2nd gen flat leaf springs

My 08 taco has flat leaf springs due to hauling too much. I plan on hauling quite a bit of weight still. I want to replace the stock springs with beefy ones. If it lifts the rear an inch or 2 so be it. Any ideas? And yes I already did the recall.

 

National Springs. Over 100 years in the industry.

 

Or Air bags.

 

The Dakar leaf pack handles loads like a champ. But really, if you're planning to haul frequently a good set of air bags is HIGHLY recommended.

 

I am really thinking air bags. No matter what I have to replace the springs on my truck. So maybe some inexpensive springs, then I can put bags on. Any suggestions for brands?

 

They're flat? You're doing pretty good. Mine are frowning.

 

Did you already have the springs replaced under recall? (You can tell just by looking at them, original ones had 3 leafs, revised have 4). Hopefully you’re on the originals and Toyota can just take care of the springs while you add an airbag

 

Well they are frowning but flat I thought would be faster to type

 

If not above, I can sell you mine. I have a set of the new ones that have 500 miles on them and still look brand new. You can throw an AAL in there for lift if thats the route you'd want to take.

 

Has anyone tried General Springs?

 

Another thought if I spend $200 or so on cheap leaf springs, then another $200 or so on air bags is there a $400 option in just getting good leaf springs that will accomplish both at once?

 

Here's some info from HS I pulled from another thread... if you're thinking about a full leaf pack replacement, here are several options:

(Quote)
here are quite a few options for full leaf pack replacements. I find it helpful to provide my customers with a comparison that I created of the different ones we offer. This way they can see which one may suit their specific needs. We can also have a custom Deaver pack made as well.

There are two different OME leaf packs: the EL095R which they consider their light/medium duty leaf pack and the EL096R which they consider to be heavyduty. Either of the OME Dakar full leaf pack replacements will provide quite a bit more hauling, towing, and off-roadcapability over the stock pack. However both will be stiffer since you are adding more steel out back. The EL095R will affect this less since it has one less leafspring in the pack. ARB spec's out their light/medium duty EL095R pack to provide around 2.75” of lift over stock on an 05-15 running 0lbs to GVW and around 2" on a 2016+ running the same amount of weight. The heavy duty pack has one extra leaf in it and will increase the load capacity by around 15%. ARB slates this pack to provide around 2.75”of lift over stock on an 05-15 running around 660lbs of constant weight and around 2" on a 2016+ running the same amount of weight. With either pack the amount of weight you add to the rearend will directly affect the amount of lift you see from the packs (meaning, if you add 1000lb to the bed of your Tacoma and are running the heavy duty pack you will no longer see that 2.75" of lift) For me, I find it hard to equate things toheavy or light/medium duty. Because it really depends on how much weight is being added, if the weight is consistent or not, and where the weight is being added to. Now ARB does havetheEL046XL add-a-leaf which directly converts the light/medium duty pack into the heavy duty one or it can beaddedinto the heavy duty into an even heavier duty pack. It will add around 15mm of lift and a 15% higher spring rate. The add-a-leaf is not something that weusually recommend if you are just looking to gain lift height. There areother ways to gain more lift withoutaffecting the ride quality like the add-a-leaf does. After the redesign I created this write up on TW in case you wanted to check it out. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-ome-dakar-leaf-pack-review.489540/

The Skyjacker leaf pack acts more like a stock replacement and provides a a similar ride quality but a little bit more capabilities in terms of supporting asmall amount of weight in the back ofthetruck. They are spec'd out a 2"-2.25" lift increase but from the feedback I have from my customers most only seearound a 1" increase.

The Deaver J66 leaf spring pack will provide a nicer on-road ride then most of the other after-market leaf packs and is known to perform very well off-road. It is spec'd out to provide around 1.5" oflift over stock. If you do have consistent weight in the bed of the truck, tow or haul this pack wasn't really designed with that in mind so it can be lacking in that area.

The Deaver U402 picks up where the J66 leaves off. This pack features 7 main leaves and 2 overloads and is designedin a way to help support weight andprovide lift. It can have additional leafs added to support additional amounts of weight as well. The basic U402 pack will provide around 3" of lifton a Tacoma running around 300-400lbs of additional weight in the bed. If the weight is lessthan that then the lift will be more and the ride will in-turn be stiffer. The U402 II will provide around 3" of lift on a Tacoma running around500-700lbs ofadditional weight and the U402 III pack will provide around the same amount of lift with an additional700lb+ weight. Again the less weight the more lift and potentially a stiffer ridequality.

 

Wow, NMTrailRider thank you. So my story is I'm a handy man that likes to go wheeling and has a short wife. Need the hauling capacity to sometimes fill my bed with lumber or rocks without breaking the springs. Don't mind a little lift, I could get bigger tires next time I'm due for a set. But my wife already has problems getting in so I can't lift it too much.

 

I should have been clearer... that info was from Marie at Headstrong Off-Road. She shared it with another member here. I'd suggest giving Marie a call and she can set you up with what you need.