Add A Leaf settling?

Ok might be a dumb question but I have heard in other threads that when people have gotten the rear suspension tsb that the leaf actually settles after a while and the height will come back down to where it was. So the question being getting an add a leaf for the rear with 5100's all around will the rear settle after a while or will the bilstiens in back counteract this? Sorry if this was a dumb question? just want to make sure I know I totally understand this.

 

Well leaf springs are essentially flat steel bent into an arc to make the spring effect, they all eventually would like to go back to being flat; sometimes folks with older trucks will have their springs "re-arched" to get back the ride height and ride quality from before they sagged. That being said, after you put in an AAL it will sit at the sharper curve that it had when it was being made making the truck sit like at 3.5" taller (just an example) but it will settle into it's natural arc over a short time and then the truck will sit at 3" taller and should keep at this natural arc/height for a long time, like 5-10 years depending on how much weight you haul etc.

Also, the AAL is at a sharper curve than your stock leafsprings, so when you put it on it basically forces the stock springs into a sharper curve which is what causes the truck to lift up. There are different types of AAls too, some alow the truck to hold more weight in the bed without causing it to sag (TSB basically) and while this causes some lift at first, when it settles it will have only lifted the truck up as much as the spring is thick 3/8" or something, then there are lifting AALs that have a sharper curve to force the springs into a shaper arc causing lift, plus the thickness of the spring.

Hope this helped.

Also, Bilsteins, or any shock for that matter, have no affect to ride height; shocks bare no weight, the springs bare all of the weight not the shocks. All the shocks do is control the springs from bouncing all over the place, they basically dampen the bounce in the springs. Infact, you could take the shocks completely off the rear of truck and it would be driveable and sit at the same height... it would just be really bouncy and a horrible ride.

 

yes very much thanks for taking the time to straighten this out for me.

 

First off - the TSB is NOT an AAL. It's a complete leaf pak replacement.

It's a suspension component....all new suspension components will settle over
time and come to a 'resting' position. That's why - when you buy a lift that's advertised as a 2" lift....They're more like 3" when new and settle down to be the 2" as advertised.

An AAL is one leaf that is added to a leaf pak.....
When you put an AAL in - which has a competely different arch than the original springs - forces the original leaf springs to bend differently againest their natural arch. That un-natural arch isn't good on the original leaf springs. They aren't designed to operate in an un-natural arch (so to speak). This can cause weakness in your original leaf springs over time.

And yes....AAL's can & will settle over time and probably even sag. That ONE LEAF is actually holding the entire weight of the vehicle (and forcing the other leafs upward).

The rear 5100 shocks do not lift the vehicle.

Technically - your best option for a lift, is replacing the leaf pak completely with a leaf pak that is designed and arched for lifting the tacoma.