The Lumpskie Build - '96 5-speed

Thanks for both of those. +1
Squishy feeling could be from people that swapped from less agressive all terrains or street tires maybe? I've heard people say that mud terrains and the like feel squishy compared to slicks due to the fact that there is less rubber touching the road with the MT's or in this case duratracs?

 

^You know, that could be... Maybe the deep tread blocks could contribute to it as well. All I know is that I drive my truck like it's a sports car and the tires feel fine to me. I'm going wheeling tomorrow, so I'll post up how the duratracs perform off road after I get back.

 

Thanks man!

 

So, here's a contributor to some of the binding in my rear suspension. You can see how the spring pack is tweaked, with the bottom leafs sticking out.







So, I straightened the pack out as you can see here:





We'll see if this improves my suspension's behavior...

 

Mmm..might..doubt it thou. My AALs are crooked all the time. If the leafs are literally twisted then you have problems.

 

yeah, my leaves are also always crooked as well.....way worse than yours were. haha


Sweet build btw! I LOVE the removable front winch/bumper.

 

Well, it looks like you might be right... I think that the main leaf is twisted a bit. Some of the binding was relieved and the springs flex better in their range of motion. But I didn't get any more travel. I'll just keep saving for those Orbit Eyes...

Thanks man! I really need to get around to building the rear bumper to match. Looks like you and Blackdawg were right. The suspension still binds quite a bit. I'm thinking about getting the Alcan Orbit Eyes. I know that you've got the Johnny Joints in your rear... Do you think the orbit eyes would help my problem?

 

Went wheeling today.

 

More pics:








Here are some climbers... if you can see them.

 

You removed your sway bar too right??

 

Yes sir. Why do you ask?

 

Doesn't look like it when you were flexing on that rock..

 

Might not (probably not) cure the binding, but definitely will help!

 

Yeah, I can see how it looks like. I cranked up my coilovers and lost some front travel but I wasn't anywhere near flexed out in the pic.

Here's the old full compression compared to the newto show the difference in flex. As you can see the first pic is against the bump stop on the LCA and the second isn't quite there. My hope is that over time the springs will continue to break in and I'll get that little bit of travel back.

Old:


New:

I was hoping that getting a non-twisted leaf with relief against twist, would be enough to fix my bind but things don't go the way I plan with this truck...

So what do you think would be the best solution? Do you think my current leaf is twisted?

 

The only way to tell for sure if the leaf is twisted would be to pull the leaf pack out and check the alignment of the spring eyes. if the front eye isn't level with the rear eye, then you've got some twist.

If there is twist, the solution would be to send the leaves to someone like National Spring to get re-arched and hopefully straightened out. Or replace the leaves with a new spring pack. Or I suppose you could try just replacing the main leaf. Personally if it were me, and there was twisting it would tell me that there is a pretty high level of fatigue on the springs already and might be time for new leaves.

 

BoxRocket... You're making me wonder if it's the truck that's twisted. The pack seemed pretty straight when it was last out.

Is there an easy way to check for frame twist?

 

Yeah, take it to a frame shop.

 

Hmmm... it seemed like the eyes were in line when I had the spring off last time. I guess I'll just pull it again to be sure. When I will find the time... there's the question.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/suspension/194386-tacoma-spring-refurbishing.html

 

Thanks Toastyjosh. I think I need to get a solid plan for my springs... hopefully in the next few weeks. Junkyard rebuild is definitely on the table right now.