2011 Tacoma 4x4 Sitting Lower on the Driver's Side

Hey everybody, I'm new to the boards as far as posting.

I thought it was an illusion until I took a tape measure to it. Sure enough, my Tacoma is sitting 1.75 - 2 inches lower on the drivers side. My first inclination was a leaf spring issue. The leaf is good.

Are you guys thinking a shock/strut issue? I'm replacing the rear Tokico's (sp) with 4600 Bilsteins next week. But should I consider replacing the fronts, as well?

Has anybody ever experienced the same issue? Thanks in advance!

 

Gooogle "Taco lean". Although it usually not that severe

 

Are you running stock suspension or aftermarket? I got about 1/2" of lean to the driver's normally.

 

it also changes based on full tank of gas or near empty. I have an '11 4x4 and sometimes it looks worse than others. there is also a lot of stuff done to it anyway so i gave up caring about a lean a LONG time ago. although if I had bought it new and it had a severe lean...i could see the issue there.

not a big deal if it truly is the "taco lean"

 

Almost 2" seems excessive.

 

Hey guys, right now I'm running the stock suspension @ 120k miles.

Excellent point about the gas tank. It has about 3/4 of a tank in it right now, so I'll run that out and re-measure as it empties. That will settle that hypothesis. Perhaps the new rears will make a difference, although I've installed the same Bilsteins on an '07 Sierra and it pulled the rear down a bit due to the newness of the shocks. We'll see, but I will certainly follow up!

 

def not arguing that. but if its just a severe case of the taco lean...then again, its nothing to really "worry" about, aside from the fact that it exists.

as opposed to a strut/coil collapsing, etc.

 

I completely agree, lean has been a thing with Toyotas since the FJ25 days and it's the reason trim packers exist. I was just thinking with that much maybe a broken spring in a 3-leaf pack, but OP said the leafs were fine.

 

So what is the major driver of the "Taco lean"? Forgive me for not doing the research myself.

 

For a long time the thought was Toyota being a Japanese company built trucks expecting the driver to be on the right side, thus they put the strong springs on that side. So in the US and other left hand drive countries the combination of driver on the other side and perhaps the weaker springs still being on the left caused them to heavily lean to the left.

Since the Tacoma is made for North America that can't be the reason but Toyota also moved the fuel tank and front differential to the left side on them (older 79-95 Hilux/Pickup/4Runner had the gas tank on the right and a right side drop front axle), so it's probably the same reason, just an uneven amount of weight on the left side. I honestly don't know why they didn't just leave the fuel tank at least on the right side to balance things. Shrug. I know, I know, it's because people don't like walking around the truck to fill up.

There's really no way to avoid having some lean on any truck, things are never perfectly balanced, so some is normal. You have to worry when it gets to be a lot (relatively speaking) because you may have a broken spring. If nothing looks broken, springs do wear out and since you always have fuel and a driver the left side suspension may just flex enough more to sag faster.

 

Wow. Okay....well, let me dig into this issue and I'll follow up. This has been a great first experience on the forums and I really appreciate it!

 

Hey everybody, just a quick follow to my "Taco lean" question. It does seem as if it has lighted up as the gas tank has emptied. I measured around 3/4 of an inch of improvement.

With that said, I have a set of Bilstein 5100's and OME 2885 springs on the way.

Here's my next question: Can I get some insight on just how much the springs themselves lift the front? The reason is that I'm not raising the back yet and I'm looking for the "level" look, in addition to the performance. My plan at this point is to leave the adjustable 5100's at stock height and let the springs provide the lift. Is this the best solution for appearance and performance (light off roading)?

Thanks in advance for the advice!

 

Don't forget the battery is also on the left side.

 

Tomorrow is the day. 5100 Bilstein's on all 4 corners going in, plus OME 2885 springs that I painted red. No lift in the rear yet. I want to set the Billy's at 0, see what the coils do for height, then re-evaluate the rear. With the stock shocks still in at 120k miles, I'm thinking the ride is going to be much improved and the rear may even lift a bit (pure speculation). As far as the lean, I'm hoping that combining the stiffer struts and coils will mitigate the front. If not, I'll figure something else out or just live with it.

I've taken baseline measurements so we'll see what the improvement looks like. I'd love to see it sitting a tab higher in the front so that I can go back with around 1.5-2 inches in the back with new leafs.

At any rate, I'll follow up!

 

I found stiffing up the rear really took the lean away from my truck

 

Toyota built the truck for your avg 140lb. Japanese guy!

 

On the wrong side lol