To much weight on stock suspension

So little back ground. I have a 2018 trd or. Front skid, sliders, gas skid, diff, skid, cab rack, canopy rack, a.r.e canopy. I compared with my buddies stock 3d gen I’m about 2 inches of sag in the rear. I noticed I’m now only working with about 3 inches of down travel. I will be purchasing new suspension and leaf pack in about 12 months.


Question: due to this weight will there be unecesssary wear and tear on the truck. I understand if I’m hitting max travel on the suspension that is surely bad but I have yet to have that happen. I will be mostly doing highway driving In the mean time. Thanks for any insight.

Pics are of the truck kinda flexed in the rear. FYI it’s not on flat ground. Minus the suspension pic#2 that is on flat ground

 

Absolutely there will be more wear and tear.

A simple way to think about it is adding a thousand lbs in my bed. What parts will have accelerated wear?
Suspension
Axles
Transmission
Engine
Steering pump
Steering rack
Brakes
Brakes
Brakes
Front diff
Rear diff

Some of the above components will not have a lot of accelerated wear but carrying around that much weight all the time definitely will change things. Especially efficiency. That will go straight down the tubes.
But, if you are having fun and can afford the extra maintenance and shorter intervals you will most definitely need, who cares?

 

If you're not offroading hardcore all the time you're totally fine man. No worries. Just maintain the truck well.

 

Don't forget your gas mileage.....

 

Thanks guys appreciate the input

 

Just shows ya how much the factory leaf pack sucks when loaded up

 

Yea they blow

 

Fuel economy suffers a lot less from weight than aerodynamics.

Get some OME dakar leaf packs in the rear and be done with it. If you're planning on hauling a LOT of crap and are willing to lose some flex, upgrade your bumpstops to Sumosprings while you're at it, it makes the ride better too when loaded.

 

The Tacoma only has about 1100 pounds before you reach GVWR. Two average adults take up 1/4 of that. The ARE cap, roof racks and armor add to that pretty quick.

 

So if I add a half a ton of weight, unsprung mass because... big tires, most of my driving is around town at no more than 50 mph and I make hundreds of stops and starts because traffic, then my crap gas mileage is because of aerodynamics? Got it.

 

Actually, your "crap gas mileage" is because of the hundreds of stops and tires. Weight factors less in this situation than rolling resistance from big tires.

I used to get 22mpg with my Leer topper, SOS concepts full armor (bumper, ifs skid, mid skid, tcase skid, rock sliders), RCI gas tank skid, and ~300lbs of tools and work crap in there on stock tires. That's a lot of weight. My MPG was the same through all those mods until I changed tires to bigger BFG KO2s, when my MPG dropped to 18mpg from the gearing change, rolling resistance increase, and aerodynamics change from lifting the truck up. You're simply wrong, and the tone of your post is unfriendly. Cheer up some.


- Aerodynamics have much more of an effect on gas mileage at highway speed than in stop and go traffic.
- Weight matters way less than aerodynamics at highway speed.
- Rolling resistance from big tires affects things too, especially if it changes the truck's gearing.

Unless you spend all your time farting around town and never going anywhere, you'll notice an MPG change from changing tires (adding rolling resistance), or adding an RTT or roof rack (decreasing aerodynamics) far before you'll notice a MPG change from adding weight (armor, topper).

 

My post was tongue in cheek because you implied that aerodynamics was the only thing that affected mpg. I probably understand better than most here about vehicle efficiency so you don't have to 'splain to me.

Believe it or not, a majority of drivers just fart around town, as evidenced by this table https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/onh00/bar8.htm and several other data collecting agencies.

There is a huge penalty of additive weight (Especially unsprung mass) when you accelerate that mass from rest, and it has nothing to do with aerodynamics.

So really, depending on driving habits, vehicle weight and rolling resistance and aerodynamic drag are the biggest efficiency factors. Wait, I forgot one... driving habits! That probably is the biggest factor.

I put that "rolled eyes" smiley face in my original post hoping you would get the sarcastic tone. Cheers!

 

I would just enjoy my truck using it you see the need op. Honestly, They'll be a little more wear but with the first hit taken by the suspension, then maybe the U-joints, trans & engine, but with proper maintenance the latter ones will most likely outlast your will to keep an old truck around for that long.

Have FuN, its made for that
Cheers!

 

What are the stock offroad shocks rated 600lbs?

 

Relax, it's a Toyota!

 

Find a truck scale and weigh it so you really know where you are at weight wise

 

You will be fine. It's not THAT much more weight. You will wear stuff out more quickly, but its not catastrophic. Just get some suspension that is better suited for the added weight and you will be better off

 

Look at the stickers on the driver's door jamb of your truck to determine GVWR. That is the max recommended total weight of your truck including the weight of passengers, cargo, fuel, any modifications, and tongue weight of a trailer. My trucks GVWR is 5450 lbs, yours may vary.

There is also a statement saying, "the total weight of passengers and cargo should not exceed XXXX amount". My truck says 1200 lbs, but it can vary between 1000 to over 1500 lbs depending on the individual truck. That means that my truck weighed 4250 lbs when it rolled off the assembly line. (5450-1200=4250)

It is best to actually take your truck to some scales and weigh it. The GVWR is the hard number that shouldn't be exceeded. Remember, that includes passengers too. Two skinny guys riding in the cab is 300 lbs. Four big guys could be 800-1000 lbs.

Tacoma's payload numbers suck. The Honda Fit that I used to own had 800 lbs of payload. Almost as much as many Tacoma trucks. My current Ford Explorer is 1500+ lbs which is more than virtually all Tacoma's.

I'm betting that you're already overloaded with just 2 skinny adults in the cab before you even start to think about cargo or the tongue weight of a trailer. There has probably never been a truck built that wasn't overloaded at one time or another. For occasional use and if driven carefully you're not going to do any real damage. But carrying that much weight on a daily basis is going to lead to parts failure sooner than normal. The guys you read about that get 500,000-700,000 miles out of a Tacoma are the ones left stock. The ones highly modified need major work done under 200,000 miles.

Modifying the suspension so the truck sits level doesn't solve the problem. It only hides the problem and encourages drivers to overload even more.

 

Not much of the weight you have on your truck is causing a sag in the rear, you'd prolly level out with a decent AAL. I have OME Dakars (medium) with my truck/cap and I've got rake, which I prefer. BTW, if you do replace the whole leaf pack, do yourself a favor and spend the money for Deaver or Alcan. I would not purchase OME again.