Can a 1.5" AAL be modified into a 1" AAL?

Such as by shortening it/cutting off some length from each end? Or would shortening it muck up the ride quality/stiffness somehow?

Trying to figure a way to get .75" or 1" rear lift without using blocks. So far none of the spring shops that I have called sound like they know what they are doing or talking about regarding making custom AAL's for a Taco, so that doesn't seem to be an option.

So I wonder if there is a way to modify a 1.5" AAL to provide slightly less lift. Anyone have knowledge or experience with this?



p.s., I'm running 5100's set at .85" in front, which is why I don't want a full 1.5" in back.

 

Just use the 1.5, after a few months it will settle anyway. Might start out a little higher than you want, but in the end it will settle in where your aim is.

 

One half of an inch doesn't really matter does it? FWIW, I would not feel comfortable altering the AAL.

 

Leave the aal at 1.5 and it will settle down after a while and if it sits to high in the rear just lift the front little higher

 

Is there any way I could change the arch radius of a set of 1.5" AAL's by compressing them somehow to make them closer to 1"?

Of course I would have no way of knowing how much to flatten them to give the desired result.

Guess I'll just run 1.5" AAL's and sit a little more ass-high than I want to.

 

have a fat chick sit in the bed

 

Would that significantly reduce my mpg's?

 

In most cases, if the AAL is advertised to give you 1.5" - then it'll give you approx 1.5" after settling. When you first install it....it could give you 2" or more.

Put 200lbs in the bed for a month and that'll help it settle down.

Besides that..... 1/2" isn't much at all. You won't even notice it.

Arching leaf springs can be done but its expensive and (for the most part) they don't hold their shape over time and can sag. Re-arching an AAL would be even worse...and the end result might be worse than if you left them alone.

 

Crap. I def don't want 2"! Do you happen to know if there are certain AAL makes that underexaggerate vs. overexaggerate their claims of lift height?

 

Get a 34" inch one from Fat Bobs Garage and use a cutting torch to take a few inches off each side. That should accomplish your goal. Wheeler's aal is only 24 inches so even if you had to cut off as much as 10 inches it would still be ok.

 

Thanks for the info Bobcat.

I decided to order the wheelers 3 leaf aal, as I have done some searching and read a number of posts that claim that the 3 leaf typically provids slightly less than 1.5" for double cabs. We shall see. Worst case scenario is I have to put a fat chick in my bed.

 

Why not just raise the 5100's to 1.75? Seems easier and cheaper (costs nothing)...

When in doubt use the KISS method.

 

I wish I could. It's a long story, but I have front diff vibe issues (shot diff bearing) and 1.75" would make them unbearable. I have minor vibes at even .85" but they are slight and intermittent enough that I can live with them.

 

How do you know? Are you assuming here or have you tried?

 

I'm assuming.....but I had severe vibes at 2.5" and currently have minor vibes at .85", so I'm guessing that 1.75" would be something in between. I definitely don't want to have worse vibes than I have right now.

 

I have minor vibes at 2.5. Are you sure they're coming from the front? I can feel mine in the floor/seat which means mine are coming from the rear end/driveshaft

 

Yeah, I'm sure. I haven't done anything to lift the back yet and the vibes appeared immediately after lifting the front, and then disappeared immediately after I temporarily unlifted the front back to stock ride height.

These are the types of vibes that disappear immediately upon switching to 4Hi -- classic front diff diagnosis.

I may try out the 1.75" setting when I have some spare time. One of the main things preventing me from trying it is the cost of an alignment.

 

I put 5100's on mine, set at 2.5 in the front and it gave me the exact lift as claimed. Then we put the non tsb ToyTec AAL in the rear,it should have given us a 2 inch lift, but instead,it ended at 3.75 inches. That was with an ARE contractor cap, all my work equipment, and two fiberglass ladders on top, I figure over 500 pounds total. So for the last month I added 200 pound of sand bags to the tailgate area, trying to get the darn things to settle in. I just measured earlier tonight, still above 3.75 total lift on that AAL, any ideas how long it takes to settle, I hate running around with 200 pounds of sand in the back.

 

Hey macgyver, I bumped my struts up to 1.75" tonight... vibes are slightly (but not substantially) worse than they were at .85". I definitely can live with them.

Plus I haven't gotten an alignment yet, so they may be slighlty better after I get the alignment done tomorrow.

Thanks for the kick in the butt to give that height setting a try.