Compensation for Added Weight in Rear

Hello TW!

I have recently added a camper shell and drawer slides on my truck (2018 Access Cab Long Bed SR5). I am looking into picking up some used 3rd Gen OR suspension with leafs.

Would one consider this enough for the added weight in the back of my truck? Drawer slides probably weight around 200lbs fully loaded. From some quick googling the cap see,so to be around 200lbs as well.

When fully loaded for camping I have been noticing some sag in the back and looking to combat that.

Any and all suggestions welcomed!

 

3g OR suspension isn’t gonna help

I’d recommend getting a set of icon RXT leafs and running option 2

 

Ok....you've added 400+ lbs to the truck and you are surprised because the springs compress causing the rear to drop a bit. Of course the springs will compress and the rear will drop a bit.


Remove your springs and shocks. Install solid steel block between the axle spring perch and the frame, weld all those pieces together. Now, you can load it up and not have any sag.

Any set of springs you install will compress with load. More load = more compression.

 

Look into Add A Leafs (AAL), Sumo Springs, aftermarket leaf pack. The OR leafs are probably the same as what you have.

 

3rd gen leafs are all the same. Made for the light duty truck that it is.

 

Not surprised what so ever. Actually expected it to sag a bit more! I appreciate the reply! Will look into this.

 

Any good shops you would recommend to do this work?

 

I wouldn’t know, I’m not in Cali and I did all my stuff in my driveway lol

 

PM @Superdave1.0

 

I don’t know if there’s any difference in leaf springs between the different models. I’m thinking it’s the shock are different.


I too would recommend the Icon RXT. Level 2. The cool thing is if you add more weight then you just go to Level 3. The set come with all 3 Levels. These are the leafs I’m running and very happy with them.

 

Several members in the SoCal thread do truck upgrades. They all have good reviews too. Reach out to them.

 

On my stock suspension ('06 TRD Sport) with 12-1300 lbs of brick/block/mortar debris it will compress about 2 inches. At your 400 lb load, I'd expect about 5/8" of spring compression.

Frankly, I don't think you "need" an upgrade. But you believe the need. Be aware, shocks do nothing to support the load. Only springs support the load.

 

Just ignore the worthless trolls

 

I have a 2017 DCSB with a shell, drawer sliders, tent, bumper, fridge, and a mini-circus that I carry in my truck. To compensate for all that crap, I have the heavy duty Dakar leaf pack and the Firestone airbags with cradles. The leaf packs are fine when I'm not loaded up for a trip, but as soon as I fill up all the water, fuel, fridge and gear even with the heavy duty springs the Taco butt sags. So I add air to the airbags and level the truck out and it's good to go. If you're comfortable with working on your truck you can install the whole thing yourself. One thing I forgot to mention, if you add the heavy duty leaf pack it will add a 2 inch lift to the rear, so you'll want to do the lift in the front too. It's a slippery slope...

 

I wouldn’t bother wasting my time installin’ another set of stockers. Just get a decent set of aftermarket springs & be done with it. As I told Toyota customer service, “I’ve taken trucks to the wrecker with better quality springs than what I’m drivin’ on right now”.

 

Yep. I had a spring break on my 2015 and on my 2018. The truck was never over loaded. The 2015 had 25,000 miles on it and the 2018 had 3000 miles on it. It’s kinda weird that I had this problem twice and both were on the left side.

 

F=kx, you need more k.

 

Check out Hellwig EZ-990 helper springs. I’ve had them for two camping seasons and they level the truck under full payload. Easy install with common tools and a C clamp. I did get about a 1” rise with no load but I had lost that much over time, so, back to factory look. Ride and handling are good whether under load or not.

 

Same. The Fish tale from Toyota was priceless. The Lady actually expected me to believe Toyota makes springs for specific regions. I said “Great, so you won’t need to know where I’m callin’ from then. Part number should be all you need but I think you calculated wrong bc these just keep breakin’”. Before I got this Truck it might have had a set of golf clubs in the back. Nothin’ more.

 

I believe on the 2nd gen there was a difference in leaf springs between the Off Road and other trims -- the Off Road had one fewer leaf, allowing it to ride better and flex off road. Not so good for carrying loads. There was actually a TSB for replacing the springs with the stiffer pack. Not sure that this carried over to 3rd gen, but swapping to Off Road springs would definitely not fix your issue and may make it worse.

If you plan to always have your camper shell and drawers on the truck, your best option is to get a replacement leaf pack intended to deal with the extra weight (not necessarily provide lift, which is what a lot of people are trying to accomplish).

If your load is going to vary a bit, or you occasionally tow, adding air bags may be a good alternative since you can adjust for your load. I normally carry my bed rack, bed mat, RTT, some tools behind the rear seat, and a bike rack. That's about 350 pounds. So, I keep my air bags at around 12-13psi normally. When I go camping, I add another 250 - 300 pounds of gear and beer and bump it up to 18-20psi. Works great for me.