are super flexible, like another spring, and it lets the rear end bounce on the perfectly fine leaf springs
Hammer hangers and stock springs are a great combo for ride and corner handling, gets more composed and direct like a car