My leafs are flat 01 taco. Suggestions?

So not sure how to proceed here. The ride isn't terrible for being my dd but I like to tinker and when putting on my new tires falken at3 wildpeaks P265 70 r16s I noticed my springs were looking a tad sad.

I'm guessing they need replacing so was looking at Toytecs site and saw they have a 5100 lift BK9504 and a toytec/eibach lift TTHA9504. Would either of those suffice or would it be better to just go Bilstein 5100s all around and go with OME complete rear springs?

Budget is $1200 and I can do the work myself if need be but I'm new to the truck world and not sure what I need to do to smooth out the ride for around town, the oilfield roads, and the occasional jaunt to the mountain lakes so no serious off roading.

Any suggestions for a beginner or you can just post pictures of your rides and let me wish of things I could eventually do to my taco.

 

....buy new ones?

 

Not a bad suggestion, I think you're onto something and will highly consider this!

 

So I'll figure out the specifics later, but for now it seems like I'll take DeltaBravos suggestion and go with the following: And since I can't find the OME 885s figured these would work.

Any suggestions or recommendations other that what I've linked? I'm going to call Wheelers tomorrow and see what they say but just wanted to see if anyone else had any advice before I do so.

 

Dakars are good springs if you're looking for ~2.5" of lift and a smooth ride. Be forewarned, they are notorious for squeaking. Then again most leaf springs make noise. But Dakars are well known for it.

I ran Dakars for awhile but they don't hold additional weight very well, they're basically rated for stock weight unless you add a leaf to them...even then if you have substantial loads to carry regularly then you might want to explore other options.

But they do ride very smooth, I miss that about them. And they are an affordable option as far as aftermarket leaf springs go

 

Eventually I was going to toy around with an overland build. I used to enjoy desert and high mountain camping. Would there be a better leaf set up than the dakars that you would recommend?

 

I went from the Dakars to the All Pro Expos...I carry ~250lbs in the bed day to day and they hold that no problem plus a few hundred more before they start to sag. The Dakars didn't hold that weight well at all. But, the Expos are a lot stiffer. It really depends on what your day to day versus occasional needs are and finding that balance. The Dakars are a good place to start and then you can add leafs to then to help them hold more weight as you go.

 

Yeah. I believe I'll stick to the dakars until I upgrade my dd. No sense going all out now on it. Just need to get a smoother ride for the time being.

 

Don't assume that just because your springs have no arc to them that they are bad? Does the rear sit lower in the rear with no load? Do you know what the springs looked like new? What do the rear springs (stock) look like on other Tacoma's of the same generation? If a better ride (whatever that means) is what you are looking for shocks are probably going to have the biggest impact on ride quality unless your current springs are rated for a significant heavier loads.

 

yeah just because the leafs are flat doesn't necessarily mean they are bad, that's how the stock leaf pack looks. Even some aftermarket leaf springs run flat, Dakars do for instance. They even have kind of a wave look to them. Just they way it is. If they have negative arch then they are definitely old and tired