Broken leaf spring. What do I do now?

Help!.Newbie, Broken leaf spring on 2000 4cyl. What is best option for $$. Can I just replace 1 broken leaf spring? Should I replace whole pack on both sides? Does it make sense to lift it for the money I will spend fixing? Please help. Thanks!

 

Probably the best long term fix would be buy two new packs. Wheelers sells a replacement pack and also a slightly higher lift pack, both for about 450.

 

Hey to both you guys. Thanks for your help. I've been investigating. I'll check out Wheelers. First I've heard of, I'm guessing this is a 4 wheel parts distribution place. So far I've looked into Skyjacker because they offer the leafs in a nice kit. I realize the cheapest fix now is to do a leaf from a local spring company. I found that. However I think I'm going to use this as an excuse to put a 3" lift on her. I love this stuff!. Thanks for your advice guys.

Any superior kits out there you would recommend? One issue I'm having is , do I continue to use the front coil springs I have now (stock) or should I replace them with the optional ones available from Skyjacker? They offer both.. My coils are in good shape looks wise but I just bought the truck with 100k miles. Any recommendations? Should I just include the new coils from Skyjacker. BTW I will need all 4 new shocks to pass next year's inspection so another reason I am going to go all new shocks and might as well do a lift.

 

check
wheelers off road
down south motorsports
all pro off road

 

An OME lift setup will give you about 2+ inches of lift.. and some great handling on and off road. The lift is enough to do a decent tire upsize also. But not enough to requirer new UCAs, longer brake lines, diff drop, or any of the other considerations (extra expenses) that come with bigger lifts. Unless you want to, of course those things I mentioned can all be helpful.

Wheelers is where I got mine. Yes, they are a 4x4 shop and have a good reputation within the TacomaWorld community. I highly recommend them. They are very honest and knowledgeable.. a short phone call and I was all set.



That's my 07 Taco with it's 2+ inch OME lift and about an extra inch from larger tires then stock.

 

Whatever brand you get, I'd definitely get a complete kit. I did mine pieces at a time, ended up costing more than if I'd just sucked it up and spent all the money all at once for everything.

 

Guys, thanks for all of your help. To give you all an update, I did research the OME's , and all of the other kits on what they offer. I feel like a lift kit specialist now after researching them all. I think the OME's are the best deal for the money. However, for my particular situation I went with the Skyjackers. Mostly because they gave me 3 in. lift in the back and were full new leaf packs for around $400. I didn't want add a leafs, and dealing with Wheelers, (they are located in Oregon) is completelly opposite of where I'm at. I'm in Philadelphia. OME offered 2 inch, but I felt that if I was going to spend the money, I wanted a minimum 3-inch suspension lift. This would also be the maximum without needing modded brakelines, pitman arms etc.
Of all the kits I checked out, Skyjacker was the only true 3-inch suspension lift without using blocks. There were many 6-inch etc, but for non-mods, this 3-in. was the only way to go. I have the option of adding coil-overs to the front of my truck at a later date if I want too. This is an additional almost $1,000 which I thought was steep. In all, I'm at the 4x4 shop and for $1,400 installed and 4-wheel aligned , I'm out of the shop. I'm picking up the truck today. I can't wait to see it.
I do recommend anyone ever doing this, save yourself some time, and order the OEM hardware kit when doing this. It was a major downer and caused a day of delay waiting for these parts to come in from the dealer. Skyjacker doesn't supply these and I thought this was a little bit of a rip-off in my opinion. What is a lift if they can't send you the hardware to build it?
I appreciate any further education you guys can give me as I'm very new to this world. I built an S-10 back in the day with a small block chevy we drag-raced into the 13's back in the day. Not lightning fast but considering I was in high school at the time (my dad being a former 60's era drag racer) I was the quickest pickup around for a 16 year old. Now if we talk motorcycles, I could be here all day. I've raced a Yamaha R1 into the low 10's and currently own a H-D Vrod Muscle (completely different areas in the motorcycle world, so I'm very non-biased) I've owned 9 different motorcycles and stay in touch with this world frequently. Triumphs, to Jap4's to H-D. Feel free to hit me up with any questions there and maybe I can repay you all some of the help you have shown me. Thanks again.

 

Glad to hear it worked out for you. I like the Vrod, it's not a "true" harley but I like it's looks. I've got an old school Honda CX500 myself, not near the power of the V.

 

so what all did you get for the $1400?

 

This is the kit I received.
http://shop.skyjacker.com/product.php?ProdID=1997

Plus the additional $500 or so to have it installed and then an alignment done. In my area labor is about $75.00/hour for private shops. I also got the nitrogen shocks as opposed to the Hydrogen shocks as recommended by Skyjacker. I'll let you know the exact amount $$$. I'm going to pick up the truck in the next hour.
One thing that did suck is the OEM parts from Toyota for the rusted hardware I needed replacing. Apparently this kit was over a $100. I'm a little torqued about that, but in all I think I got a good deal for a true 3 inch suspension lift. I think the only thing I could have done better was to add aftermarket coils, but I think I'm ok for now. If I decide to go with a 6-inch later or something like that, maybe a pro-comp with full bracket mounting hardware for future. But I don't want to do any of that stuff unless I was thinking about beefing up the 4-cylinder. It will be hard turning anything bigger than 33's with the stock drivetrain. Money and more money.. geez..!... I'll let ya know the total bill when I get back.

 

PS- How am I doing so far as a newbie? I know I'm still learning, and maybe in your professional opinions maybe there was something I could have done better , but I guess this is all about the learning curve with these trucks. I have heard rumors from other friends that usually Skyjacker kits are pricey.. I found it hard to compare apples to apples with every kit. They either offer different heights or different methods of doing something and so many were hard to compare straight up.

 

wow you paid 1400 just for the rear lift!!!

you could have gotten a complete front and rear suspension set up for around 1000

 

$1400 for a rear lift from Skyjacker!

If I had that budget for my rear, I'd get these:
And have money to pay a shop to fab it up for me.

Seriously, though, you could have had some custom, made to order, call them and tell them exactly what you need, leafs from Alcan for around $500.

 

Guys, I paid $750 for the kit , which included new leafs on the back for both sides with Nitrogen shocks, plus new shocks and spacers up front. In all giving me a 3" true suspension lift. Again, here is the link..

http://shop.skyjacker.com/product.php?ProdID=1997

It's my daily driver. Since I'm full time work, I don't have the time to do the work myself. (Ok, I know lame excuse, but it also is the first one I have ever seen or had done, so really I have no experience with this), so I had a shop do it. I couldn't risk delays or making a mistake. They charged me $750 for the install. I know this was a little steep, but remember where I live and labor rates are some of the highest in the country.
Now was $750.00 such a bad deal? I'm not taking offense to this, as really I'm just trying to educate myself more and more from you guys.

New leaf packs on both sides, plus shocks and spacers up front? I think when I compared to the other mainstream kits out there, it seems like a good deal to me. Now to be honest I have never heard of some of the other kits you guys mentioned. I drove it home tonight and it looks and feels awesome. A nice plush ride, but firm and the ride height is great!. I'm very satisfied with it. Again I have nothing to compare it too, but do you guys still really think I got a bad deal? The only kit I saw that was cheaper was OME, but I only would get 2" lift. Remember I wanted a minimum of 3".

 

I'd agree with you, $750 for a full 4 tire lift is a good price. I know what you're saying about labor prices, I live in S.E. MA and i'm lucky if I find a place to do work for less than $90 per hour.

 

Oh, okay, you were making it seem like you only wanted a rear lift and paid $1400 for it.

$750 for a full suspension lift isn't that bad. But the labor...man I don't wanna live where you are.

If I were to do it myself, it'd take me probably less than 5 hours if I had the lifts/air tools that the shop had...so $150 an hour seems pretty steep in my book.

But I'm sure you've shopped around and did your research.

Welcome to TW!

 

ooookkkkaayyyy that seems alot better than 1400 for just the rear..the link you gave only showed the rear parts. haha
you got a fair price on the lift. bad price on install but If your happy then money well spent. Enjoy it and take it wheelin now


WE NEED PICS!

 

Guys, thanks for all your inputs. After really analyzing the work that was done, I'd have to agree. The $750 for the kit I thought was a good deal. I do however think I overpaid on the labor!. Looking at it now, I wish I would have attempted this job myself on a Saturday. I promise pics are coming soon. I wanna put some good meats on her first. I am thinking of going with the Cooper STT. I'm talking with a few local guys and they are all claiming they are getting 60k miles out of these aggressive looking tires. I have heard only one complaint and that is the sidewalls are thin. I don't plan on doing any crawling anyway as my rig is only mild and nothing like most of you guys have currently. This is still my daily driver.

TIRES= I'd appreciate any comments on the tires. I can get 31x10.50R 15's Cooper STT's for right around $150.00 each brand new. Does this seem like a good deal to all of you? I have a tire shop Creamery Tire here local outside Philly that is known for good tire deals. It's like a pit crew coming out and changing your tires. In and out in 15 min. Wheel alignment of course is additional and optional.

OBDII scanner reader..
Also I bought a CanOBDII 3100e reader from Walmart. For some reason it is not reading my DLC or ECM port for the Tacoma. Anyone else having issues with this? I called Tech Support, and they want me to send it back. I tried it on my buddy's altima and it worked fine. I have not found any software upgrades. Anyone having issues with this particular scanner reading tacomas? I know for a fact I installed it correctly onto the truck. I even tried it a few different ways ie: truck running etc.. and still the same response.

And finally, Guys, I'm on alot of different forums, and I can tell you by far this is the best forum out there. You guys are awesome and have given me the best advice so far on everything. I really appreciate. Glad I'm now part of the team. PICS coming soon!!..