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While installing AAL, discovered cracked leaf spring need some help

Discussion in '1st Gen. Tacomas (1995-2004)' started by Nacho96, Feb 17, 2024.

  1. Feb 17, 2024 at 11:27 AM
    #1
    Nacho96

    Nacho96 [OP] Member

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2023
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    Male
    First Name:
    TJ
    Vehicle:
    1996 Tacoma 3.4 V6 4x4
    Doing an AAL and Bilstein 5100 install this weekend and this site has been super useful, but I'm having trouble figuring out a solution to my current issue. I installed the front/rear bilstein on the passenger side and an AAL last night. Plan was to do the same to the driver side today. I pulled the rear tire off and discovered a a crack in my leaf pack :(.
    This is my daily driver, and luckily I have access to another car right now but I lose that access on Monday afternoon and I have to get to school. So I really need to get this job done.
    The crack is in the middle leaf and held on by the brackets on the outside edges of the leaf pack. If i ordered a new leaf pack right now, I wouldn't get it in time for school so I'm kind of stuck. This would also mean redoing the whole passenger side and would be costly. (annoying)

    So my question is, can I go to a salvage yard or look on marketplace for a 1st gen leaf pack and pull that middle leaf out of there then install it into my leaf pack? If so, how do I go about doing this? Also, the brackets holding the outer portion of the pack together, what are they connected to the leafs by? How do I go about removing them and is this something I'll need to replace? Is there an option I'm missing?
    Thanks in advance.

    IMG_1318.HEIC.jpg
    IMG_1319.HEIC.jpg
     
  2. Feb 17, 2024 at 11:52 AM
    #2
    fxntime

    fxntime Well-Known Member

    Joined:
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    2015 Tacoma off road TRD and 2014 FJC
    If you are going to buy one leafpack, buy two and do it right.
     
  3. Feb 17, 2024 at 11:58 AM
    #3
    Nacho96

    Nacho96 [OP] Member

    Joined:
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    Messages:
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    Male
    First Name:
    TJ
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    1996 Tacoma 3.4 V6 4x4
    Well I'm trying to avoid buying a leaf pack at all because of the shipping time and cost. That's why I was wondering if I could just pull a single leaf out of another pack and replace it with my broken leaf.
     
  4. Feb 17, 2024 at 12:07 PM
    #4
    Bishop84

    Bishop84 Well-Known Member

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    They are all fatigued and ready to break. Putting in one fresh will strain them as well.

    Sorry but you need two new packs.
     
  5. Feb 18, 2024 at 11:26 AM
    #5
    leid

    leid Well-Known Member

    Joined:
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    Brandon, MS
    Vehicle:
    1997 V6 Tacoma 4x4 & 2020 V6 Tacoma TRD 4x4
    ECGS & ZUK diffs w lockers/Marlin R150F/NITRO axles/winches
    OP,
    I just finished rebuilding my original leaf packs after an AAL broke due to 10 years of use/abuse. From what I can see, repairing your spring packs would just be a temporary fix. As previously posted, you need new spring packs on both sides. Even my original '97 spring packs with only 136K miles on them were marginal and will be replaced once I find exactly what I need from General Spring or another well-vetted brand. In the long run, it would have been more economical to just get new spring packs to start with. But I had not done enough research to correctly choose the best suited spring packs for my off-roading uses.

    Rebuilt original '97 V6 Taco Xcab spring pack with DEAVER 1.5-2" AAL and new Energy bushings:
    Rebuilt Leaf Pack with new DEAVER 1.5-2 inch AALs.jpg
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2024

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