No go on the new Springs, any ideas?

So here is the thing, I have an 06 Tacoma TRD-OR. WIth really bas rear leafs. The previous owner never really loaded it, and never noticed that it was an awful ride and it's inability to carry a load.
I brought the truck in to get my AC compressor replaced Whcih was covered under the extended warrenty. But they denied my springs because I am at 46K miles.

The thing is, i use the truck for work ( despite its not a great work truck ) and i load it quite often, and it would be nice to have a stiffer rearend. the New toyota springs, and bolts will cost me $1500, plus a half day for me to swap them out.

So are there any other options? A cheaper way to get what i need out of my truck? And as a side note, if i knew i couldn't lay dry wall or plywood between the wheel wells i wouldnt have purchased this truck, i guess i should have asked not assumed. But it's paid off and my wife will murder me if I try to go back to a big one...
Anyway back to what i was saying? Add-a-leafs? airbags? mild lift? anyone have a good not 1500 fix for the rear end of my baby truck?

help me out here!!

thanks in advance!

 

Toytec offers a cheap AAL.

 

Yea it sounds like you have the 3 pack leaf instead of the 4 pack. There is a TSB for them, unfortunatly you're out of the factory warrenty period. However you might wanna try a few stealerships with the extended warrenty coverage, I think a few people have been successful in getting it done anyway after the 36k. Once you get the the 4 pack or drop in the toytec like derek suggested, you should be fine. At 46k nothing else should need swapped out...

 

Thats what I tried, that was my third dealership to try to get them swapped. Despite I have the Extended warrenty, the TSB states you only have to 36K miles. And in this economy no one wants to take the hit.

I think I might call corporate and complain to them for a while, and see if they will crack, if not I will have to figure something out.

 

airbags bolt in cost $239 from firestone if i recall, springs cost around $500 i think, and you can shop for variations like 11 springs and longer travel, or more oem like.

 

You can get an AAL from Toytec for $79.99 per pair.

 

I tow a boat and installed an Air Lift system before I knew about the TSB. The bags alone are about $200. and work very well as is and mount in existing holes in the frame. (Pic is post TSB).



I installed the fill valves next to the gas cap.

Edit - Hindsight being 20/20, I should have mounted the valves a bit higher behind the door catch. The gas cap has to come off to fill the inner valve as is...



The air volume is so small in these, it was hard to adjust the pressure as you lose about 5 lbs. by just checking them so I bought the compressor too. It was another $200. I didn't want to make holes inside the cab so I installed everything in the rear fender well and the controls in the bed cubby. Now at the touch of a button, I can add up to 100 lbs of air pressure (or about 3" of lift) and they can be individually adjusted so no more Taco lean either.



The tongue weight on this trailer is about 400 lbs. and at 40/45 lbs. of air pressure, it tows perfectly level now.

 

www.fatbobsgarage.com has AAL's for $39.99 and up.

 

I like that air bag setup! ! !! !!!

 

I recommend the Toytec 1.5" AAL.

I had the same problem, I was out of warranty and could not get the leaf spring TSB. The AAL stopped my truck from bottoming out.

 

That Air Bag set up is REALLY REALLY nice, how much did it all run you? I'm not trying to spend a small fortune, but love the fact that you can adjust them. The AAL is nice and cheap and might be the way to go. I load my bed with tools, and material mostly and the AAL will probably do it for me, I will have to get a trailer because I did the math, and since i have no payment on my truck, it doesn't pay to sell it to get something bigger again (not to mention my wife WILL kill me if i sell this to go back to what i had)...So i will have to make it work for me. And I will just get a small trailer for the really heavy loads of brick, gravel ect. I do like that it drives well, is comfortable and is a rugged toy, and I can probably get another 5 years out of it taking care of it.

With the 1.5" AAL does it make your truck sit very high when it's not loaded? How was the install? Just bolt on?

I am liking the AAL are less then $100 bucks!!!!

 

I found the airbags at truckaddons.com for $189. shipped. They are Air Lift #59561.
I found the load controller on Ebay for $209. shipped. It is A/L #25812.

At 5 psi, (which they maintain automatically and are adjustable with the load controller) the air bags sit as stock.

AAL = Your butt will sit high without lift in the front.

 

thats bullshit cuz its at 46k miles.tell them to change the fucking springs.they should last alot longer than 46k miles. why should you spend money to fix their fuck up??i'm really starting to hate toyota and their bullshit service.

 

I just did some searching, I like those airbag setups. I really like the adjustability of them, so i can bump it up when I am carrying a load, and lower it down when I need to, I would do the same setup so the controller is in the cubby or in the tool box in the bed,
and for $400 that's not too bad. How do you release the air? Also Can you set them to run a certain pressure ( lets say i want to maintain 15lbs all the time)

I lke the AAL because they are super cheap, but I hate AAL, especially because I don't plan on adding any lift up front, Maybe someday, but right now I don't really need it, and don't want the tail end sitting 2 inches higher than it alreayd does.

 

Nice write up for the bags, i thought i wanted em , now im sure. Just wondering if axle droop stock is safe for the bags? or no stress

 

Yea, I am really liking the airbag setup. For 1. I don't have to remove the leaf packs, 2. As much as i'd love to lift the truck I will NEVER do the front so with the AAL it will always sit hight. 3. If I do lift the front i can just up the air pressure in the rear. 4. The loads i carry will always vary, and this is a nice option.

 

The rocker switch on the control panel operates the compressor and pumps air to them together. The two buttons below the rocker switch release air for each side to make them adjustable. The two minimum pressure sensors (mounted beside the control panel in the cubby) come set at 5 psi and are individually adjustable up to 10 lbs. to accomodate the two or three different air bag systems that A/L offers. They don't say it if can be adjusted further but is done by turning a screw so may be able to adjust higher...??? I don't know.
I added a switch on the dash to kill power if for some reason a line breaks and the compressor wants to keep running. So far, they have worked perfectly.

 

They must have minimum 5 psi to be safe. At that psi, they sit as stock and droop like stock.

 

I think that's the set up I am going to go with, I don't need the entire controler in the cab. its tight enough in there i don't need that as well, but I will make a nice spot for it in the tool box or cubby, I think I might add an additional switch in the cab to add air, just in case i am driving and want to stiffen it up a little.

 

nice write up i might look into doing that on mine. thanks for the idea