Buy 2008 TRD Sport for 4 Wheel Drive Camper - Problems?

I am looking for a truck for my "on order" Fleet shell FWC.
I am going to look at a 2008 TRD Off Road Tacoma this coming Tues (29th).
I know there is a leaf spring recall that has not been resolved on this year of Tacoma and am concerned the camper will not have enough support. Having said that, the truck looks to be well cared for and kept in a garage in Denver (typically a dry sunny place) so hopefully not too corroded. It has 130K miles.
I will check for frame rust but am, as I said, mostly concerned that I will have problems with the potential problems supporting a 750-850LB camper shell.
Is it super expensive and crazy to need to replace leaf spring on my own at a later time? Truck is $17K (Tacoma's are expensive in Colorado it seems).
Thanks so much!
Kathy

 

if the truck is the one the you want, and it checks out , go for it. there are aftermarket set ups, the guys at FWC should be able to help you out. there is a bunch of toyotas with a FWC on back. even a brand new tacoma your going to have to do something. good luck, congrats on the new FWC, good luck.

 

The leaf spring "recall" is twofold: the recall, if I'm not mistaken, is due to rust issues, and the one or more leafs can break and puncture the gas tank. I believe the dealerships are adding a clamp around the leaf pack to keep a puncture from happening should one break.

The leaf spring TSB is for owners (still in their original warranty period) who complain of saggy springs that cant support the advertised payload of the truck. Dealerships replace the leaf pack with a 4 leaf spring pack, instead of the original 3 leaf pack in this case.

Even the 4 leaf TSB pack wouldn't enjoy suspending an 800lb camper over the bed very much - you'll want to look into replacing the leaf pack with something designed to carry more weight, and/or an airbag setup. You might even get by with an add-a-leaf......There are several forum vendors and threads on this site you can begin to read that will do a better job of explaining this for you.

The good thing is no route you choose to enable the Tacoma to handle that much weight is very expensive or hard to install. New leaf packs are in the neighborhood of 4-500 dollars, an airbag setup I'm not sure about price wise but I don't think they're very expensive.

Good luck!

 

Get photos of the frame and hitch before you go. It will be clearly evident if it has a rust problem. Here's a photo of my frame-recall truck. They leave the hitch alone so it's a good indicator of what the frame used to look like. Also make sure it has the tow-package from the factory. You'll get the upgraded battery, alternator, oil cooler, trans cooler(auto only), and class IV hitch rear bumper setup. Important when you'll be constantly hauling 1000lbs in the bed.

You also need to ensure the thing is wondering/pulling going down the highway. My frame-recall truck has issues with being aligned. I have a permanent pull to the right that no one can figure out. They thing it has something to do with all the components that were swapped during the frame service. I've had everyone from Toyota to the best commercial alignment garage in town look at it and they are all stumped.

No matter what leaf springs you have in the rear from the factory it wont be designed for long-term camper duty. The 4WC setups are very light weight compared to the Lances and Palominos but it's still more weight than the truck was made to haul around on a daily basis. Look into helper airbags and load spring setups. It'll make life a lot more comfortable for you. I believe 4WC can get you axle weight differences which you can utilize to pick out appropriate suspension bits.

Have anymore specs on the new Tacoma?

I'll also include a photo of my truck with a Leer 100R camper shell with brand spanking new leaf springs. It's almost sitting level. now imagine 900 more pounds back there.

 

by the way, i'm jealous. i always wanted to get one of those. please post pics when you get all sorted out, good luck.

 

Hi Kathy, it sounds like you've done your research and have an understanding of how much weight you'll be adding to the truck. The Tacoma your looking at should be great for that shell.
There are a couple ways to tackle the extra weight of the shell. I would think the solution would depend on how often the shell would be on the truck.
If the shell was to always stay on, I would suggest going to a local spring and suspension specialist, that would make you a custom rear leaf pack that would be made exactly for your needs. Most people on Tacoma world will likely say "get a Dakar leaf pack", or something similar. I think that is probably an ok solution, but a custom leaf pack would be exactly what you need. Here in Albuquerque we have two shops that build custom leaf springs, I'm sure Denver has at least that many.
If your not planning to keep the shell on all the time, I would buy an airbag setup, that way you can still have a soft ride when the shell is off, and air up the airbags when you put the shell on. This solution also works if you keep the shell on all the time, you just keep air in the airbags all the time.
A third solution is combining both, having a custom leaf pack made for the unloaded truck, and installing airbags for when loaded.
The custom leaf packs are usually just your original leaf pack with some added leafs to get you to the correct height. The last time I checked locally it was $200 labor to remove and install, plus each extra leaf was around $75, so close to $500 for custom leaf pack. Firestone ride rite airbags for the Tacoma are around $300-$350 plus installion, so around $500-$600 installed.
Hope that helps.

 

K. Ray here is a link to the craigslist ad with more info: http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/5367566277.html

Everyone's responses are super helpful....Nickel, JWCtaco, Natetroknot, and K.Ray!

I am SO excited for the new set-up, it reminds me of the night before Christmas feeling when I was a little kid!!

Will be completely sad to sell my sweet '97' 4 cylinder Tacoma as it has been like a good friend on
all of our adventures.

 

wow the truck looks clean,the v6,6spd should work out nice. it will look nice with that FWC setting on back. i assuming you got the truck? well good luck, and have fun with it. love to see some pics when it is all set up.

 

No problem! Let us know how you set it up.

 

Thanks so much, it has been a long wait for this! Been saving up for a long time.
I will post pics around Easter when we have it!

 

I just bought the exact same truck! You'll love it!

I highly highly recommend you do one thing, though. Go test drive at least three 6sp 4.0L trucks in your local. I'm was very disappointing with the way my manual truck feels. Very notchy, vague, and clunky. All the trucks I drove around me felt similar as if Toyota just put the manual transmission in as an after-thought. Test a few around town and make sure it's something you're okay with. Only 1 out of the 10-20 trucks I test drove felt like a normal smooth truck. I think it's a combination of axle-wrap, Toyota slip-joint, and 130,000 miles. All of that being said, I made my peace and I've simply adjusted the way I drive. I absolutely LOVE this truck.

Get the VIN, sign up/in here, and check the records and recalls on the truck.
http://www.toyota.com/owners/

 

Thanks again K.Ray
I just got back on Craigslist to see if I can set up a few others to test drive before going to look at the one I posted above. We got to drive one 6sp SR5 2 weeks ago but it was snowing so hard with 8 inches of snow on the road it was hard to gauge anything!
Also thank you for the pics. I have looked at a few of those rusted frame pics and it scared me back when we were looking for our last Tacoma 4 years or so ago. (Sure going to miss her) But...I know we will LOVE our new truck too!