I made a mistake on buying my leaf springs

Well today i realized i made a bit of a mistake... I went to install my 6inch Alcan leaf springs today and when i went to mount them up realized that they were going to produce to much lift. My project started out with a 6inch fabtech lift with the 3inch lift blocks in the rear. Well me being inexperienced thought, well if its a 6inch lift kit on the truck then i must need a true set of 6inch leaf packs.... WRONGO. After searching around i found a set of Alcan springs pre-used but were in excellent condition. Got them and finally had time to install them. Well lets just say i wasent a happy camper, but it was an honest mistake and nobody being of fault. Just a lesson learned. Soooo me being a determined individual i want a better ride quality and want to replace my rear springs with a set of springs of the correct lift. The only problem is i dont know how to measure for them and i sure dont want to make the same mistake twice, especially ordering brand new. Has anyone out there with a Fabtech 6inch lift on there 2000- 04 Tacoma ever replaced there rear springs with a set of springs to give them the correct amount of lift to mach the front?

 

How high is it in the back compared to the front with the 6 inch leafs?

 

Well i started on the drivers side and was going to take it one side at a time. When i saw that the rear axle needed to droop down farther to accommodate the new springs i stopped and did not continue with the project. Due to the fact that if the axle was going to droop any father i was going to have to extend the brake line, abs wires and parking brake line. I will take pics before i mount the old springs back up and post them.

To explain it better if your looking at the spring mounted on the axle the front hanger bolt is in and good to go, but look at the rear (shackle) the spring eye bolt is almost touching the bottom of the bed, in order to mount the spring to the shackle i need to drop the axle (droop) even more for them to fit, witch in turn is gonna have the rear of my truck alot higher in the air then the front.

 

Op, I have a fabtech lift and have been thinking of getting new leafs. But with our lifts the rear wasn't ever actually 6 inches. I think it is closer to 5". I was thinking of using dakars with a 1.5" block to get back to level. Haven't done it yet though....

 

Ok so hear are some pics that i took today to better show my predicament. I spoke with a friend how is pretty knowledgeable about this stuff and he seems to think that either 1. There bigger then a 6inch spring or 2. There a true 6inch spring but i need to lower the rear even more to mount them to the rear shackle, then set the truck back down and the weight of the truck will flex the springs out and make the truck sit level.

If infact #2 is right then these springs are out of the question due to the fact im going to need longer shackles which mean im gonna have to loose my trailer hitch and extend the hell out of my brake, abs and parking brake lines.

Hears the problem, my finger points to where the main eye is suppose to mount to... well u can see the problem


Hear you can really see the difference in the arch of the new and old springs.


Hear is the actual measured difference.


And hear is the side shot of what they look like with the hanger bolt in place, but of course not the shackle side.

 

You should at least get the shackle attached and get some weight on them before you decide for sure if they're too tall. They'll have WAY more arch with no weight on them. And you're replacing a worn out set of stock spring with an AAL and a block that won't have near the same arch as a set of new springs.

 

yep, install them and put the weight on them. those are good springs and they will flatten out a bit once installed.

 

So you wanted 6 inches of lift? These springs get you that right?


I'm confused.

 

So,,you bought a truck second hand that already supposedly had a 6" lift from the previous owner?

And the second hand used spring you bought were supposedly for a 6" lift setup?.

 

Working that high up with the truck on jackstands and cinder blocks must be a little sketchy… haha. Get them bolted up and the truck weight on them and see where they sit…
And sounds like you were looking for a 3-4inch spring, as the lift blocks were 3inch? Allpro expo springs are 3-4 inch

 

You can remove leaves from the spring to get the amount of lift you want. I had my allpro's off my truck 3 times until I got what I wanted.

Start off with taking out the second shortest leaf, and only remove every other leaf. You may have to get a shorter center pin, or just cut it off when you get the height you need.

 

We're you not expecting to have to extend everything with a six inch lift? I have a 3 inch and extended my brake line.

All leafs generally have a break in period where they will be high for a while and eventually start to settle when you start driving around on them.

 

there is no way you can tell without putting them on all the way dude...


all leaf springs will settle different amounts with the same amount of weight on them.

you probably have stock brake lines currently. they need to be extended as well.

 

Go spring under? You'd likely net less height than you want with a SUA, but then you could always throw a set of extended shackles on after the springs settle out.

 

SAFETY POINTS -
1 - concrete blocks are NOT recommended to use under jack stands, especially in the orientation you have them. (they're stronger if laid like you'd see them in a wall, with the 'holes' vertical, not horizontal as you have them)
2 - get some 4x4s and support your jack stands with them, the wood won't catastrophically fail,concrete blocks may.

No one wants to hear you got hurt/killed.

 

definitely WAY more work than needed.



just put them on and see how they sit with weight on it then post pics.

 

That's the only issue I see here so far. Like everyone else is saying, install them and see where they sit under some weight.

 

Depends on the person doing it. He's already got the truck apart, why not?

 

putting those leafs under the axle will net him about stock height.
lol.

 

Maybe, we still don't know what lift those springs will provide. You should go check them out for us.