Tacoma Spring refurbishing

How much lift are you going for? Are you wanting to completely change to chevy leafs or keep stock main and add to it?

 

2" to 3" max and yes keep the stock springs if usable and from reading Doug post it may be possible but wanted his or others opinion.

Just not sure where to start.

 

Start by really reading this thread. There is a lot of advice, examples, instructions and results.

I've got a 2nd gen, even so my springs didn't look any better than yours. Get yourself some springs described here first. Take those apart. Then start your leaf selection and marking for cutting. If you are in doubt then post back here. (Before you cut).

 

Ok, I'm back. I'm tired of my truck sitting dead nuts level and having a bro lean when I put a cooler of beer in the bed. I'm tired of waiting on another decent 2.375" wide pack to show up so I'm going to use some of the remaining leafs off my old original mustang pack that are 2.5" wide and grinding to clear the U bolts. My plan is to add as long a leaf(s) as possible since everything I've added so far is shorter than the top 3 OEM leafs. I'm considering trying to slip one in between the bottom OEM leaf and the top two and using the existing tap to keep it from fanning out. [Note: (see pic) top 3 are original, bottom 4 are added.] I think worst case I'll just have to remove the plastic on the tab thing. Any ideas/advice here or everyone just want to see how it turns out? I'll take a pic of my donor maybe tomorrow. 1" of lift would be perfect. Maybe I should remove a smaller leaf from the bottom? Also, hoping to get this done by the end of the year. Should have an afternoon off sometime this week and will knock it out.

 

I didn't have to grind my springs. The U bolts that came with the flip kit were wide enough. You might consider one.

 

I'd love to U bolt flip but $70 from toy tech just isn't in the cards right now. I'll check out prices at the local auto parts stores and if U bolts are cheap enough i could make the rest of the parts. We'll see.

 

I felt the same way, but once I priced quality ubolts alone, the flip plates aren't bad. I like them for another reason, the U shape puts less stress on the bolts than the square shape, & the spring leaves fit with out the grinding.

 

You can also buy the all-pro flip. SOS concepts may be coming out with a less expensive u-bolt flip soon, but does not have it yet.

 

It'll be out as soon as testing is finished

 

YEEEEEEEEEE, sorry if I wasn't supposed to tell

 

Got this 9/16 kit at the local car quest this evening. If only the top plate was for 2.5"springs instead of 2" wide springs. Oh well. Easy enough to make. Looks like I'm finally going to do this.

 

Noice! I still need to read this thread to see what I should do with my packs. But I also need to go to a junkyard. Idk where to go lol

 

Done. Looks like the back is finally 1" gift than the front. Just added one lead where I originally planned. I'll update the build thread with more pics here shortly. Thanks to ask who fit me to look into the u bolt flip.

 

For those doing the flip kits how are you mounting the rear struts? my 1996 U joint plate is where the strut mounts to.

 

I made brackets out of 1.5" x .25 flat bar and just welded them on. Did a little measuring and hand bending on the brake line on the drivers side and good to go.

 

You have any close up pics of the mount bracket?

 

Here you go.

 

Thanks for the pics! Is there a certain dimension or spacing measurement I need to tell the welding shop as for the placement locations?

 

You need to measure how much of the shock is extended at where on the axle you want to mount the shock mount. You need to measure how far it is until the bump stop hits and make sure the shock doesn't bottom out first. I know first gens are not straight up and down and don't think 2nd gens are either so it's not simple. In the end I did a little guestimating and it looks like I still have room to fit 26" extended 10" travel shocks in the current location. Hopefully someone can chime in with a better explanation than that.

 

Looking for some experienced opinions...

I've been reading this thread for quite a while. Picked up some free springs along the way and finally have some potential donors.
I'm told they were for a 4" lift on a '75 Scout II.
They look to be a bit thinner than the toyota leaves with more arch. If I understand the concepts correctly, this may translate into lift without load capacity?
What you're seeing in the pics are the donor leaves and two sets of stock 2nd gen tacoma leaves, one of which appears to have an add-a-leaf installed.
Any thoughts?