Tacoma Spring refurbishing

sub'd

 

Alright so let me see if I got this all straight. The idea for a refurb without lift is to reuse the main leaf so your shackle points align then find old Chevy springs to replace all the other springs. Once you clean up the old springs and piece it together the set should bolt in and voila, you are set with a stronger rear end.

Now a couple questions:, which may have been answered in the previous 46 pages but I probably slept through those pages.
1- What exactly are you looking for in the springs , more curves or certain size? How can you tell if the Chevy leaf springs are good? My springs are not doing so hot but if you take all weight off them they look ok.
2- How much shorter do you want each additional spring?
3- What are the biggest issues that have been noted through all this?
4- I have seen that some have kept the overload spring while others have ditched it... Is there a reason either way other than you should ever need it?

 

Got an awesome set of '76 chevy 3/4 ton donor leaves. Been working on them all weekend to clean them up. broke em down, sanded, primer and paint. Now just to figure out which ones to use....

 

Good to hear !! It's not too hard really, look for the leafs that have even ARC (within reason) & remember to cut them sequentially,,

Are you adding to existing leafs or are you building off the main ??

Put up a couple pics.....

 

If your looking to just firm up your ride without lift look for slightly thicker springs with little ARC to them...

Good springs have even ARC with no bends or bulges.

There have been no issues to date as far as I know, if a better/firmer ride is an issue, it'd be the only one...

For those who go for a susp. upgrade with lift, removing the overload will reduce overall lift by about 1" for 1st gens. & 3/4" for 2nd gens. The only reason I'd suggest leaving the overload on is for those who tow heavy & often....

You can go back to sleep now....

 

Instead of centering off of the original center pin hole and having to cut to length, can I just drill another hole to make them centered and not off-set and keep the length? The donors I have are hella arc'ed, and I really dont know how many to put in and at what length. I'll try to put up some pics this evening of the leaves. The packs I got were in great shape, a little rusty but otherwise nice. Guy told me seventy bucks and he would pull them out. Hard to beat.

 

Oh, sorry Doug, didn't answer yer question in that last response. I was planning on keeping the main and ditching everything else, just don't know whether to use two or three of the donors. I'm really only looking for around 2 or 2.5 inches of lift, and would like to keep the ride civil. I was thinking about putting in a 48" donor, followed by a 38", and then a 28".

 

Here is a pic of some of the new springs. BIG arc, I think. Alot more than wats on fo sho.

 

Sorry, haven't figured out how to put up multiple pics. This pic gives you a better view of the curve of these leaves. Planning on dropping the stock Toyota overload as well.

 

Wow, yeah , nice ARC for sure.. Your cut lengths are pretty much right, I think you may want to think about keeping the secondary spring (the one with bushing wrap) adding the 38" Donor & the 28" Donor & dumping the overload, kinda hard to gauge it without seeing them but sounds like your on the right track....

 

Reason I say that is, it looks like maybe you'll shoot over 3" if you added 3 or more Chevy leafs to the main..

 

Thanks OMD! That's what I'll go with for starters and see where that gets me. Do you think I can just drill a new center pin hole in the donor leaves? The present holes are offset and I would like to keep the lengths I have, just didn't know if two holes within 4 inches or so would weaken the leaves.

 

I've gotten a few questions regarding drilling on leafs, its probably not a huge issue but wouldn't recommend doing so, cutting leaf ends to length is one thing , removal of metal within the leaf does reduce the integrity

somewhat..

 

I figured it would be too easy... but better safe than sorry! Thanks for the reply

 

No problem dude....

 

Not trying to cut into your profit Doug, but if my Chevy leaves work out with my truck I'm gonna have 3 more pairs of leaves that should work with other Tacomas. I have no use for them other than scrap, and I think they can be put to better use. Anyone that wants to do this mod and needs some springs let me know.

 

No worries, the original intention of this thread was a leafspring MOD, money didn't enter the picture until members started requesting quotes from me to build for them....

 

Cool. I appreciate all the help and I'm sure everyone else does too. The rear suspension was always the weak link in my truck, and I can't wait to be able to carry a load again without riding on the 'stops. I'll post pics when it happens. Thx again

 

Thanks bro' & please DO post some pics , I encourage anyone who has either done this MOD or gotten them directly from me, or whoevers truck I've done personally to put up some pics...

 

Hello good sir,
My rear end needs some help! Whoa! let me rephrase that, my truck's rear end needs some much needed help.
Here are some pics of my truck's springs. They are toasted! I have the TSB spring on there and I want to beef the rear up a bit for hauling when on camping trips (baja races) and at the same time level it out with the front. I have approx. a 1.75" lift upfront (OME 885 coils with 5100's at 0). Right now with the way the springs are, the rear is slightly lower than the front - though I haven't measured it to be precise. I wouldn't mind the rear being slightly higher than the front.

What is your suggestion? are these springs still salvageable with the assistance of some junkyard springs? What should I get? how many should I put on? what length?

Thanks Doug! I really appreciate any input you can give me.

EDIT: Not that it matters all that much, but I mistakenly put Eibach 885's when in reality they are OME 885's.
Also, I'll take measurements of the front & back this afternoon.