Aftermarket U-bolts wider than leaf springs

This guy probably only did his at 37 ft/lbs

 

@eon_blue Just finished installing the leaf springs, PITA, but overall uneventful. How did yours lean after install? I know they'll settle some, but right now my driver side is sitting at 22 7/8" while the passenger side is 24 7/8". So noticeable difference. I called Alcan to double check which spring was left and right, and they were pretty clearly marked "L". Just wondering if this will settle a little more even, as the passenger side got almost a 3" lift while the driver is right at the 1" i ordered.

 

That's odd, mine weren't marked left/right but I have a 1st gen so that's probably why. Mine is even side to side though, a 2" difference left to right is pretty extreme. What did Alcan say? Maybe they got the right/left mixed up?

Its not unusual for a full gas to tank make the drivers side lean a tad but 2" is pretty severe

 

Just got off the phone with Bob from Alcan, he said 89 ft/lbs on the shackle is way too tight and it's preventing the shackle from moving, locking the spring in place. He said barely past finger tight, which sounds wrong. This is the only torque value i've seen, not sure what to do from here.

 

I'm wondering if they labeled them wrong as well. Seems like it should be the opposite of what's happening now. Gas tank is just about full, but I was hoping to get rid of the lean with aftermarket springs

 

Yeah I'm not sure what the torque value is for the shackles on 2nd gens, on 1st gens the shackles are 67ft/lbs which isn't that different from yours.

Do both leaf packs have the same amount of leaves in them?

 

just in case, make sure you're measuring with the truck on 100% flat ground. My driveway is a tad uneven and it really makes my truck look uneven from the rear, on flat ground though it's even.

 

just checked, 8 leaves in both springs. I measured in my garage before i pulled it out after torquing everything. Bob also said they make the driver side springs stiffer to account for lean, so they might have been labeled wrong, which is super annoying.

 

yeah I don't envy you there, leaf springs aren't hard to do but they're a pain to muscle into place...at least on my truck. Hopefully switching them solves the issue

 

Based on how much it sucked I'm gonna pay someone to do it. Which really pisses me off. Guess I'll give it a few days to settle and get an alignment. Will I cause any issues with driving with a lean?

 

nah I don't think it will be an issue other than maybe feeling a bit weird.

 

There’s no way a tank of gas is compressing that spring 2”. If either one of those springs compresses more than a 1/4” under a tank of gas I’d call Alcan for sure. Shit my factory 5 year old springs with a full tank barely compress a 1/2”.

 

@gotoman1969 Leaning heavily towards them being reversed, The e-brake line mounts are on the inside of the spring. Gonna call them tomorrow. In the meantime I have a trip coming up this weekend so gonna get an alignment and throw 200lbs or so of sand on the passenger side in the bed to get it closer to level until I can switch them. Let me know if you see any issues driving with the springs swapped, don't want to cause any long term damage

 

Are they 2” lift springs? I just can’t imagine a 2” difference. Is the e brake mount on the inside on both springs?

 

Yup, inside on both springs. I'm thinking if the arch was higher on one to correct the taco lean, I'm basically doubling my lean and they still have to settle. Hoping for 1.5" on both sides after swapping back. But 2" is a big difference.

What do you think about the "just tighter than finger tight on the shackles so they can move freely" advice I got from the Alcan guys? Sounds like an accident waiting to happen for me

 

I would torque the shackle bolts to Toyota's spec... Provided it's not a typo lol. But that's the safest bet. My 2004 has them torqued to 67ft lbs with no issues. I wouldn't want them 'just over finger tight' for fear of them working lose.

 

@gotoman1969 Missed your first question. 1" lift with 600lbs in the bed. Happens to be empty right now, so will probably be closer to 1-.5"-2"

@eon_blue That's what I'm thinking, I went to factory specs but I'm not gonna lose an axle over fixing a lean

 

I would torque to spec, they should be torqued with the weight of the vehicle on them. Then cycle the suspension and recheck the torque. I would have suspected a 1/2” difference on the springs which if mounted on the wrong side would have yielded a 1” difference. Alcan springs are good so I can’t imagine they would think their springs would sag a full inch under the weight of the gas tank being full.

 

Keep us posted as to the outcome, I’m curious as to the cause.

 

@gotoman1969 That's what I followed, Left the shackles and front mount finger tight, torqued u-bolts to 75, dropped the truck down and bounced the bed a few times to settle, and then torqued the shackles and mounts with wheels on the ground, all to 89 ft/lbs. Gonna try loosening the shackles tomorrow, cycling, measuring and then retorquing.

Will keep you updated on the results and what Alcan says. Thanks for your help guys!