What weight spring would you run

hey all, i just put on an old all pro+2" lt kit paired with fox 2.5dsc coilovers with repowder coated 700lb king springs. (3"x16").

The front end is very soft without the skid plate weight and set at 1" of preload. What are your thoughts on spring rate? Loaded up it will be 3/16 plate bumper with winch and full 1/4" steel skids.

Edit: the truck also sits lower in the front then i would like, and my guess is to get it at the right height i would have to have around 2.5" of preload, which seems like too much.

 

Spring rate sounds completely normal, I mean they make a 800 but that sounds excessive on a Tacoma usually I would do that on Tundras. But they make a 18” that would help alot. You may or may not need to a compressor to get it on. But i would need way less preload.

 

x2 700 is the highest i've ever seen someone go on a tacoma, I would say go with a longer spring before trying a heavier spring rate

 

Just the man i wasn't going to bother with more questions, but while i got you here, any idea how much travel an 18" spring is rated for?

Btw i ended up rebuilding these coilovers myself and have regretted it the entire time. Mistakes were made.

 

I agree with this. I think you need a longer spring. 700 should be plenty. I have a long travel FJ with 600lb springs And it rides plush and springy, even loaded. my other FJ has 700lb springs and it rides like a box truck, very stiff, even loaded. My taco has 650s mid travel and I sometimes wish it were softer.

 

So i would say its soft to the point it won't return to a resting position and lowers itself a good bit when backing up.

Won't an 18" spring essentially be preloaded atleast 2.5"? I guess preloading a long spring is better then a shorter given the preload is less of the total length.

 

All i know is with my LT I can take those mall speed bumps doing 40 like its nothing!


Nice looking truck btw!

 

I did exactly that, then the 35s ripped my fenders off.

The truck is going through a pretty serious overhaul over the next few weeks. Should be pretty sick.

 

Sell me those fenders and problem solved lol

 

They will be preloaded some but thats okay you wanted some anyways, not sure the spe but plenty of people run 18” springs on 8” shocks especially fox , my cousin for one runs 18” on his lt kit with foxs they will be fine. Even big tundras In past I had to do 750 rate 18” springs on king coilovers and fox 8”. Yeah lol it looked like a nightmare

also valving has a big factor on this, especially fast or slow rebounds.

 

Do you do valving changes? I was thinking about accutune because i dont know what i want or need.

 

I can but for fox I dont have alot of shock valving info on . May be best to hit accutune on that.

 

10-4. The whole shock thing is fubar anyway. Worse then when they were in 20 pieces

 

Just going to add that your springs may be compromised due to the powder coating. I have a buddy that got his 14”x650s sent out for re-powder and they came back shorter due to the heat cycle.

Just something to keep in mind when talking about preload.

 

I have considered this and did a good bit of research prior to having it done. A friend of mine owns the powder coating shop that did the work. We discussed heat cycles and even didnt clear the parts to limit exposure. I'm hoping that isnt the problem, but not sure how to tell for sure. Maybe accutune has a way to test springs?

 

I shoot springs for SVC offroad on a regular basis never had any issues, the oven temp is 400 degrees. I'd put money that its not the issue lol

 

Honestly sounds like you botched the rebuild, the fact that you're truck is sagging with 700lbs spring and no skids installed doesn't seem right. I don't have experience with FOX shocks though so maybe running a longer spring is what most people do.

I've been powder coating suspension components on a weekly basis for 4 years and have never had an issue with springs shortening during the baking process.

 

I’m no powder coating expert, so I’m NOT trying to argue with you. Legitimately just something I noticed with the last set of re-powder coated springs I worked with. Maybe it was the coaters he used?



I do know shocks though, and shock function/valving has little to nothing, or very little depending on PSI, to do with spring rate.

 

The only thing that would cause them to shrink or warp would be if the company took a propane torch to them to burn off the old coating. That's a really significant difference

 

What, did you do!?