2001 leaf springs

Wanted to get yalls thoughts on my leaf springs. Truck is a 2001 double cab with 99,500 miles. Original suspension on all four corners.

Upgrading all four shocks and the coils in the front.

Leaf springs have a slight arch on the front side, and look flat to me in the back (to my untrained eye).. should these be replaced or can I let them ride for a while?

 

Overdue.

 

Tacoma leaf springs come pretty flat form the factory.

Those look better than mine did back in 2011, and I limped them along for a good long time until I finally upgraded a couple years ago at ~130k miles.

The problem is that there aren't very many options for replacements unless you want a lift, and even then, there aren't a ton of options. General Spring makes an OEM replacement, but I do hear mixed reviews on them. The shocks will definitely have give a noticeable improvement in the ride.

So it kinda depends on what your plan is with the truck, what you use it for, and your budget.

 

Yeah I have read quite a bit about the factory leafs being flat. I'm going to leave them for now, and see how it rides with the new shocks. I have been emailing Alcan, and may end up installing a pair in the future. Thanks!

 

I went with Deaver J59s and I'm really happy with them.

What shocks are you going with?

If you're going with higher end ones (Fox, King etc), I would decide on what springs you're getting. Would be lame to spend a bunch of cash on shocks and then end up lifting it with Alcans or whatever and then having your shocks be too short.

 

Putting Dobinsons on. Only 1.75" lift in the front. Alcan says they will only need a .5" or 1" leafs to keep the factory rake.

I am planning on checking out Deaver as well.

 

Yep.

See it too often with people running King rears only to find their direct replacements are factory length

 

I don't mean to high-jack this thread, but I have some questions for @Kwikvette and @jbrandt:
I have a '98 Tacoma 4X4 with 3.4L. I made a mistake by installing Wheelers progressive AAL to dead leafs. This mod. gave me about 1.5" initially, but I'm starting to see more sag than I like on the driver's side. I also don't like how off-center the rear wheels are in relation to the wheel well (I think this might be a common problem on 1st gens.). I have a OEM e-locked axle I plan to install soon and want to get everything right at the same time. I use my truck 90% of the time as a DD but will take it off-road for hunting, camping and such other times. I do have a cap, but only use it maybe 25% of the time. I'm not as concerned with cost if I can get a long lasting, high quality product that gives me the best ride possible and decent off-road results. I also have Bilstein shocks in the rear and King coil-overs up front with JBA UCAs set-up for about 2.5" lift. Are Deavers a good leaf spring choice for my situation, or would I be better buying General Spring standard duty leafs and re-use the progressive AAL to keep the 1.5" lift? I assume I would need the AP relocation plate to center the rear axle better. Here's a pic (not shown, driver's side sag is worse). Thanks guys for your thoughts.

 

Deavers and Alcans offer premium leaf packs; what you describe I'd say either of the 2 mentioned will be overkill for your 'needs'. However, that doesn't mean you can't use them as they'll ride quite a bit smoother both on and off road due to the use of many leafs (+5 or 6, or 8 even).

If money is no object, either will have an off the shelf option for ya since you don't carry much weight.

It's when you start dipping into +300 or more than you want to go custom.

If budget was indeed an issue, I know plenty that have been happy with General Springs offerings. One member in particular also ran Bilstein 5100 rears and ran a camper shell (with mattress and everything).

The General Springs HD pack was more than enough for his use and he really liked how it came out. No need to add a leaf to said pack as they're setup for the extra carrying capacity.

 

Many Thanks! I appreciate your advice. So you think the General HD Springs will provide an equal to or better ride than using progressive AAL with basically stock springs? I also thought about Dakars, but I'm afraid I'll end up with a bit more lift than I want/need and might not gain much performance vs. the General Springs. Any warnings or thoughts on moving the rear axle forward to center it?

 

There are shims to help account for that.

Also, I personally never ran General Springs but did help 3-4 different members over a few years install them on their trucks. They looked good to me during install, and after.

Since you're running some quality components, I'd just spring (pun intended) for the nicer set of Alcans or Deavers really. I'm sure they offer a 1.5" lift variant that'll easily handle your weight.

 

Thanks again!

 

Hard to say conclusively just from pictures. To echo @jbrandt, factory-new springs are pretty flat...many of us got a timely reminder of this when Toyota put new springs in during the frame replacement. If just hauling bags of mulch from Home Depot on occasion, then maybe some Timbrens would better fit OP's needs. What's definitely overdue for replacement is that 21 year old spare tire.

 

When they start to frown it's time to replace.

 

Curious, how can you tell it's the original spare tire from the OP's photos?

 

'cause I have the same one.

 

AH HA!!

 

...but mine's only 19 years old.

 

So much better!