Rear leaf advice wanted

This spring I'm planning to address the rear suspension on my truck. I'm not sure what's been done to it in the past. PO said he "did the rear leafs," but I have no idea what that means. I was thinking of a 3-leaf add-a-leaf set until I looked under there. It looks like a Frankenstein arrangement with a weird hacked-off middle leaf and the overload leaf flipped. As you can see from the picture, they're pretty flat.

This truck is my DD, and I mostly use it on road. I do some light to mid offroading from time to time, and I often put up to about 600 more pounds of stuff on than in the picture (plus 300 lbs of people in the cab).

I'm wondering what folks recommend as the most cost effective way to keep this thing level when loaded. I don't mind some rake when it's running like it is in the photo (fiberglass cap, the racks, and maybe 100 lbs of stuff in the back). Ride quality and the ability to handle more weight are more important than offroad ability. I also don't want to break the bank.

Is a new set of leafs the best plan? If so, which ones? Or can I get away with a 1.5" progressive AAL and maybe flip my overload springs back over?

Advice appreciated.

 

A new leaf is the best way. I've had wheeler 5 leaf pack for about 2 years and the main leaf broke in 2 and sagged. I went with the Allpro expo leaf and its holding out for about 4 years now. the expo with give 4 inches of lift +-, and need about 500 lbs for it to drop 1 inch.

 

Well,
Unfortunately.... like me you have one of the oddball years (95-97) with the shorter leaf pack that was a carry over from the Toyota Pickup (Hilux) lines. So the usual 98-04 leaf choices don't apply to you. As I see it; you could go the route I did and get Old Man Emu CS019R springs or you could get one of the 95-97 leaf options that you think best fits your application from .

The CS019R springs are pretty heavy duty for our trucks and will lift it anywhere from 3.75in. - 4.25in. They were designed to fit the 89-95 years of Toyota Hilux pickups. They will almost certainly require, 3 degree axle shims, longer bumpstops, longer shocks, and new greasable main eye bushings as well as rear shackle bushings. These springs can be found pretty cheaply with free shipping from Low Range Offroad.

The other options from Wheeler's Offroad (great guys) are a bit more plug and play. Give the Wheeler's guys a call, they are super helpful and will tell you everything you'll need for their options. Generally you'll need at least new shocks and rear shackles.

 

Thanks for the info. I like the price on those, but 3.75" of lift is way more than I want. I think with a stock height front end and maybe 1.5" of lift in the back, I will probably wind up pretty much level with most of the loads I carry back there. I can raise the front up (5100s are on the stock height setting right now), but I'd rather not lift it if I don't have to. I drive a delivery route in the truck once a week, so climbing in and out of a lifted truck 50 times as a relatively short guy (5'8") would not be an optimal set up.

Is there another version of the OME leafs that will plug and play with less modifications on a '96 truck and provide more like 1.5 inches of lift?

 

When I picked up my 98 used, the rear leafs where shot. Initially, I went with the Wheelers 5-leaf pack (actually 4 leaves and an overload). This worked fine until the cargo load for camping grew... Just recently, I added the 3-leaf HD AAL from Wheelers. While the ride is a bit stiff without any payload, this spring arrangement is just right for carrying the load(s) I ask of it. 1,000 lbs and the leafs are no where near fully compressed...

 

Unfortunately the CS019R springs are the only OME options available to our trucks specifically, if you are comfortable with welding and measuring you could move the spring perches on our trucks to the length of the 98-04 Tacos and then run their OME option, it is a pretty common solution but many opt not to.

My suggestion would be to get the 1.5 in of lift springs from Wheeler's Offroad, the springs with their brand on them are actually made by a trusted suspension manufacturer called Alcan. are the ones I'm referring to.