Flattened leaf springs

I think along the same lines as the OPs question, what is everyone's favorite AAL?

 

I've got a c4 rear bumper with loaded swingout and have a heavy duty Dakar leaf pack and the leaf pack is flat.

For reference.

 

I'll just leave this here. Explains why Tacomas are what they are. This is a business remember. I did Icon and OME Dakar leaf and it worked wonders!

https://www.yotatech.com/articles/edmunds-torture-test-toyota-tacoma-trd-off-road/

 

I had stock shocks that failed on washboard desert roads many years ago and learned then that one needs to upgrade shocks if you are traveling many miles on that type of road surface.

Some good roads with washboards are so severe that even at very low speeds it is difficult to maintain vehicle and steering control with stock shocks.

The first improvement I made to my new Tacoma before purchasing better tires was to install improved shocks.

The 5100s are a decent upgrade over the small stock shocks for now. If you want to be better prepared to make it back home without breakdowns, reservoirs give you increased fluid capacity and heat dissipation along with the ability to keep cooler. That provides much better peace of mind and can definitely be worth the money.

Notice the warnings about heat and fire. Working the shock hard definitely creates a lot of heat and some increased pressure.

Out with the new stock Bilsteins. Cleaned up and ready to get rid of.
In with the newer 5100s.

 

I've never been able to wrap my head around this on Tacos. The traditional rule is you never want to let a leaf spring go beyond flat into negative arch but apparently Toyota feels it's OK and I don't know that Tacoma springs fatigue at a rate higher than anything else to disprove them either. But they do wear out, so maybe.

Perhaps it has something to with the way the packs are constructed or the inverted shackles compensate for it, I'm not sure. I personally wouldn't let aftermarket springs go negative but while I never got comfortable seeing it I also never broke a factory spring when they were negatively arched.

So @Argo98, no reason to be too concerned because it's the case with every Tacoma out there. If it's really bad and bugs you I'd go to the dealer and complain, used to be when it is excessive they'd give you new uprated springs under a TSB.

 

Leaf springs also ramp up in spring rate when they flatten / compress. Basically same as others have said before with hookes law.
I believe Toyota’s leaves are designed to into a bit of negative arch or at the very least flat, due to the inverted shackle design.
Inverted shackles compensate for that to a certain extent, so the springs don’t snap.
With a normal shackle setup I’d be a bit concerned.

 

I added a 1/2 inch block to the rear. In preparation for additional weight and to further prevent inverting the stock leafs, I installed these cheap helper springs which I found at a local auto parts store.

The Helwigs might be better positioned and easier to properly place against the leaf pack. It would be interesting to see.

These helpers required positioning the Teflon pad against the leaf pack keeper bracket. I used a Dremel tool to make a notch in the Teflon pad so it slides around the sides of the spring keeper rivet.

I first tried the helpers positioned with the helper pad against and under the 2nd leaf itself, but it was moving forward, bunching up the pad against the bracket along with the spring itself resting on the rivet.

They are working well as positioned now and are making no noise along with holding in place while keeping the 3rd leaf off of the overload spring.

A bonus is that the clamp and spring might be helping to prevent axle wrap.

I trimmed off the corner of the flat piece of the clamp to make sure that it doesn’t contact the shock.

I’ll try this for awhile before looking at a single AAL, new leaf pack or airsprings.

 

I'm leaning towards Hellwigs also.... interesting to see if anyone has installed those yet.

 

I sold my newly used OEM Billies on CL and purchased 5100’s too. I never replaced the stock Billies on my Gen 1, and it was still doing well with over 250k miles on it when I sold it. It was a work truck, with a lot of it’s miles on summer desert washboard, including Death Valley for the month of August, too. Is vehicle weight the only difference of why the older Billies lasted so long?

 

I’ve wondered about that also. You certainly hear about some trucks and cars that go many miles on old shocks without problems.

Perhaps softer shock valving decreases heat buildup and pressure and that along with other factors can make a difference in the longevity of the shock.
I don’t know.

I think that many shocks on cars are worn out at 50,000 miles or less, and you don’t really realize it until you experience the feel of new shocks with their improved ability during handling in curves, with less sway and roll and better control at the limits of emergency maneuvers or hard driving.

 

Is this the thread you were looking for?
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tacoma-spring-refurbishing.194386/