Help w/ leaf springs.

What year of Toyota trucks are compatible to my 04 DCSB 1st gen? I want to get some extra height out of them. I've heard 89 - 95 Toyota truck leaf packs will replace my factory leaf pack without any modification. And they will give me an extra 2.25" of height. Thanks in advance!

 

asked in the wrong place anyways ahaha.

 

Those years will not fit your truck as far as I know. They are shorter eye to eye than your leaf spring hangers. You want 98-04 springs.

There are two other popular options that will take some work.

Some people weld in new hangers and put in 63" chevy springs.

Or some people rebuild their packs w leaves out of other trucks from the scrap yard.

I'm sure there are threads on both of those options

 

I believe only the 95-97 can use the old pickup springs for lift as they have shorter leafs

 

Just don't try to use under axle leafs, they're arched too much and are way too stiff.
70's ford trucks have a leaf that is ideal but I havnt been able to find any.

What you wanna do, is take your leaf pack apart, remove two of the shortest leafs, add in two leafs that are similar width and have offset lengths (distance from the center pin) and bolt it all back together.
More arch = more lift and stiffer ride.
Less arch = less lift and softer ride.
But keep in mind, taco leafs are built to be negitive arch and most other leafs aren't. A little arch from a strong leaf can change a lot. Start small and increase. If it were cheap or easy, packs wouldn't cost what they do for our trucks. If you're on a budget, I recomend the 3 pack that replaces the load leaf from wheelers.

 

I saw the Wheeler's 3 leaf progressive 1.5" AAL for $159 but I need all new spring packs. Not sure what to do. Was hoping to buy some older Toyota leaf packs and just throw them on my truck. But I see they won't fit. Today at the local junkyard I found leaf springs off of a 94 Toyota single cab 4x4 for $60 a side. Glad I didn't buy them!

 

I added 2 extra factory leaves to my 04 from leaf packs a member was getting rid of. Handles weight much better and the truck is close to level with 881s in the front.

 

I cut the main leaf down from an old pack and added it to my existing pack. It was tough drilling the holes for the friction pads but worked great when finished. If I were you I would just do the progressive pack and be done.

 

Or save up enough for new leaf packs. I just don't want a raked truck. Right now I have 3" Eibach coils w/ adjustable 5100's on the bottom setting and Camburg UCA's. And in the back a 1.5" AAL. Here is how it sits now.

 

Not mentioned but his leafs have very high mileage which is why i wouldnt bother with an aal. At this point they sag out a 2-3 inches and alot of times are deformed into a sort of "s" shape from axle wrap. Adding the aal will be more like a bandaid fix and probably just cancel out the sag.

 

Yep! 245,000 on my leaf packs.

 

Tbh looking at the pic the leafs have probably been changed or thats not a true 1.5" aal.

What about the current setup arent you happy with?

 

I just wanted to switch it up since I've had that Toytec AAL in there since I had a 2"+1" Toytec spacer lift 3 years ago and left the rear alone with regular 5100's. When I switched to my current front set up. About 2 years ago. It might be a 2" AAL. I bought it with the spacer lift & regular 5100's. But spacer lifts suck so I switched to what I have now. Figured my leaf packs were getting up there in miles and since I fixed the front with a suspension lift I'd upgrade the rear of the truck too

 

Inspect your main leaf, if it's over extended around the eyeholes, it's toast and you'll need a new pack. If it still looks good then you can still build off it.

 

I run t-100 rear leafs. Same length as 98-04 Tacomas, support a lot of weight since they're 1/2 ton springs, good flex, and give about 2-1/2 to 3" of lift. Only issue is it centered the axle about 3/4" back in the wheel well, I redrilled my perches to center it

http://www.truckspring.com/products...af-Spring-(3-Leaves-and-Pad-4WD)__90-159.aspx

 

The part # you linked to would move the axle forward about 5/8", listed measurement for A is 23-1/2", whereas the Tacoma uses 24-1/8" for the forward-eye to center pin.

The T100 2WD springs have a longer forward measurement, at 24", so it would shift the axle forward by 1/8" which is negligible, and it also has a greater arch height at 7-3/4", vs. the Tacoma arch height at 5-7/8". See: http://www.truckspring.com/products/Toyota-T100-Replacement-Leaf-Spring-(4-Leaves-Rear)__90-147.aspx

Comparison to Tacoma 2/4wd leaf: http://www.truckspring.com/products...t-Leaf-Spring-(4-Leaves-2WD-4WD)__90-237.aspx

This has me thinking, as my Allpro Expo pack has worn out after a couple of years, and I'm trying to figure out what to do, since they're no longer really "lift" springs. As you've mentioned, T100 is a 1/2 ton truck and has greater load capacity than the Taco when stock, and I see T100s all over town with original springs that aren't even saggy... but Taco springs get beat into the ground pretty quickly.

 

Mine were on the truck when I bought it 10+ years ago, like I said, they carry a lot of weight.

They still flex well too

Another thing to note, I've read some guys say that when they lift their Tacomas the axle is slightly rear of center, this was the case with the leafs I have, I had to relocate my axle forward about 3/4". It may be I have 2wd T100 springs, don't know, previous owner installed them to carry weight. May work better to just go with the pack with the centerline that is further forward

And to verify some info others shared, rear leafs from an 89-95 Toyota 4wd truck will give a 95.5-97 Tacoma about 2" of lift and are a better spring over the stock Tacoma leafs which have a tendency to wear out and break the main leaf

 

I'm not sure how much lift over new stock springs I received from the OME springs for the 89-95 truck (CS019R), but it was 7" over my saggy dead stock springs. I took out the third from the top leaf to soften the damn brick the rear end transformed into with the new springs. Removing that spring dropped the read end at least an inch, but I believe 2.

They didn't even flex much until I removed that leaf.