Maybe too much leaf springs?

I bought my truck and a couple years ago and I noticed it has 10 leaf springs on each side. Why? The guy I bought it from mentioned they used it as a work truck sometimes to haul concrete up the mountain but 10 leaf springs? That seems excessive. It already came with a 2.5 Icon w Remote Res. I’m thinking of doing the 63 swap to (A) increase suspensions travel and (B) to allow me to have a softer ride while having an empty bed. What are y’all’s thoughts. These pictures are with my current setup. Still flexes quite a bit.

 

My personal preference is to maximize available travel(up as well as down) without bottoming out. Too soft and it rides low and bottoms, too stiff and it rides high with not enough flex. Both result in you and the truck taking excessively harsh hits and diminished travel. These trucks seem excessively soft stock as if designed to ride empty or with a minimal load. Looks like yours is modded toward the other extreme and could be dialed back some to level it and improve the ride. How much I’ve no idea since I went the air bag route in part to remove the guesswork but it has some downsides. Lots of threads on leaf pack choices and I’m sure others will chime in on them.

 

Some aftermarket companies put 10 or 11 leafs in their leaf springs which increases payload. Makes sense since they were hauling concrete. Probably had a 500lb payload capacity. Mine has 10 leafs and is pretty bouncy unloaded but adding weight is when it rides smooth.

 

Do you happen to know which ones?

 

10 thin leaves is way better than 5 thick leaves

 

The ones I'm using are AllPro Expedition leaf springs which have 10 leafs. I used to run the Standard versions which have 11. OME I think has 8 leafs.

 

I put Deaver U402 Stage IIIs, rated at 700-1000 lb load capacity on my 2014 AC 4.0L MT. I believe they also have 10 leaves. Mind you this is with FOX 2.5 Perf. Elites on all 4 corners, DSC knobs set to about 3 or 4 out of 10 for damping. (All provided by Accutune Offroad, highly recommend them. I did the install myself.)

Gives about a 2.5" lift on the rear. Here it is loaded with a 1200 lb pallet of bathroom floor/wall tile. A mix of 8mm and 10mm porcelain and natural stone tile, 24" x 48" slabs. The rear utility shell & lumber rack add another 300 lbs, and I had at least 150 lbs of tools etc. also in the back. ~1650 lbs of cargo. This kind of load would probably cause a stock Taco to hit the bump stops, unsafe to drive.

I don't haul this much weight routinely but it greatly adds to the overall value of the truck to be able to load it heavily when I want to.

With the heavy Deaver springs I drove the cargo ~30 miles over surface streets and Bay Area freeways in various states of disrepair. Excellent load control & handling, no bottoming out on potholes or speed bumps, the thing rides like a lightly-loaded full-sized pickup. Safe freeway cruising at 70-75mph.

 

From a performance perspective, yes, but durability is compromised, because the top leaf is thinner. I've seen the All-Pro Expedition pack's top leaf fracture.