Leaf Spring Recall + Progressive 3 leaf AAL works fine, but...

FYI:

I installed the Wheeler's progressive 3 leaf AAL on my 2007 DCLB in October 2015. The primary reason I installed the AAL was for 1.5" of lift, to level the rear with my front 5100s @ 1.75. My truck went in last week for the frame inspection and new leaf springs per the recall.

The dealer was not able to transfer the AAL to the new springs, and the truck was (not surprisingly) sitting nose high without the AAL. I sort of understand why they couldn't transfer them...the new springs include retainers welded to the bottom leaf which presumably keep the leafs in place in the event of breakage. Taking out the bottom leaf to replace with AAL means counting on the AAL's retainer to perform that function.

So, tonight I put the AAL back in myself. The point of this story is to let everyone know that the 3 leaf AAL does fit fine with the new Toyota recall springs. The new springs were a 4-pack, I removed the bottom (overload?), replaced with the Wheeler's 3-leaf, and everything bolted back together fine. The U-bolts the dealership used were long enough, although I did have to buy new 3" centering pins (Advance Auto had them). I didn't bust out the tape measure but truck appears to sit level again.

 

Good to know. Thank you!

My leafs were replaced yesterday and I've got some serious bro lean because, like you, my dealer refused to put my progressive AAL back in.



Did you attempt to reuse your old center pin? I was going to try to reuse mine since I preciously had the 2+1 pack with Wheeler's progressive AAL and I left the overload leaf in. With the new pack, I plan to remove the overload when I install the AAL.

 

I had to do a new pin but without the overload you might get away with it. Either way the new ones were easy to find at advance auto.

 

My replacement recall springs are on order with the dealer (no estimate on when they will arrive). My question is I currently have a 2" aal on my old non-tsb leaf pack, will the new recall springs add some height from my previous set up? I sit 1/2" ass high with my current set up (2.5" lift up front with 5100's and Eibach springs) I'm wondering if I should go with a 1.5" aal or progressive aal to sit level with the new recall springs...

 

Hard to say. I think you should wait for the dealer to install the recall springs, measure, and see where you're at compared to the front. When they installed the recall springs on mine, all I can tell you is that the rear was very low as compared to the front with a 1.75" lift. I didn't actually measure it until
I put my AAL back in. But if I were to guess I would say the recall springs were very similar in height to the non-tsb leafs they replaced.

 

I had my recall done yesterday. I need to install my aal asap. I hate the squat/bro lean crap. I only have a single aal for each side, will that still work?

 

Thanks for this post! I have the 3 leaf AAL from Wheeler's also and was curious as to how the dealer would handle it. Appreciate you taking the time to post your experience!

 

yeah this would of been nice to know before I dremeled the rivets on the leafs. but all good though, yeah im thinking of putting my overload back on though I got 23 in rear and 23 1/4 up front but my front hasn't settled in yet so I might just wait for a while

 

Thanks for sharing the info. I just had my 4-leaf TSB springs replaced with recall springs yesterday. They had to special order a special leaf pack since I had the TSB done. They said it was rare and I was the first at this dealership (Livermore Toyota). I guess most Tacoma's have original springs and there is a more common leaf pack for that.

Anyway, I figured the special order recall springs would match the lift of the TSB springs, but they don't and I've got the lean. So I'm glad to read that the 3-leaf pack mention will work and set the truck to a proper stance. I'll be ordering the Wheeler pack today.

Another note. The dealer I took my truck to (Livermore Toyota) said that if there were any lift blocks or other modifications to the rear leafs (I'm guessing AAL included) that they would not do the recall.

 

I received the Wheeler's Progressive 3 Leaf AAL and just installed it the other day. They do fit the Toyota Recall Leaf Pack, however there is an exception.

The overload leaf on the truck's recall pack has alignment brackets that will interfere with the Wheeler alignment bracket on the 2nd (middle) leaf. So you'll have to remove the overload leaf or the middle spring of the wheeler pack. In my case I removed the leaf and left the overload in.

While my truck now sits good, I wish I could install that leaf so it would sit just perfect. I think I'm going to use my dremel remove the bracket and put that leaf in later.

But I'm just happy that bro lean is gone. I was embarrassed driving it around like that.

 

I just had the recall performed and had to re-install my Wheeler's Progressive AAL. I had to remove one of the rear factory brackets and the overload spring. Unfortunately now the rear sits too low. I wish I measured the before and after but it is a noticeable difference from my old TSB+AAL and new Recall+AAL. Anyone else having this issue? I might order longer U-Bolts and re-install the overload spring as it looks like I will gain just shy of an inch.