Just Bought My First Tacoma And Need Some Advice On The Lift

Proud new owner of a Tacoma! Normally I would not buy an already lifted vehicle but this one was just too close to perfect for me to pass up. The previous owner must have been an avid camper etc. as it has 30k miles on a 2023 but since I was able to get the extended warranty the likely possibility he towed frequently did not scare me. However, I do not tow frequently and the vehicle is set up with what I believe to be a 2” OME lift. The problem is is I will never weigh the rear down enough which worries me about the possibility of the break lines being stretched slightly due to the rear being lifted much higher unloaded. The truck came with the stock suspension as well. I am hoping to return to a level or close to level lift, what do you all think my best course of action would be? Removing a leaf, switching to oem leaves and adding a leaf, or something entirely different? Thank you for any help you all can provide!

 

Congrats and welcome!

What's on the front? Any pics of the coilovers?

Depending on how much front lift you have, I would recommend putting a completely different leaf pack on instead of putting the OEM ones back on. The OEM leaf packs leave a lot of room for improvement to put it lightly. And those OME Dakar leaf packs ride like absolute shit when empty. Look up Deaver J66 leafs. They will make a massive difference in ride quality if you plan to have an empty box most of the time and they don't provide as much lift.

 

Thank you so much for the insight. I did notice it was very stiff in the back and figured this was the reason and from what I’ve read you are right they will never feel great without loading the truck up. The front I believe is an OME 2 inch lift I’ll have to grab a photo later. Being that I just bought the truck I probably will not be able to afford the springs you attached just yet but plan on upgrading the suspension once I’ve recovered a bit from my purchase. What in your opinion would be the best “for now” fix to the situation as I am hoping to stay under $500.

 

You have 2 overload springs.
If it were me, I'd take the 2nd from bottom out and see where that got me.

 

Yeah totally fair. Just would suck to have to pay twice to solve 1 problem.

Those look like the medium duty dakars (7 leaf) so you can't really remove any leafs without them going negative arch (looks like they are close already). Honestly the OEM leafs won't be a massive improvement, so before you pay to swap anything around just try adding about 200lbs in the box. I use bagged landscaping rock in winter, works great. See how that rides first. You'll likely lose most of the lift but they will ride much better. I used to have the same leafs on my truck before swapping to Deavers. They basically need constant weight in the box. So start there and hopefully that rides better until you afford to get some decent leaf springs.

 

I don’t mind losing some lift at all, the front is lifted to fit the 33s and the rear is much taller still, I would prefer the level look anyways. This sounds like the best plan of attack for me and with winter coming come extra weight in the back couldn’t hurt anyways, I’ll see how many shot backs I can find laying around maybe I can get close to 200lbs. Thank you all for the help! I see many members suggest the U402s would these be applicable to me as well once I have the money or would the J66s be better?

 

J66 will give ~1" of lift and the smoothest ride quality (arguably the smoothest out of any available leaf springs), but you do lose some load carrying capacity.

The U402 Stage 1's would give you 2"-3" (they say 2" but that's a minimum) of lift and handle extra weight better than the stock leafs, but because of that they ride stiffer than the J66 with an empty box. I have the Stage 1's (mainly for the extra lift) and feel the need to keep about 150lbs in the box at all times.

So neither one is really better, it just depends what your needs are. The U402's will give you even more lift than the Dakars do now (which is usually around 1.5 - 2"), so that's why I suggested the J66's.

 

I see, that would be quite a bit of lift. I do plan on doing a rooftop tent eventually which is why I wondered the difference as I saw a lot of people saying the J66s were not stiff enough for much weight. I’m coming from a full coil over vehicle so the dynamics of leaf springs is very new to me. What would be your suggestion for a close to level look unloaded but able to withstand a tent and some gear or is this a on or the other situation?

 

Yeah unfortunately that kinda puts you outside of the J66's range I think. The RTT alone is probably fine, but once you add gear and people you'll be looking a little low in the rear end or even hitting bump stops. U402 Stage 1 with temporary weight in the box would be the way to go then if you are planning to add permanent weight in the future. Just might have to play with the preload on the front coilovers to get more lift to match the extra lift from the leafs if you are wanting to keep it more level without carrying extra weight in the box at all times.

 

Sounds good, I will have to look into this then. How do you think the Dakar springs will fare for the time being, you mentioned they looked like they were going negative arch should I expect them to be worn out soon?

 

Haha that's a tough one to answer... With almost every other leaf spring out there, anything less than a noticeable arch means a worn out (or overloaded) leaf pack. And you can usually feel the difference. But according to OME flat, "W" shaped, or even negative arch on Dakars with an empty box is normal... And in their defence, they often look like that from day 1. So take from that what you will. IMO, that means they were just designed poorly and the reason they ride like shit even when new. Yours have a bit of that "W" shape going on, which on other leafs would be a sign to replace them. But that's apparently normal with Dakars, so who knows.

See how they handle weight in the box I guess. That's the true test. You do have quite a bit of lift still so they may be ok.

 

sounds good to me, thanks for all the help! Luckily this is not my daily so I will have some time until they are fully worn out if that is the case. Hoping to upgrade to a full 3” lift someday but the lift on it is listed as okayed with my warranty so not sure when I will bite that bullet.