Increasing load capacity without lifting height of vehicle

I tow a 4k lbs. camper quite a bit and also load up the bed of the truck with gear and firewood. I need to increase the load capacity without increasing the height of the truck or else I will have to change the hitch set up for the camper. Helper springs?....new set of recurves?....air bags?....any suggestions based upon ease of install, cost, and longevity? The truck also runs the winters with 300lbs of sand in the back for traction. If need to know....2014 Dbl cab V6 4.0 SR5 long bed...any help would be appreciated....

 

spring under an option? i dont have any experience with them but maybe someone else can chime in

https://deaverspring.com/product-category/leaf-springs/toyota/

 

Your truck probably has 1000-1200 lbs of payload. You really need to find the sticker on the driver's door jamb to determine exactly how much payload you have; it varies between trucks While 1000-1200 is most common some have as little as 900 and a handful could be a little over 1200 especially if it is 2wd. You don't say if it is 4X4 or 4X2.

The only thing you can do to increase payload is to buy a bigger truck. A 4000 lb trailer is going to put a little over 500 lbs on your suspension. A driver and one passenger will weigh at least 300 lbs and could be 400-500 lbs for 2 large males.

You're looking at 800 lbs minimum subtracted from payload leaving you roughly 200-400 lbs for other gear. It is possible to modify the suspension so that the truck sits level and drives better when loaded near the max. But that doesn't change the payload. Payload takes into consideration your trucks steering and braking. Making it sit level may look better, but if your overloaded your steering and braking are still compromised.

I know that the specs say a Tacoma is rated to tow 6500 lbs. But that assumes an empty truck other than a driver, on level ground and at sea level. When you start adding passengers and cargo to the truck you have to reduce how much you can tow. If you're hauling the max payload you can't tow anything. A 4000 lb trailer is near the max practical trailer weight while still leaving a little payload for your truck, but you'll have to pack carefully.

FWIW this is the limiting factor 90+% of the time with small trucks and even 1/2 tons. None of them will actually tow what they are rated for with very much weight in the truck. A 3/4 ton truck won't tow much more than a 1/2 ton if you just look at towing specs. The difference is that 3/4 tons have enough payload to pull the trailer AND load up the truck with passengers and gear. With 1/2 ton and smaller trucks it's an either/or proposition. You can't do both.

 

Literally airbags for this.

Wont change payload but will reduce squat and the truck will drive a lot better with load.



Firestone kits are on Amazon and pretty straight forward. Lots of install videos.

 

Airbags or Sumosprings. Pretty happy with my sumo springs on my truck (get the ones meant for the 3rd gen taco... they specd the 2nd gen taco with the same sumo spring part numbers as the current tundra... they are too tall and too big for a tacoma and create a real harsh ride- "3rd gen" ones are an inch shorter and inch less in diameter and much better suited for use on the taco)

 

Nd4spdbh I’m planning on doing that when I do the ubolt flip conversion. I’m also thinking about taking the +300lbs out of my icon leaf pack. My truck has zero weight on it other than the oddball load of firewood I put on it

 

You can’t increase the load capacity of a vehicle but you can make it handle the load better. What specific issue are you trying to fix?