Point me right direction suspension advice?

have a 2002 tacoma 4wd extended cab v6. Recently purchases fox 2.0 coilover for front and 2.0 rear. I want put new springs in rear. What Leaf springs would you recommend, don’t plan on lifting truck, will keep same sized wheels 265/70/16. Just want still have ability use bed of truck and not have horrible ride when no load in truck... very rare I have a load in back.

 

I would look at some of the options that General Spring has on their website if you're looking for a replacement pack that meets OEM criteria without any added lift

 

@mrproduceputteroutter please post your thoughts on your Fox 2.0 rears when you've got enough seat time.

I'm wondering how much more "different" your rears feel from stock to the 2.0's as I already have my own thoughts on Fox 2.0 (extended) vs stock.

With my Fox 2.0 extended rears, whether I had no extra weight over stock, and later added a constant 100lbs of weight over stock, I felt the Fox 2.0's were valved for much more weight than I'd ever carry; in other words they were overly stiff.

 

Ok, thanks, yea I didn’t want go route of lifting the truck. Yes love look of lifted truck, but after reading on here and others I know have lifted a truck it’s a major process and work to have it done correct without damage to engine, transmission, tires etc. so just a updated suspension is sufficient for me, and yes I will post my thoughts of how it feels compared before, and when with a load too.
Just so many choices it can be overwhelming to make sure it’s done correct

 

I'm not sure who you've been talking to, but that makes it sound like rocket science, and it's really not that bad. Sure, there are a lot of factors involved, but if you're just looking at like 1-2" of lift, there's minimal things you really need to worry about.

A mild lift on it's own does exactly nothing to wear and tear on the engine, transmission, or tires. It's the larger tires people typically put on their trucks that cause all that extra wear and tear, not the lift, or the extreme angles they put the CV joints at in order to get a big lift that do the damage. Most of all, it's how they drive their newly lifted truck that cause a lot of wear and tear, too (i.e. beating it up off-road).

With less than 2" of lift, all you need to do is get it aligned when you're done installing the lift.

Besides, a big lift is the opposite of what you generally want for offroading anyway (makes your center of gravity higher). Most off roaders want to get as large of a tire as they can fit with a minimal lift. That usually means cutting fenders etc...

If your front Fox shocks are adjustable, you can crank those up, then just get an add-a-leaf or a longer shackle for the rear suspension, and probably new shocks for the rear (but *maybe* not - depending on how long they are).

You can do a really decent lift for only a few hundred bucks using the adjustable Bilstien 5100s. That would be a downgrade from your Fox shocks, but that gives you an idea how simple a lift can be. Hell you can use some hockey puck style spacers to lift your truck, but not a lot of people like those, although they are the cheapest way to lift.

 

Don't overwhelm yourself; our trucks are stupid easy to work on and a lot of things are very basic.

I didn't take pictures of the front shock installation (because it's way too easy), but here are pictures of replacing the rear -

Lift the truck, and place jack stands along the frame to raise the overall height a decent amount. Remove wheels.

Slightly lift the rear axle, and place jack stands to hold in place.

If you want an easy life, remove your spare as well. No better time than now to check on its condition as well as the tire pressure.



Shortly after, I broke loose the nuts holding the u-bolts. Then, I went on to tackle the 2 long bolts through each eyelet on the leaf springs. The rear part of the spring is held by a shackle.

My hardware wasn't rusty at all, so I opted to reuse some of the bolts and washers. Bag and label works wonders -



The hardware I strongly recommend that you replace are the u-bolts though; don't reuse them.

Leaf spring removal is pretty self-explanatory; you'll sit on your ass as you maneuver your springs between the brake line and undercarriage.

Since you're going with factory replacement leaf springs, you'll be using rubber bushings so no grease is required at all.

Install is the opposite of removal; ensure you orient the leaf springs with the military wrap facing towards the front of the vehicle.



As seen by the picture above, you'll be taking a break once you get to this point. Maneuver your leaf spring until it's sitting on the spring perch (there's a pin under your leaf spring that sits in the perch).

Once that's together, I suggest loosely putting things together such as the reinstall of your bump stops and u-bolts.



At this point, you're wondering "how the hell do I get the leaf spring lined up to get the long bolts through the eyelets?!"

Easy. I suggest you attach the rear of the leaf to the shackle, and loosely thread on the nut.



Use a ratchet strap, and wrap it around your axle. Use another end as an achor, whether it's the frame, or the underside of your bumper, and tighten the strap to "walk" the axle in the direction you need to go. This should help you line up the holes for the front eyelet of your leaf spring.



Making sure all of your hardware is in place in a "ready to tighten" position, go ahead and reinstall your wheels. Lifting of the vehicle will be required to remove any and all jack stands.

Once that's done, lower the vehicle and let the suspension settle under the vehicle's weight. Tighten to spec (I'll wait for someone to post those torque values).

Reinstall your shocks (pretty self explanatory) and you're good to go!

By the way, make sure you get the correct sized hourglass bushings for your Fox shocks. The set originally provided by Fox are too small in diameter.

 

This is how easy it is to do suspension modifications on our trucks:

 

Think he can do my 4x4 swap?

I've got a free race at K1 Speed Go Karts I can offer as payment (got it cause it's my bday in a few days )

 

Yes that’s all I really wanted 1-2”.. but was scared to do it afraid.l so maybe a 265/70/17 tire maybe? Just want give the truck more clearance and of course look better. So what size tire would be safe for 1-2”. And I read the fox 2.0 front coil come pre set at is it 1.75? So for rear if I got aftermarket leaf springs who would I go with if I want the 1-2” and still when I need it still be able to use my truck as a truck, haul stuff and if needed tow something, and I don’t do heavy towing either. Just yard work

 

So, for the rear, you could do an add-a-leaf, that will make the rear end slightly stiffer, but is an all around very popular choice. The other option is what I did, a longer shackle. I got about 1" lift with the shackle, you can probably go up to like 2" with a longer shackle, but any longer than that and it starts getting complicated with suspension geometry (too long of a shackle without doing a bunch of other things can mess up your leafs).

For tire size, the main thing is where the tire ends up rubbing. With aftermarket wheels that's anyone's guess.

For me, with stock 16" SR5 alloy wheels, my 265/75r16 all-terrains rubbed on the frame at stock height (in my pic above you can actually see the rubbing marks), and actually still rubbed a little at 1" lift (the cleaner rubbing mark in pic). It was only when I went to Kings and aftermarket UCAs that the rubbing stopped entirely. If you lift your front end with just shocks, it won't actually stop it from rubbing, just stop if from rubbing at ride height. Once you compress the suspension and turn the wheel, it'll still rub in that same spot. My upper control arms stopped the rubbing because they are longer and thus pushed the whole suspension out a bit.

The other place that's common to rub is the pinch weld inside the fender well. That's relatively easy to fix with a hammer (just search "pinch weld mod" and you'll find lots of pics etc.). Most people can run 33's and a 2.5"-3" lift and the pinch weld mod and be fine.

A 265/70r17 is slightly smaller diameter than my 275/75r16's, so you shouldn't have too much of a problem rubbing.

I know I totally said "it's super easy" and then come in with all this stuff, but if you stop to think about it, it's not too complicated.

 

He works for beer.

 

[shameless corvette cockpit pic]

 

So emu daker? Leaf springs then is way go, medium? Or like you said just aal? My springs now do sag a little and are original, thought I I am gonna tackle the project and take it all part do it one time. But I see I need get all new u bolts, and brushings? Yea I see once you do it and have everything it’s a a oh... that’s what he was talking about, just a project never attempted, always just listened to others cause never tackled it... but wanted tooooo

 

And I thank you all for being patient with me... my brain tends to be slow... then pop I get it...

 

Dakars would put you over your 1-2" lift goal - they're like 2.5". The add-a-leafs are a good middle ground, and there are even 3-leaf packs that replace most of your stock leafs for better results.

1.5" add-a-leaf 1.5" multi-leaf set Obviously, if your old leafs are worn out (not a bad assumption, really), then a whole new leaf pack is the "best" you can do. There are Deaver J59 leafs which are 1.5" lift, but are about 2x as much as a set of the Dakars. They are definitely nicer springs, but you know, they cost a lot more, too, lol... One problem a lot of people run into is that there just aren't a lot of options out there if you want to keep to stock height. There's OEM which are really expensive (as much as Deavers), or there are General springs which I have heard tend to sag pretty quickly.

Deavers; That said, the "best" solution isn't always the one that makes sense for your intended use or your budget. If you're unsure what direction you'll go with your suspension, the add-a-leaf, at ~$77 is a good way to get a little extra height with minimal investment and minimal fuss. Then you can wait and save up for Deavers, longer shackles, shock relocation, and u-bolt flip-kit....

The "heavy duty" springs are really intended for the types of trucks that are fully built "overland" rigs that carry a bunch of extra weight all the time.

 

haha, no worries man.

I love talking about spending someone else's money!

 

I added some pictures to help describe what I am working with

 

And yea I don’t want go crazy and spend too much , I just invested $757 in front and rear shocks from the Labor Day sale

 

Damn, only hard liquor in my household.

Think he'll settle for a bottle of gentleman's Jack?

I just sold that Corvette like 1-2 weeks ago to CarMax.

I'm sure I could've received more on a private party, but didn't want to deal with low ballers, etc.

2010 3LT Z51 LS3 in Arctic White, had only 58k miles on it.

Still have the Z06 and the C4

With a truck that damn clean, those bolts will undo with ease. You won't even need a breaker bar for any of it.

 

Damn that's a clean truck. Was this thing stored in a sealed container filled with inert gas its whole life?