Tacoma Spring refurbishing

Ya know what Adam,,,, I've been wondering WHERE THE HELL YOU'VE BEEN ??..

What ?? Did you get married ?? WTF ??? if ya did congrats dude !!

No worries buddy I still got ya covered...

 

Haha no I wasn't the one getting marrie but one of my good friends. After the girl being out here, the party and the wedding my funds were just flat tapped out. But I'm back in the mod mode so maybe we can set a date a couple weekends from now and knock these suckers out

 

You got it dude !! As you can see a few more have jumped on board since I saw you last...

 

Doug, I do have 2 packs and am takin 2 from each of equal value from each for each side.. I was kinda thinkin outloud when i said i might do 3. Because i was kinda thinkin i might replace the 2nd leaf down and add 2 to the bottom still but then i figured i would rather only get 2 ish in lift and fix later than get 5 ish and be too stiff. I cut the springs accordingly (center pin off set at 6" ish.) I also did my best to cut them so they wereabout 3 " shorter on both ends to be like the first 3 in my pack. Since the ends of the bottom orig leaf has that clamp attached i had go a bit shorter cause i did not want my new leafs to ride on that clamp. I believe this gives enough room between the 2 tips to allow for max flex and stregth i think that if you were to make that gap too big the leaf above would have to flex sooo much beforethe one below it engaged.Not what i wanted so i found a happy medium.(in theory)

Im a ex cab 4x.

I cut the first donor at around 40 with center offset of course. and the 2nd very bottom spring at 32 inches(hadto do it this way as the donor did not allow for the 33 or so I wanted). I yeilded exactly on the button 3" over my orig. I have no vibes at all. I am very stink bug while i wait for my front to come in. I wanted to wait and see what i got out of this experiment before i ordered the front..... Also when i was talkin about diff in arc i meant that the 3rd leaf down i was using from left donor was different then the 3rd leaf down on the rt doner in arc only. Which was kinjda weird cause when both donors were assembled they were the same. BUT The leaf below that on both sides i used for 5th bottom leaf in my new pack was the same arc. So all came out precise when they were bolted to gether wioth center pin because the shortest of course is the stiffest so the different arced ones conformed to the lower, same arc ones. Also both sides yeilded the exact same ride height. NO taco lean .

Since I am handicapped from shoulder surgery I did one side at a time. I used ratchet straps to align/ squeeze the 2 new springs to my 3 old springs, Slid center pin in, bolted it, raised diff/axle up in to position and put ubolts on. My new leafs were close to 2 1/2" wide yet my u bolts slid over with hand force. All this with only one good arm to use was much more difficult than it sounds.My c-clamp took a dump on me on the first side hence the straps.I set it down, final torqued lugs and crapped myself with excitement at my 60 dollar 3" lift (NOT just THICK ASS aal) but actual upgrade in tensile strength.I dumped that upside down ol leaf. Then if ya check the other post i put up, I tested it out and all is VER VERY well.Excellent.The ride i was hoping for. Now that being said i still need to fully wheel it to see if i still have good upstroke. I know my droop has increased so thats cool. If i could find my dang plugin i would upload my photos rite now but gatta find it.
But i could have spent the going rate for some name brand leaf pack and if it rode like this I would have been stoked and considered it a win..
My donor leafs were most likely from a bronco. I think this because in all my trips to jy in the past month i found that most leafs that have a center pin that is actually in the center is usually from an SUV or std cab truck, but im not sure. Since im handicapped layin under a truck in the junk yard tryin to get old springs off was not what i really wanted to do. So I got lucky and found an ad on cl. They were posted for 70 bones but i told the kid the jy only wanted 40 so if he wouldnt do it for 40 i would drag my handicapped ass to the jy. He agreed. He bought them to directly bolt them on his isuzu dealy mabob and of course they werent the correct legnth.All he knew was they were a chevy.... They werent exactly arced like a U but rather were flattish in the center and sweeped up the last quarter or so on both sides. Honestly this is what i was looking for cause that i s kinda how the stockers are on my truckwhen off and unloaded. so they seemd appropriate I measured them according to the size i knew i was going to cut them and then looked at what kinda height gain i would acheive IF they were to maintain there form under load. juging by there thickness I figured they would and prolly settle 1 inch or so with the weight of my truck. So they sat at about 4" and i was corect in my guesstamate that they , after my first 3 leafs flexed with the weight of truck on them the 4th new leaf would drop roughly 1 ".


So i am very very pleased it worked out for me.!Could not be happier.As soon as i can figure out where my connecter is ima post a lil write up with pics.
And this thread should absolutely be a sticky( once we get some good details up) because it really isnt easy to find if you are like me and noob. It is very easy to find tons about what leaf pack to buy and even how to fab new hanger to put longer spgs on. but you find 20 pg of that before you find this so unless you are real determined you miss this and just throw 4/5/6 hundred in new leafs when really the same results can be acheived for like i said 60 bones. Oh and you might just get a bad spring or they sag to flat in a year, OR even though most folks got nice soft ones yours arestiff as hell or any combo of the above. I think this a great thing to try if nothing else before dumpin all that dough. This is literally my first MOD. my main cost was using my injured arm way more then i shoulda, i havent even started my therapy yet. I took it really easy on that arm but i really needed my pain meds after this venture. If are healthy it really isnt that hard as long as you like digging into stuff and wrenching. I order my front tomorrow and a t belt water pump kit. I hope that by next wk. ill have both on My tako has 195k on it. I love this truck but the susp is where it has always failed me.Not no mo.

 

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This is what I'm talking about folks...


You got my stamp of approval Matt & I got ya on the tech end info...

You gettin' some reps from me right now, nice way to start your stay at Tacoma World bro'....

 

FIXED YA BIG BABY !!!..



j/k I knew it was 2003, go figure, musta been a senior moment Chris..

So far there are these members running my springs:

1 myself 1st gen

2 Recklesstaco (matt)- 2nd gen

3 taco_me_elmo (micah) 1st gen

4 00taco00 (Reagan) 1st gen

5 CSJUMPER2003 (chris) 2nd gen 4x

6 Gregero (Greg) -2nd gen.

7 Donnod - 2nd gen (out of Las Vegas)

8 S.B. (Sean)-2nd gen. is getting ready to do this MOD also

9 Tmectaco79 (Adam) -2nd gen is pending

10 Fiddynut- 1st gen. he just did this

11 Enduromatic (matt) 1st gen (Oregon)


I feel confident anyone of these guys can give their feedback if you ask them

 

Yeah there's a lot more people. Probably cause everyone can't shell out the big time cash for a name on the springs. But that's a good thing isn't it?

 

Right on doug if you ever come round oregon to wheel, camp, fish or ride dirtbikes I'd like to meet ya man. you know i finally had the money to buy $450 springs, Now with the coin i saved not only can I proudly say yeah i built those myself(custom) but i can afford t belt and water pump kit to do myself, the recent tranny drain and fill, air filter, oil change and soon to be bed liner and headlamps are paid for . I can still probably buy an extra cv!!!!! and a tank of gas, 12 pack of mirror pond and me and my dog can go fishin, paint my rims and give my neighbor 10 buck for lettin me use his grinder heheh!!!! This whole thing will take off like a plane. the thread is movin rite up there after stickys in susp and soon this will be as regular mod as badging/de-badging.

What kinda surgeries did you have Doug? Were any of em labral repairs or anything where they grind the bone and drill anchors? Mine was Brutal! I am no stranger severe pain but DAMN post op was rough even with 3 percocet 10s every 4 hrs! Was like that for 3 wks solid maybe a month. I started feelin a bit better then we rolled our car on our way to colorado for christmas.Started all over agian. ehhhh. feel better now though. Havin 3 like that would have been misery dude!

 

Absolutely it is buddy !!

Theres a couple former san diego members that recently moved to Oregon

singlefin (richard) & derek (derekabraham) I haven't been to oregon in years love the place tho' mountains pines & FISH used to hit the Klamath alot, shit loads of trout in the rain, loved it!

my surgeries were the grinding kind I had subcromial impingements in both,had to have a shit load of bone shaved off, yeah POST OP was a bitch..

Eh, it may take off here, kinda doubt it tho' these kinds of MODS are more suited to the TTORA crowd (hate to say it but that group is a little more savvy & hands on, but then again its probably been beaten to death over there)

but ya never know, this MOD isn't for everyone because IT DOES require proper equipment & some mech. ability to be sucessful but its not that hard, I think the desire to try it is about the most important & expense $$$ def. is not a factor...

 

Has it been said in this thread what you guys are doing to your front ends after doing this mod? I mean if you guys are getting 2-3" of lift, it's gotta make the front look like it's nosediving, right?

Like I mentioned, I'd rather not get into lifting....

The other thing I can't figure out, my truck sits level right now. But how is that possible being that the rear springs are negative arch? The only thing that has been done to this truck (I bought it at 160,000) is it's had 31x10.50x15s put on it.

 

The fact that you say your truck is level, yet your springs are sacked underscores that fact, Tacoma "rake" is normal (rear end slightly higher than the front) In your case what I would do is keep the main leaf of course & replace the other leafs with thicker leafs with little to no arc, that'll firm up & improve the ride without lift ..

 

Ahh. Thanks a bunch. I didn't know that sort of rake was normal.

I'm not much of a mod guy. Matter of fact, I ripped out the K&N system and replaced it with stock. Took off the plastic bedliner and toolbox and just did a nice spray-in. Also planning on taking out the carpet and laying down rubber floor liners.

A truck is a tool for me. I like it to look nice, but I'm not all about the "chrome and bling". (Nothing wrong with that, and I LOVE to look at trucks who's owners DO like to trick 'em out.)

That said, this mod is something I'm very interested in. I'm sick of hitting the bumpstops when I have a load in the back. And as you say, if a little rake is normal, I'm cool with that. Just didn't want to have to go replacing a front end. $$$$

Thanks for the advice. I hope to do this in a couple of weeks with my brother in law. Never mechanick'ed much, but I did replace my radiator, new hoses and belts and put in a new front main seal 3 months ago. The only thing I have going for me is a lack of fear of taking things apart.

 

Oh I agree, to me my truck is also a tool, its also recreational, if you've seen any of my post or pics (other pics besides MOD pics) from trail runs,etc; you'd see i don't baby my truck at all, I dont beat it per say but I do drive it aggressively & make it work as i want it to. I'm no different than anyone else here as far as the Tacoma spring curse goes, this whole leaf build thing started a little over a year ago when I went over speed bumps,etc; & it would damned near bottom out ! I found it unacceptable & a little embarassing that it did this on bumps my hyundai or saturn handle with ease. So one morning got up went to my buddy's house & he had some leafs there off of a early Ranger, had decent arc, took them home,cleaned & cut them to length, put them on & the rest is history... absolutely THE best MOD I've done besides the grey wire MOD..

 

subb'd for awesomness and future modding.

 

Here are the pics of my spring build!

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Cut to my desired length and painted for good measure. Notice the 2 on the right are same length but holes are in diff spot. The furthes right is upside down i did this to show the offset the 2000 ex cab has in stock springs.So i cut mine accordingly. 4th new leaf down was cut at 40" and the bottom leaf was cut at 32". So the 40" was 17" front end and 23" rear end from center pin and so on.


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Pre - cutting, sanding em up and scoring measurements.


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An example of the arcage. The donor springs were about 3 mm thicker than my stockers.


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This is what i meant Doug. The leafs in front are the new 2 pack im addin and the rear is the other new 2 pack. See how the top was nt arced the same. It troubled me a bit but i bolted them together and the 2 new packs were identical so i stopped worryin bout it.


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The rear end of the new 2 pack. Notice the donors i chose were the right length so that i only had to cut the fronts of them and got to keep the donors built in friction pads and clamps.


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The fronts of the new pack. I had to cut this end and i just stuck the anti friction pads on there with adhesive. You get an idea of difference in length i opted for. I based my decision on how sturdy my new donors seemed.If they werent so stout i would have made the differences in length less.


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My new 2 pack bolted to gether to make sure one last time all measurements were good and arc matched up. When measuring a concaved item it is very easy to not measure accurately.


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Wheel off, u-bolts off stock pack apart(needed to grind center pin out, it was rusted too bad) and new 2 pack just about to go on!


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A lil put your back into it and vioala. I know the pic is caca but before my rear was identical to my front. look at the gap diff!!! 3 inches dead on the money! Also I have decided to only go about 2.25 in the front to maintain some stinkbug. I prefer being able to haul somethin and ride about level to 50 lbs in the back and your saggin like a cholo fresh outta prison.



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See how the new pack holds an arc!
The ride is seriously exactly what i was looking for. Firmer, able to carry 2-5 hundy better than stack ever could yet not stiff and still flexy to go offroadin . I managed to get that. I was fortunate as this was really an educated guess as to how strong the new donors are.I could tell they were beefier but without my trucks rear end on it its hard to tell how they would act.

So now I am doin the measuring for my new shocks. The ones i have on can go down the road but obviously i need longer ones. Then i will be adding "budget" bumpstops to accomadate all properly. Which brings me to a question for ya Doug, With my truck just sittin there my measurement is 20.5 eye to eye for my shocks. I was wondering what size billies you used since i think our lifts came very close to the same.Were you able to get enough length to where your droop stops and you still have travel left? And for you compressed length is there even a chance they could bottom out.? Any info on your lengths ride heights, full droop and compressed would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the reps Doug i just figured out what that meant.!!!
Hope this helps any one out there who wants to this here thingy majigger.

 

If you look at the pass. side wheel is obliviously full droop (2ft. in the air it better be) now look at driverside rear, i still have roughly 2" + of travel in shock.

 

That said, my 5125's are not spec. to accomodate a 3" lift, but they do, barely, as it is the little Chevy spring i put on the bottom has to come off because the slight lift it gives max's them out

 

ah i see , i saw that photo earlier but i wasnt real sure if you drivers side was "fullly compressed. i think im going for the 9.5 of travel or maybe 9.25. that puts the compressed length in a good range and the extended at 25. I know that the omes longest rear is only 23" extended. So those arent an option for me.that looks like a nice trail Doug. Man i went to order my front end today and doh wheelers doesnt take call on friday for some reason. Im waitin till mon day. cool thing is they are drivable distance from me so no shipping cost! oh Doug, dude what were ya doin to need 3 shoulder surgeries? Was it just failed repairs or are you dead lifted tacomas to get ripped!?!?!?!

 

Do yourself a favor Matt, try to get some shocks with 10"-10.5" of travel instead, give yourself a buffer, a little more travel.

Haha, no not dead lifting toyotas, lets call it almost 30 years of humping BIG HVAC duct work (all commercial) just too many years of being a human forklift I reckon...

 

I love this one....