Tacoma Spring refurbishing

Width wise, the early bronco and 2nd tacoma springs are basically the same width

 

I must've not completely understood what you meant earlier. So is it you want to put the Ford leakpacks on a 2nd gen. ?? If it is , it'll involve relocating (shortening distance between shackle/hanger) shackle /hanger ends & you'll need to cut & shorten your driveshaft as well, & I'd think you'd have to shorten up brakelines (the hardlines on frame rail) probably some other minor hardware changes as well...

 

I have this page with a lot of different springs all together if you guys need it. It doesn't list Tacos' on there but generalspringkc.com, like Randy says, has the specs for ours. I used 73-87 Chevy C20 springs on my truck, they do great for this mod. http://littlekeylime.com/MrN/mrnimages/leaf_springs.png

 

@yoterdude- are you saying that the springs on the page that you shared to us can work on second generation Tacoma?

 

would shorter leaf springs (i.e., ford bronco leafs on a second gen tacoma) increase the chances of axle wrap?

 

Has anyone went with the Dakota leafs on a second gen? I'm wanting to set my Billies on the front at 1.75. I'm trying to stay level to a little bit of rake would this be correct? How many leafs? Sorry its a Double Cab Short bed.

 

Not sure who has done Dakotas on 2nd gen. just remember theres a Dakota with SUA as well as SOA, but i don't remember which years are what....

 

If anything a shorter spring would reduce or eliminate axle wrap

 

Anything older than 1996 I can confirm as SUA. Not sure when they changed after that though.

 

There you are !! I knew someone had used them, have you put those on yet ??

 

Please forgive me as I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but Doug, do you sell leaf packs or do you just show others how to make their own?

 

Unfortunately not. Hoping to get them on next weekend. My wife has been using my truck to move things for work these pst weeks. Looking forward to getting them in though. Fingers crossed for next weekend. Will post up the results.

 

Hey Doug will springs from a 2001 Chevy 2500 work? Or do I keep looking

 

Hey Doug. now that my leafs have settled in I'm .5 shorter in the rear than the front. Do you think adding one of those extra leaf ' s would bring it back up or put me with a rake. A .5 rake won't bother me but a 1.5 will surely make a difference. Just for reminder I used 1 f250 leaf from a 90 ' s model. I have 3 more for each side at the house

 

Yeah you can either add another or pull one out & check your remaining donors for one with possibly a liitle more ARC (alor of leaf packs are put together this way) But I think 1 more per side will probably put you at a slight rake, not bad at all really..

 

Here's how I did mine. I got a pair of stock Tacoma rear leafs from a guy for free as well as a pair of 90's Chevy 3/4-ton rear leafs ( 63" ) for free on the same day. I took baseline measurements and then blew the packs apart and put them back together mixing the Chevy leafs with the Tacoma leafs.

I cut the Chevy leafs to fit, removed the spring clamps, ditched the overloads and installed new universal sheet metal spring clamps that the guys at 4WP gave me for free.

So now I have progressive 5-leaf packs which netted 4" of rear lift after settling.

The stock shocks were way too short so I got a pair of 10" travel Pro Comp shocks and built a rear upper crossmember from 1.75" DOM tubing and some shock mounts I had laying around.

I didn't have to mess with the BPV at all. The ride is much more responsive than the stock springs and feels much better daily driving as well as off road. The ES3000 shocks were bought because they were cheap and I wanted to make sure this setup worked...and it does. The tires are worn out 265/75/16 BFG AT's on Tundra steelies.


First pic is the frankensprings... next is compared to stock Tacomas with overload...big difference.

First truck pic is stock ride height. Then front 5100's and stock rears, then rear leafs added. It flexes much better than before but I haven't put a longer brake hose on yet so I'm taking it easy. I just ordered a longer hose today. Also I have new U-Bolts but I need to make the plates from some 1/2" plate I have in the metal pile and the u-bolt flip will be done. I chopped the exhaust for clearance but since the pic I have redirected it to exit near the frame so it doesn't heat up the shock or the tire.

The whole rear setup cost me like $80 for the shocks, $16 for new stainless steel shock bolts/nuts, and a few hrs of work.

Brake hose, diff drop, wheel spacers, and bigger tires should all be here next week.

 

Nice, the cheaper you can do it the more of a success it is....

 

NICE flex there! Obvious, nice work there!

 

Quick help. Since my leafs have settled I am going to add another one and see if it brings me back up. 1) what are using for anti squeak pads. 2 where are you putting them? Dead center and dead on each end or just the ends? I have a horrible squeak now and thinking one came out or I forgot to put it in when I did the install the first time. Doing this this afternoon so if someone can help with that info that would be awesome

 

How's the on-road ride quality of this setup versus the standard AAL options out there?